Another Ski Area in Austria Opens for Autumn Skiing

26th September 2024

Last modified on September 30th, 2024

Pitztal is the next area to fire up some lifts as more September snow falls in parts of the Alps. UPDATED

Pitztal opens some slopes on Saturday 28th September.

This season there is more terrain and a Premier Freestyle Park.

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A post shared by Pitztaler Gletscher (@pitztaler_gletscher)

It takes the total of open ski areas in the Alps to eight – double what it was a few weeks back.

Most of the snow earlier in September has melted but not at altitude and the glaciers resorts are seeing some of the best autumn conditions in many years.

Autumn ski season gets underway in the Alps

Stubai, Austria. Image © PlanetSKI

There is forecast to be up around 20cm of fresh snow over 3,000m in parts of the Alps over the coming week.

Lower down it is falling as rain.

It’s already looking good at altitude with snow falling in Austria, France and Switzerland.

Up to 25cm has fallen in parts of the south side of the Alps with the freezing level at 1,700m in places.

Several mountain passes in Switzerland and Austria have seen snow, with the Furka Pass and Susten Pass in Switzerland closed on Saturday due to snow on the roads.

Here’s the scene further west in Val d’Isere, France:

Bellevarde le samedi 28 septembre 😇 pic.twitter.com/TjEa28iXzv
— Val d’Isère (@valdisere) September 28, 2024

Here are the ski areas in the Alps that are currently offering some skiing:

Hintertux, Austria
Pitztal, Austria
Stubai, Austria
Soelden, Austria
Val Senales, Italy,
Passo Stelvio, Italy
Saas-Fee, Switzerland
Zermatt, Switzerland

In Val Senales skiing is only for race team training and not the general public.

Il versante altoatesino del passo Stelvio: un viaggio tra natura e storia https://t.co/gK7rx5GZaB pic.twitter.com/r92HcApDpV
— Valtellina Mobile (@valtellinatweet) September 29, 2024

We reported on the opening of Stubai and Soelden last weekend.

Stubai opened on Friday 20th September – it had planned to open in October.

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A post shared by Stubaier Gletscher (@stubai_glacier)

Stubai is near Innsbruck and is one of PlanetSKI’s favourite areas for early season skiing and snowboarding.

We have skied there pre-season on many occasions:

City + Ski: Innsbruck and Stubai

The resorts around Innsbruck are excellent for early skiing and last winter we were in Kuhtai as it opened:

Kuhtai opens for the season

There remains a dusting of snow on the peaks above Innsbruck.

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A post shared by Innsbruck Tourismus (@innsbrucktourism)

There is also now skiing on offer in Soelden.

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A post shared by Marco Schmidlin | Alpine Skiing (@_marco_skiing)

Kaunertal, also in Austria, hopes to open on October 4th.

Kaunertal, Tirol, Austria. Image © PlanetSKI

In Scandinavia the Galdhøpiggen glacier in Norway has re-opened after a summer closure.

In Finland, preparations are underway at Levi and Ruka with the resorts hoping to open for some skiing on stockpiled snow at the end of the week.