by Patrick Thorne with First Tracks!! Online Media staff reports

Kiltarlity, Scotland, UK – With most of the ski areas in the southern hemisphere now closed, except for some in New Zealand, we have entered one of the quietest periods of the year with less than 30 ski areas currently open worldwide – less than .5% of the world total. In fact, there are currently fewer outdoor ski areas open this week than indoor snow centers.nThere are now more than 50 of these “snow domes” operational worldwide including SnowWorld Landgraaf in the Netherlands, which is about to stage the first events of the northern hemisphere’s FIS World Cup ski racing calendar. Although more ski areas are expected to open in the Alps, North America and Scandinavia through October, it seems likely that open indoor centers will continue to outnumber these into November, especially as more New Zealand resorts end their 2010 season.

This week New Zealand has the most ski areas open, with nine to choose from, but Austria is not far behind with seven glacier ski areas open. Elsewhere in Europe there are still several areas open in Italy and Switzerland, with Tignes the lone ski area open in France.

You can also ski or board in South America where just the Catedral ski area in Chile is open, although this is the last week of the season. You can glisse in North America as well, where the Timberline ski area in Oregon has reopened Fridays to Sundays since last weekend.

A total of 13 ski areas are currently open in the Alps. In Austria the recently reopened Kitzsteinhorn glacier above Kaprun has some of the country’s best conditions with a 70cm base and upper slopes open. The Molltal glacier has four lifts running serving 9.5km of runs and a 90cm base.

The Pitztal glacier has entered the second month of the season from 28-35cm and six lifts operational, Kaunertal 40-60cm of snow and three lifts running. Soelden has one of the largest areas open in the Alps with 21km of runs served by six lifts, while the Stubai has seven runs open and a 60cm base. But the Tux glacier has the largest ski area currently open in the northern hemisphere with 42km of piste over a 565m vertical, served by 13 lifts with a 1.2m (four foot) base. The Dachstein glacier has 10cm of snow crust on the glacier and remains closed.

Switzerland now has three open ski resorts to choose from with Engelberg having joined Saas Fee and Zermatt, and a fourth choice — the Diavolezza glacier near St. Moritz — is due to open the weekend after next. Saas Fee reported 5cm (two inches) of fresh snow yesterday and it now has a 1.2m (four foot) base.

Two ski areas are currently open in Italy, Passo Stevio and Val Senales. The latter has a meter base, with the last snowfall of 10cm having come a week ago on Sept. 28. In France Tignes is the only area open, with a 30cm (one foot) base.

In the southern hemisphere New Zealand is the only country with a sizable number of ski areas still open, although even here it’s the last week or so of the season at most areas. However, Ruapehu Alpine Lifts has said its Turoa ski area will stay open to November. Both Whakapapa and Turoa on Mt. Ruapehu are currently reporting a nearlu 1.8m (six foot) base.

Some New Zealand resorts have already closed, including Lake Wanaka’s ski areas. Treble Cone closed on a high note on Sunday afternoon with a record number of final day visitors and the costumed Slush Cup with a record end-of-season base of 232cm in the Saddle Basin and 108cm in the Home Basin.

Although now officially closed, there is a final opportunity to get the last turns of the season at Treble Cone for the local charity fundraising day this Saturday, with the proceeds going to the Aspiring Avalanche Dogs.

All of Australia’s ski areas are now closed but most are reflecting on a highly successful season. Typical was Mt. Hotham, where a spokesman summed up the winter, “With a solid snowmaking base on the ground at the end of July, we were blessed with huge natural snowfalls in August. An epic 47cm of fresh snowflakes fell overnight on the 26 August – the biggest single snow dump we have seen at Hotham since 2003. The huge August snowfalls brought a total of 227cm of natural snow falling over the month. This was not only the snowiest August, but the snowiest single month we have seen since 1992! Great natural snowfalls set us up for a fabulous spring with Blue Ribbon running through until September 14 and Gotcha, Keogh’s and Orchard until September 24 – a fantastic result for areas which rely solely on natural snow coverage.”