Afriski Mountain Resort Opens for the 2026 Winter Season

Afriski Mountain Resort, Lesotho, the only currently operating ski resort in Southern Africa, will open its 2026 winter season on Friday June 12, welcoming skiers and snowboarders back to the high-altitude slopes of the Drakensberg-Maluti Mountains.

Afriski announced on its social media sites on June 11 that it would open tomorrow for its 2026 winter season. The resort features a 1-kilometer (0.6-mile) groomed run, a beginner slope, terrain park, and a small alpine-style village with lodging, restaurants, and après-ski activities. While the resort relies on its powerful snowmaking system to support its short ski season, the region also saw natural snowfall last week, adding approximately 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 inches) to the snowmaking base.

With its highest point at 3,222 metres (10,571 feet), Afriski is located in the Kingdom of Lesotho and typically operates from early June through the end of August. Despite limited natural snowfall, consistent overnight temperatures below freezing and modern snow guns allow the resort to maintain a skiable base throughout the Southern Hemisphere winter.

While Afriski is modest in size, it holds outsize significance in Africa’s winter tourism scene. It attracts a steady stream of visitors from neighboring South Africa and beyond, offering a rare opportunity to ski or snowboard on the continent. Johannesburg is approximately 4.5 hours from Afriski. Beyond snow sports, Afriski has built a lifestyle brand around winter in Africa, hosting mountain festivals, slope-side music events, and themed weekends.

Its regional counterpart, Tiffindell Ski Resort on South Africa’s side of the Drakensberg-Maluti Mountains, has been closed for several years. Covid-19 restrictions prevented it from opening in 2020 and 2021, and it has not opened in subsequent years either. The resort has been listed for sale for several years but no buyer has emerged.

For the thousands of South Africans who make the annual pilgrimage to Lesotho each winter, Friday’s opening marks the start of one of the continent’s most unusual and beloved seasonal traditions.