Conditions on Austria’s glacier slopes are generally not good as we enter September.
Two centres were due to be open through August, the year-round Hintertux and the Molltal glacier which is open for around 10 months from late spring one year to early spring next. However the Molltal had to close unexpectedly in mid-August (Pictured below) as the hot summer and melted away too much of its snow cover.
Austrian glacier resorts typically lead the charge to open for the new season each year with half a dozen of them opening from early to late September meaning up to eight Austrian glacier resorts, mostly in Tirol, are open by the start of October – more than in the rest of the northern hemisphere’s ski nations combined.
But this year that remains to be seen. The Pitztal Glacier (pictured below last week) does have an all-weather snowmaking machine which can make snow in positive temperatures and of course conditions can change quickly so all or most may still open on schedule – one weekend interval in the August heat saw up to 40cm of fresh snow fall, as pictured on the Hintertux Glacier (top) so fingers crossed.
