It may be autumn, but the slopes are calling ! With anticipation building for the coming ski season, it’s right to get excited about the start of winter 2015–16, now only a few short months away.
But why wait ? You can hit the slopes today if you like, test out the new season’s gear before anyone else does and benefit from low off-season prices. OK, unless you head to the southern hemisphere – where winter 2015 is just winding down – your chance of finding extensive deep-powder slopes are probably not good (although you never know; it can snow on any day of the year on Alpine glaciers – and often does).
Credit – Zermatt
It’s also true that September is one of the quietest months of the year, with summer ski resorts in France and Italy having just ended their 2015 runs too, and not due to reopen until later in the autumn, but still, the dedicated skier and boarder can find slopes open to them on any day of the year, and that’s without having to venture inside (although now we mention it, there are six good indoor snow centres in the UK).
But two resorts do aim to open 365 days a year, weather permitting, and several others are also open now. The Hintertux Glacier, a short hop from Innsbruck in the Austrian Tirol, along with Zermatt in Switzerland, operator of Europe’s highest ski lifts, both have up to 20km of runs open in September and a fairly healthy 800m or so of lift-served vertical. You could also opt for Zermatt’s neighbour, Saas-Fee, which reopened in July and will stay open now right through to May 2016. In Austria, the Molltal Glacier has also reopened while the Pitztal Glacier, which operates the country’s highest lifts up to 3440m, is scheduled to start running its lifts again from 19 September. Other Austrian glaciers, including the Kitzsteinhorn, Kaunertal, Sölden and Stubai, are likely to open on or around the same date as the Pitztal – subject to conditions.
Indeed early autumn is big for Austrian skiing – by early October, up to eight glacier ski areas are operational there – as much as in the rest of the Alps put together. It’s a great time to be in the Austrian Alps as you can expect low-priced flights and accommodation, free or discounted 2016 season gear to test and – to cap it all – Oktoberfeststyle beer festivals. In some cases new terrain parks are unveiled for the first time for the new season too. The Kaunertal Glacier, for example, has already scheduled its 30th “opening” weekend celebrations from 9 to 11 October with a promise of big contests, parties, side events and even a movie premiere. In Italy, the Passo dello Stelvio is open, Val Senales should reopen from mid September and Cervinia (open to 6 September for summer skiing) will reopen from mid-October at weekends. Tignes in France will also reopen at the start of October.
But it’s not just the Alps; the glacier ski area near Galdhøpiggen in Norway, Scandinavia’s highest mountain at 2469m, is open for skiing and boarding in the summer only from May to November, and attracts several international teams, so you can always head there and hopefully see stars! Some Norwegian slopes received 3m of snow in the first 3 days of summer 2015, so the signs are good…
*Hintertux Glacier