The sun is setting on an epic season for Portillo, Chile, with one week left to go...
Where to Ski in October 2026
October 2026 arrives with a combination of anticipation in the northern hemisphere and news of season extensions as the season winds down south of the equator.
In the latter case, that's good news from the Andes and New Zealand, where several resorts have extended their seasons, in a few cases past mid-October. However, most have already ended their 2026 seasons, or will do so after the first weekend of this month. Alas, Australia's season went from bad to worse, and is now over.
In the northern hemisphere, pre-season tension looks set to remain into October, whilst we wait for the first significant snowfalls in the Alps. Resorts that closed for glacier skiing in July or August, and were expected to reopen last month, mostly still haven't, with one exception. Only one of the four Austrian glaciers expected to open in September has managed to do so, thanks to an all-weather snowmaking system. So far most fresh snowfall has been on eastern and northern European mountains.
There's nowhere yet open in North America, but most years somewhere manages to do so before the end of the month. This year, the 'Super El Niño' is an added factor which resorts hope will bring lots of snow. It's expected to peak before the end of the year, so things may start happening quickly.
Southern Hemisphere
Australia
Australia's ski season ended earlier than expected, on the 25th of September, the last Friday of last month, when the last area still open, Perisher, closed 10 days early. It battled hard with snowmaking when possible, but a very mild winter with low natural snowfall took its toll there and at all other Australian centres.
New Zealand
It was a mixed winter in New Zealand, with some good snowfalls over the past three months but also spells of mild, wet and windy weather affecting cover. Some centres have already ended their 2026 runs, and most of the rest will close on the first or second weekend of this month.
However, on the South Island, the country's largest resort, Cardrona, announced a season extension to the 18th of this month, also the date that Mount Hutt, which has posted the deepest snow depth all winter, is expected to continue to. On the South Island, the Ruapehu ski areas of Turoa and Whakapapa usually keep going until the latter half of the month too.
Argentina
After a slow start to the season, things have gone pretty well in Argentina over the past 10 weeks or so, with most resorts reporting deep cover and several extending their seasons.
Among them is South America's largest ski area by uplift, Catedral, near Bariloche, which now plans to stay open until at least the 11th. The world's most southerly ski area, Cerro Castor in Tierra del Fuego province, should also be open into October, but most of the rest of the country's centres ended their seasons in the final days of September, despite many still having deep snow lying.
Chile
Like Argentina, after little snowfall up to mid-July, Chilean ski areas have seen big accumulations for the rest of the season, with Portillo passing the 10 metres/33 feet mark for seasonal snowfall in the last week of September. It's one of several Chilean ski areas to announce extended seasons into October, with some going to around the 11th and Valle Nevado announcing it plans to stay open until the 18th.
Northern Hemisphere
Austria
Four Austrian glacier ski areas had been expected to open by the end of the month when we compiled the September preview 30 days ago, but sadly only Pitztal, with the country's highest slopes, has opened. It has a long-installed all-weather snowmaking system for precisely this scenario.
Those that had hoped to open last month, including Solden, Stubai, Hintertux and Kaunertal, will open as soon as conditions allow, with other glacier areas, including the Kitzsteinhorn and Molltal, following later in the month.
France
Unless there's a change for 2026 that has not yet been announced, there are no longer any French glacier ski areas opening in autumn, with the season there starting in late November.
Italy
Italy is leading the way as October begins. Passo Stelvio is the only glacier centre to have reopened so far, and Val Senales gave the country a second option, meaning that for much of the latter half of last month the only two outdoor ski areas open in Europe, or indeed the northern hemisphere, were in Italy. That may never have happened before!
A third Italian area, Cervinia, with its access to Zermatt's summer ski area, is due to open on the 24th.
Switzerland
We're struggling to remember a September when no Swiss area was open, but that's exactly what happened this year with Saas-Fee and Zermatt closed. Both should have been open through October but have been shut since early August because of the impact of heat on their snowpacks.
Saas-Fee says it will reopen limited terrain on the first weekend of October.
Other Swiss areas scheduled to open later this month, if they can, include Engelberg's Titlis glacier and the Diavolezza Glacier near St Moritz, which is initially open only on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays (closed other days for training).
Scandinavia
Norway's Galdhøpiggen glacier summer ski area also closed at the height of summer, as has become the norm, but reopened late last month, although initially only for pre-booked teams training.
The next big event in the region is this weekend, with Finland's leading areas of Levi and Ruka, also world leaders in the amount of snow they stockpiled through summer, set to reopen on the 2nd. Both will create about 2km/1.2 miles of slopes, as well as terrain park features. Sweden's northerly Kåbdalis is expected to open later this month, on the 17th.
North America
It's a very interesting October for North American resorts in 2026. In any year, although there's usually nowhere open as the month starts, as is the case this year, anticipation builds, particularly at resorts two miles up in the Rockies, where the altitude and resulting sub-zero nights set resorts snowmaking and aiming to open before the end of the month, hopefully with natural snow too.
Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, Wolf Creek and others have managed October openings before.
This year there's the added excitement of the 'historic Super El Niño', expected to bring record warming and moisture and actually peak in November. Resorts are already heavily promoting this possible snowy abundance, particularly after last winter's low snowfall in the western US, so hopefully we'll see positive signs of reality following the hype this month.