The Ski Season of 2022/23 Starts

25th November 2022

Last modified on December 7th, 2022

Around 40 resorts in the Alps are offering some skiing, with dozens now open in North America.

There have been ski slopes and areas open in Austria, Italy and Switzerland for many weeks.

Mostly in glaciers areas, but recently non-glacier areas have opened too.

France has now joined the party as the last major alpine nation to offer skiing, with Val Thorens and Tignes opening at the weekend.

PlanetSKI has arrived in Austria on a week-long trip to the Tirol visiting a handful of resorts.

Tuesday morning started with the mountain and resort shrouded in low cloud with light snow falling.

Soelden, Austria. Image © PlanetSKI

And up top later in the morning?

Here’s PlanetSKI editor, James Cove:

James has now filed a full report on the day’s proceedings:

PlanetSKI is back on snow!

Soelden, Austria. Image © PlanetSKI

Around 40 ski areas in the Alps are now open, with several open in Scandinavia.

Dozens of resorts are open in North America as we have reported elsewhere on PlanetSKI – Resorts open in the USA + more snow in Canada.

So, without any further ado (drum roll please) we declare the skiing and snowboarding season underway.

“It was a dream opening under the sun,” said the resort of Val Thorens as it began its season at the weekend.

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A post shared by Les 3 Vallées (@les3vallees_officiel)

Tignes was always scheduled to open at the weekend, but Val Thorens had hoped to open for the 22/23 season the previous weekend – Val Thorens delays opening due to lack of snow

PlanetSKI was in Obergurl last weekend as it fired up its lifts – Obergurgl celebrates its opening

At the weekend it was mainly clear and sunny across the Alps with just a few flurries of snow here and there.

Today’s best ski resorts in #France, based on the latest snow forecast & reported snow conditions:
❅ Val Thorens
❅ Tignes
❅ Val D’Isere
See more at https://t.co/O5ZyX69Y5L @3vallees_france @planetski #skiing #snowreport #snowforecast pic.twitter.com/rG6iKJ0UQ2
— Snow Forecast.com (@SnowForecast) November 26, 2022

Several storms have hit the Alps as we have been reporting across the week.

More snow is falling in the Alps

Tignes has also fired up some lifts, though it did have one running last weekend to open the pre-season.

Aujourd’hui, Tignes ouvre son glacier dans des conditions optimales et lance la saison d’hiver 22-23.#tignes #stadenaturel #Hiver #ski #montagne #France #alpes pic.twitter.com/GhKZZhCiLJ
— Tignes (@TignesOfficiel) November 19, 2022

Elsewhere in the Alps Cervinia in Italy has opened further slopes.

In the Dolomites in Italy Kronplatz and Madonna di Campiglio have opened.

Ischgl and Montafon in in Austria and Samnaun in Switzerland also start their winter proceedings this weekend.

Resorts Open in the Alps:

Austria: Obergurgl, Kaunertal, Kitzbuhel, Soelden, Montafon, Obertauern, Piztal, Stubai, Hintertux, Molltal, Ischgl, Schladming and Kitzsteinhorn.

France: Tignes and Val Thorens.

Italy: Sulden, Cervinia, Kronplatz, Madonna di Campiglio and Val Senales.

Switzerland: Andermatt, Davos, Zermatt, Saas-Fee, Engelberg, Samnaun, Arosa/Lenzerheide and Verbier.

❄️+🍂 = 😍 pic.twitter.com/xIrWH8Eq4a
— Verbier (@VerbierResorts) November 25, 2022

It has been a slow start to winter with generally less than average snow and warm temperatures, but things have improved this week with the fresh snow.

There are still some places struggling for snow.

The back-to-back Snowboard Cross World Cup races in Motafon in Austrian from 8th – 9th December have been re-scheduled to 18th – 20th December due to the current snow situation.

Although there is enough snow to open the ski resort for the public the weather forecast doesn’t promise enough snow in the next week to build a competitive and well prepared snowboard cross course.

Here is the recent interpretation from the alpine weather expert, Fraser Wilkin, from weathertoski.co.uk.

“Overall it’s an improving situation in the Alps but, before we can say it’s a convincing start to the winter season, more snow will be needed, especially lower down.

“If you are planning a trip in early to mid-December, you should still be choosing your resort very carefully.

“Altitude is obviously important, but snowmaking capabilities should also be taken into consideration.

“The Dolomites, for example, have some of the best snowmaking in the world which, combined with the significant early season snowfalls that they witnessed yesterday, should allow them to offer some great piste-skiing conditions once the season gets underway over the next couple of weeks.”

Fraser says that the weather will turn more unsettled again early next week with some further mostly light snowfalls likely in places late on Monday and on Tuesday, especially in the western Alps.

Temperatures will be on the cool side with a rain/snow limit not far from 1,000m.

And lets not forget Scandinavia as Levi and Ruka in Finland have been open for several weeks.

They are now joined by Kvitfjell in Norway that opened some slopes on Saturday.

Jasna in Slovakia is also now open.

PlanetSKI’s editor, James Cove, is starting his winter season on Monday 28th November and is heading for the Tirol in Austria.

He’ll be reporting back from Soelden, Stubai, Khutai and wherever else takes his fancy.

Plans are deliberately vague depending on the snow conditions and the way the winds blows him.

Here at PlanetSKI we will be updating this article on the changing weather conditions and the resorts opening so do check back for the very latest…