A third Austrian glacier ski area, Kaunertal, opened for its 23-24 season on Saturday (above).
Like the other two Austrian areas already open, Hintertux and Pitztal, it's in the province of Tirol.
With only six ski areas open in the Alps at present, it means that half of those currently operating are in the famous Austrian ski region.
Glacier areas have been struggling to open to make the most of the Octoberfest period when many offer terrain park events, new-gear testing and apres ski for skiers and boarders keen to get on the slopes early.
Although there have been some snowfalls over the past few months, it has mostly been a case lf temperatures much warmer than the average for early autumn, unfortunately.
Les 2 Alpes, which had hoped to start France's 23-24 ski season in a fortnight's time now says it will open for mountain biking and hiking instead.
Other glacier areas that had hoped to open in late September or early October including the Kitzsteinhorn, Solden and Engelberg glaciers have delayed doing so for now.
It's looking more promising in Scandinavia where, after opening for their 23-24 seasons with recycled snow saved from last winter, Finland's Levi and Ruka (below) reported heavy natural snowfall for the weekend.
Other ski areas further south including Norway's Hemsedal also reported good pre-season snowfalls.
