A number of ski resorts have begun announcing their planned opening dates for the 2018-19 ski season this autumn.
Ruka in Finland (pictured top and below) may be the first in the world without a year-round glacier to guarantee its operations to open – it’s targeting 9.30am on Friday, 5th of October – just eight weeks away – to begin its ski season.
In the Alps, Kitzbuhel has already announced its 2018-19 season will start on Saturday, 13th October at their Resterkogel / Pass Thurn area.
Both resorts use snow-farming techniques (storing snow from the previous season under covers then spreading it out on the slopes the following autumn as the weather cools again) in order to guarantee such early opening.
They’ll join around 15 glacier ski areas in the Alps that are likely to re-open from early September to mid-October. Four of these – Hintertux and Molltal in Austria and Saas Fee and Zermatt in Switzerland, are already open for 18-19).
Across the Atlantic it’s likely some of the highest resorts in Colorado will open from mid-October on. Arapahoe Basin is often the first, like Kitzbuhel and Ruka it usually boasts a 200+ day ski season.
It does not set a day but can start snowmaking in late September if conditions are cool enough at its high-altitude, then opens as soon as there’s enough snow.
Some resorts have announced their planned opening dates though: Breckenridge and Keystone aim to open on November 9th, Copper Mountain a week later on November 16th.
