Ski areas in South America announce the summer ski season

Las Leñas ski area in Argentina has surprised by announcing that it plans to operate summer skiing this season.

Summer skiing is offered at dozens of ski areas in the European Alps, Scandinavia and in some areas of Japan and North America, but the number of areas offering it has been decreasing for more than 20 years, as has the length of the remaining summer ski seasons.

However, summer skiing is fairly unknown in Southern Hemisphere resorts, although some New Zealand ski areas, notably Mount Ruapehu, have managed to stay open into early summer, and sometimes even occasionally.

In summer, skiers can take the highest cable car to the summit at 3,470 metres, where an easy-to-open green trail, Aires, is about 800 meters (half a mile) long, Las Líneas says. The plan is to run the lift in the morning and sell the ticket including the rental. The resort says skiers and snowboarders must have at least “basic knowledge” of their sport to participate.

Las Leñas celebrates its 40th year of operation in 2023, and it is unclear whether it has ever offered summer skiing, but it received heavy snowfall in the second half of last winter, which some have linked to a strong El Niño, meaning there was a lot of Snow. Aaliyah left this summer.