The PlanetSKI Snow Report
14th November 2025
Last modified on November 20th, 2025
Winter begun in Europe this week with a sharp drop in the temperature and some snow as more resorts open. There are mixed conditions in North America. UPDATED
It is now significantly colder with the freezing level in the Alps dropping.
Up to 30cm of snow could fall in places with cold temperatures forecast for the rest of the week and beyond.
It is currently looking like a good start to the season of 2025/26 with decent levels of snow and, importantly, cold temperatures.
“It will remain fine today across most of the Alps, but cloud will thicken up in the west later heralding the arrival of a cold front that will bring snow to many parts of the Alps tonight and tomorrow, lasting into Friday in places,” said the alpine weather expert, Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk, on Wednesday.
“Bright and cold in Austria today but more snow is on its way tomorrow.
“This new storm will most benefit the northern Alps and eastern Alps where between 15 and 30cm is likely on Thursday and Friday with the snow falling to very low levels.
“A secondary “low” in the northern Mediterranean will also pep up the precipitation in the south-east tomorrow, meaning that the Dolomites should also do quite well.”
More than 20 ski areas are now open in the Alps, though some are only operating at weekends.
The most extensive areas of skiing open in the Alps are Sölden & Hintertux in Austria and Zermatt in Switzerland that have 35km – 40km of slopes open.
Ski areas currently open in the Alps:
- Austria: Pitztal, Hintertux, Stubai, Soelden, Kaunertal, Kitzsteinhorn, Molltal & Kitzbuhel.
- Italy: Cervinia, Sulden & Val Senalis.
- Switzerland: Andermatt, Verbier, Zermatt, Saas-Fee, Murren, Arosa, Davos, Glacier 3000, Titlis Glacier (Engleberg) & Diavolezza Glacier (St Moritz) and Adelboden.
It’s looking good at the Austrian glacier resort of Stubai, near Innsbruck.
On Thursday 20th November Obergurgl in Austria opens some slopes.
This weekend sees the start of skiing in France with Tignes and Val Thorens set to open.
PlanetSKI’s Felix Milnes will be reporting from Val Thorens.
Here’s what it currently looks like in Val Thorens:
“Snow is expected this coming week promising good conditions for the first turns of the season,” said a statement from Tignes.
The lifts open at 9am at the Perce-Neige funicular in Val Claret.
100 ski instructors and members of the Tignes Sports Club will descend from the Grande Motte glacier at 3,456 metres altitude at 5.30pm on Saturday evening.
The procession will light up the slopes down to Val Claret, followed by a festive après-ski celebration and brings the whole community of the resort together to celebrate the start of the new season.
A lift ticket for this weekend will cost €40 per day.
A week on from the Tignes opening the full ski area of Tignes-Val d’Isère will be in operation from 29th November 2025.
The area has 74 lifts across 300 km of marked slopes at an altitude starting from 1,550m to 3,450 m.
Here’s what to expect in Tignes for this winter:
“It is great to see the first dumps of snow across the Alps,” said Sean O’Leary from the UK ski company, allChalets.
“The mountains are alive and busy preparing to welcome the 2025-26 ski holiday guests.
“Skiers and boarders are busy booking their next mountain holiday while chalet teams are putting the final touches to menus and guest services.
“The early snow augers well for excellent skiing conditions this year.”
And lets not forget Scotland where snow has also been falling this week.
The Pyrenees saw its first snow of the approaching ski season last week.
First snow across the Pyrenees. Image c/o Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellite.
The Pyrenees will see more snow later this week.
The freezing level is expected to drop and by Thursday it will be down to 800m with some snowfall.
Du calme avant la neige pic.twitter.com/E2BawsZcPO
— Météo Pyrénées (@Meteo_Pyrenees) November 19, 2025
There is also a significant amount of snow forecast for western and southwestern Norway.
In Scandinavia the first World Cup slalom races of the season took place last weekend at Levi in Finland.
Team GB had two racers, Laurie Taylor and Billy Major, in the Top Ten.
Laurie Taylor had his best World Cup run to date, finishing fourth.
The ski resort of Ruka is also open in Finland.
In Norway Galdhøpiggen glacier summer ski area is open but expected to close shortly.
In Sweden Kabdalis is offering skiing and several World Cup slalom skiers were training there ahead of the races in Levi.
Over in North America there is some limited skiing in the USA and Canada.
The resorts around Banff in Canada are offering the best skiing – Sunshine Village, Lake Louise and Mt Norquay.
The PlanetSKI team of Alex Cove and Marie Taylor were making turns in Sunshine Village last Saturday.
Sunshine Village, Banff, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI
Sunshine Village, Banff, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI
“We were up at Sunshine today, it received about 5cm of fresh snow overnight,” said Alex.
“It was pretty rocky overall but there some some good bits of snow here & there, and it was simply great to be back on skis with the winter stretching ahead.
“Standish opened today for the first time this season and they’re working on getting Angel open as soon as they can.”
Sunshine Village, Banff, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI
Sunshine Village, Banff, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI
Sunshine Village, Banff, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI
We reported on the opening of Sunshine Village at the beginning of November:
In the USA several resorts in Colorado have already opened including Keystone, Breckenridge, Loveland and Arapahoe Basin.
Mammoth Mountain in California is set to open on Thursday 20th November, after two delays to its opening date.
“Mammoth Mountain will open for skiing and riding this Thursday November 20th,” the resort announced on Monday.
“Thanks to the teamwork of Mother Nature and our snowmaking crews, these colder temps have enabled us to make substantial progress on our base.”
The first resort in the eastern USA has also opened with Killington offering skiing and snowboarding.
Mike Solimano, President and General Manager of Killington Resort and Pico Mountain, joined FOX Weather as the ski season kicks off in Vermont.
In Utah the snow has been poor with some resorts delaying their opening.
Solitude and Brian Head have already postponed the start of the season and now Park City has followed suit.
Park City was due to open on Friday 21st November but it has cancelled it, with no firm date set for opening.
“Despite the best efforts from the entire Park City Mountain team, who have been gearing up all summer to welcome guests back to the slopes, Mother Nature decided we could all use just a little more suspense,” said Park City spokesperson, John Kanaly.
“Our team is keeping a close eye on the forecast, and we’re watching for that perfect snowmaking window,” he added.
Here at PlanetSKI we will be updating this article on the latest from ski resorts around the northern hemisphere as the season gets underway, so do check back…
PlanetSKI: Number 1 for digital ski news
Your digital platform for ski news, resort information, travel, equipment rental, sport, money saving deals and everything connected with snowsports – web site, social media & more.
