More Glacier Areas Open for Skiing & Snowboarding
29th September 2022
Last modified on October 5th, 2022
It comes as fresh snow is continuing to fall with many resorts looking rather wintery. The autumn snow will make little difference for the ski season ahead, but has certainly helped the glacier ski areas. More open in Austria and Cervinia in Italy fires up some lifts. UPDATED
It has been a promising start for those wishing to ski in the glaciers areas of the Alps.
There has been more than half a metre of fresh snow at altitude in parts of the Alps.
We reported on it in this earlier article on PlanetSKI last week and were updating each day:
“A lot of snow has fallen across some parts of the Alps this week, especially at altitude in the north-west,” said the alpine weather expert Fraser Wilkin, from weathertoski.co.uk.
Weathertoski provides regular and up to date snow reports across the winter, plus updates for PlanetSKI.
“After such a torrid summer, this is further good news for the glaciers, many having already seen at least a couple of moderate snowfalls this September.”
“The heaviest of this week’s snow has fallen at altitude in the northern French and Swiss Alps, with around 40cm on the Grande Motte glacier above Tignes, and as much as 70cm above 2800m on the Massif du Mont Blanc. ”
So, what is it like, country by country, in terms of snow falling and ski areas opening?
Austria
Five glacier areas are now open – Hintertux, Soelden, Stubai, Pitztal and Kaunertal.
Stubai lifts started to run on Friday 30th September at 08.00.
Five lifts are currently open.
It was quite a start to the season.
The glacier resort in the Tirol is a magnet for those wanting to make some early season turns and things are looking promising as the season gets underway.
Piztal in the Tirol is also open.
Daily skiing from 7 am to 4 pm
6 kilometers of pistes for winter sports enthusiasts
5 open slopes“The Tirol region is already looking forward to the upcoming winter season 22/23, while some fresh snow has fallen on the glaciers within the last few days,” said Elena Protopopow from the Tirol Tourist Board to PlanetSKI.
“All our 5 Tirolean glaciers are now open and looking forward to numerous visitors to come.
Even from the valley in Innsbruck you can already see the snowy mountain peaks, which gives us a feeling of winter excitement.
“Not only Tirol is optimistic, also main tour operators on the travel market are optimistic about the coming winter.
“Despite rising prices, Britons continue to book their ski holidays.”
Elena Protopopow, Tirol Tourist Board. Image © PlanetSKI
Another area in Austria set to open is the Molltaler glacier.
The only glacier ski area to have been able to remain open across the summer as high temperatures hit the glaciers hard was Hintertux in the Tirol.
Autumn skiing and snowboarding is now well underway.
12 lifts are running to access the glacier area.
With winter approaching we asked the Tirol tourist board to tell is what is new in the area for winter:
Kappl, Tirol. Image © PlanetSKI
Italy
Val Senales and Passo Stelvio are already open.
This weekend they are joined by Cervinia in the Aosta Valley that fired up its lifts on Saturday.
The Italian resort posted ahead of the official opening of its glacier ski area:.
France
There are no glacier ski areas open in the French Alps, but Tignes and Les2Alpes are scheduled to open shortly.
It’s just over a fortnight until the French 22-23 ski season is due to start at @2alpes and @tignesofficiel Fresh snow down to about 1500m in the French Alps this week has everyone excited. Pictured @avoriaz1800_officiel @morzineofficiel @laclusazskiresort pic.twitter.com/xiqv7C9o13
— Snow Forecast.com (@SnowForecast) September 29, 2022
Tignes:
Dusting of snow to resort level in #Tignes this morning. Lots more snow expected at altitude this week, especially tomorrow with a rain/snow limit around 2200m. pic.twitter.com/0RXgMk9gwa
— weathertoski (@weathertoski) September 27, 2022
Tignes has had a particularly bad summer and needs more snow to be able to open.
The images below were taken in mid-July by a PlanetSKI reader.
Tignes, France. Image © David Morgan
Tignes, France. Image © David Morgan
Meanwhile the non-glacier area of Val Thorens has seen some fresh snow in recent days.
The resort is due to open in the second half of November and PlanetSKI will be on its slopes as the lifts start turning.
Here is what it looks like now as the snow falls.
The lower resort of Morzine in the Portes du Soleil has seen some snow as it looks forward to winter.
And in Val d’Isere…
We have a heap of snow! Top of the Bellevarde this morning #valdisere. #winter2223 #winteriscoming #winterwonderland #tignes #contactustobook #signatureski pic.twitter.com/WLOKGttRPI
— Simply Val d’Isere (@simplyvaldisere) September 30, 2022
Switzerland
Zermatt has re-opened its glacier slopes.
It is preparing for the new cross-border FIS downhill races.
See more here:
- Zermatt/Cervinia alpine World Cup race is good to go
- New World Cup races from Zermatt to Cervinia take shape
Here is a summary of the current situation in the Alps from On the Snow – though it does appear that Pitztal has moved from Austria to Italy 😉
Resorts open, October 2nd 2022.
Here at PlanetSKI we will be updating this article as snow falls and ski areas open.
Do check back…
Image c/o PlanetSKI
