J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

Of the dozen Alpine ski centres currently already open for skiing and boarding in the Alps, seven are in Austria, with Tirol home to five of them.

The season got underway in two more Austrian provinces at the weekend with Carinthia's Mölltal glacier (pictured above this weekend) and Salzburgerland's Kitzsteinhorn above Zell am See-Kaprun opening 3km and 10km of terrain respectively.

Hintertux currently boasts the most terrain open anywhere at present, offering 25km of slopes despite reporting a modest 25cm base, while Sölden, host of the upcoming FIS World Cup opener in a fortnight's time, following closely with 22km and a 40cm early-season base. Other Tirol glaciers including Stubai, Kaunertal and Pitztal are also open but with only3–8km of slopes open each.

Switzerland has the second most number of ski areas open so far, with Saas-Fee and Zermatt each offering about 14km of glacier terrain. The Schilthorn terrain park above Murren, built from preserved spring snow, is a third, freestyle-only option, while Diavolezza opens for its 25-26 season next weekend near St Moritz. There have already been pro racers training there in recent weeks.

Italy's Stelvio and Val Senales round out the already open resorts with nowhere in France expected to open until the latter half of next month.

Weather above 2000m has been largely settled through the weekend, with sunshine and light winds giving idyllic conditions on glaciers, but a wintry shift is expected midweek, with 30–40cm of fresh snow forecast for high slopes.

Tignes is targeting winter visitors who don't plan to ski or snowboard with a new pass called MyTignes Wintercard.

The pass covers multiple activities and wellness facilities over seven consecutive days of stating in the famous ski resort but not skiing.

Adult passes are €45 and for those under 18 the card is €25 (kids under 8 are free).

The pass includes access to the Adventure Park Winter Version which is the resort's popular summer adventure park in Val Claret but now offering a winter version with 10-metre-high wooden structures, suspended net circuits and zip lines up to 150 metres long. Adventure Park only access is €10.

Also new this year, but not included in the new pass, is an Electric E-Buggy Circuit, described as a "unique driving experience on snow allowing visitors to test their skills on slippery terrain" located near the Adventure Park. Minimum age of 14 and prices start at €35 for an 8-minute session.

Image credit Andy Parant

I was going to put "...Survey's Shock Findings" as the headline but managed to stop myself.

UK skiers prioritise value for money and fewer crowds on the slopes, according to community ski resort review site Snomad's pre-season ski resort finder quiz.

The findings show that value for money remains top priority, with 54% of respondents prioritising this, followed by quiet slopes at 39% and the quality of skiing at 35% ranking second and third respectively.

Unsurprisingly, over half of the respondents 52% want "ideally, lots of snow," whilst a slight surprising - yet pragmatic 19% are content with "enough to ski is fine by me."

What's particularly striking is Snomad's success in attracting younger demographics, with the 18 – 44-year-olds accounting for nearly 55% of respondents and 70% of all site visits.

This younger profile mirrors a wider shift: 18-44s lean heavily on peer reviews and ratings to make purchase decisions - ski trips included.

Snomad founder Dan Lever said: "With the cost-of-living squeeze and year-on-year rises in resort costs, value sits front and centre, while the strong pull of quiet slopes suggests many are looking beyond the most mainstream, high-cost, peak-week hotspots. It points to a preference for lesser-known, great-value resorts that still deliver standout quality of skiing, without the hassle of long lift queues."

The Snomad resort quiz algorithm uses a dataset of 220,000+ community-submitted ratings across 20 resort categories and 1,075 responses collected between 1 July – 21 September 2025 including ski lift efficiency, ski schools, après and value for money plus other data such as resort statistics, to match users with suitable resorts based on their answers.

There's been fresh snowfall on Australian ski slopes over the past 24 hours as the ski areas that are still open in the country approach their final weekend of their 2025 seasons.

Mt Buller, Falls Creek, Mount Hotham, Perisher and Thredbo remain open but all are expected to close at the end of the ski day this coming Sunday 5th October.

"We are so excited to have woken up to a fresh dusting of October snow here at Perisher," said Maddi Ventura, Perisher's Marketing Manager. "We're looking forward to an awesome closing weekend."

Accumulations of 3-6cm ended a period of mild, clear weather which saw daytime highs reach +15C. However the weather is expected to return to blue skies for the final days of 2025.

It's been a bumper season for Australia's ski resorts with regular good snowfalls from start to finish, with several areas reporting season totals of more than five metres of snowfall, the best in years and more than that recorded by ski areas in 2025 by most areas in the Andes and New Zealand. It's also the first time that some have stayed open into October for several years and Perisher's current 1.5m upper base depth remains one of the deepest in the world at present.

Falls Creek currently has the most terrain still open in the country with about 20km of runs still skiable.

"Winter isn't done with us yet! We've had 3cm of snow overnight with more snow set to fall throughout the day. Come and get those last laps in and enjoy the fresh October snowfall before the season ends on Sunday," said Sarah Gamon, Falls Creek's Field Marketing Coordinator. "The fresh snow is a perfect way to head into the weekend with sunshine in the forecast across Saturday and Sunday. We're heading into our final weekend with seven lifts spinning and plenty of great turns to be found."

The Zermatt ski lift company, ZBAG, are replacing the old six-seat Gifthittli chairlift, which gives access to the Sunnegga sector from Riffelberg, with one of the first eight-seater detachable chairlifts in Switzerland.

The new lift has been manufactured by Leitner and is equipped with weather protection hoods, whilst passenger access to the lift is being "optimised by a straight entry in the direction of movement, which improves the flow of guests". Furthermore, the new lift is designed to be remotely managed and operate without staff at the top station, which is expected to happen sometime in the future.

"As previous visitors to Zermatt will know, one of the few bottle necks in the whole ski area has been the Gifthittli chairlift. The all too frequent wait lines have been due to various factors including a lack of capacity to handle increased numbers of skiers as well as technical reliability issues after some 22 years of intensive service. In plain English, it's got old and broke down a lot!," said Zermatt-local Ed Mannix who runs Matterhorn Chalets with wife Suzanne.

Dismantling of the old installation started just after the end of last winter and the old lift is due to be 'recycled' and rebuilt in another ski resort. Meanwhile, the new lift is expected to be operational at the start of the coming winter season on November 28th.

The Paradiski region that combines La Plagne and Les Arcs in the French Alps is set to 'elevate' alpine entertainment—literally—with the launch of the world's highest stand-up show this February.

From 14–28 February 2026, the Paradiski Comedy Club will transform the iconic Vanoise Express cable car that links the ski domains of La Plagne and Les Arcs into a soaring stage suspended 380 metres above the valley floor, offering skiers and holidaymakers a comic interlude mid-air.

In a collaboration with Paris's Métro Comedy Club—renowned for its pop-up performances in the city's underground trains—Paradiski is bringing urban humour to the mountains. During the four-minute cable car crossing between Les Arcs, Peisey-Vallandry and La Plagne, passengers will be treated to intimate, bilingual stand-up sets from a rotating cast of professional comedians.

Performances will run daily (excluding Saturdays) from 10am to 12pm and 2pm to 4pm, with each journey offering a fresh mix of French and English-language routines tailored to the alpine setting.

"We're still in a familiar transport environment—whether it's the Métro or a cable car—and humour is universal," said SIN, a performer and member of the Métro Comedy Club. "We'll draw inspiration from the ski area and the mountains to craft jokes that resonate with Paradiskiers. The goal is to create a moment that's both unique and unforgettable."

With the formerly year-round glacier ski resort of Hintertux in the Austrian Tiril closed for skiing for much of August and September, unusually, there's been nowhere to ski in Austria whilst Italy and Switzerland have two resorts open each.

That's due to change this coming weekend though as two Austrian resorts are set to open. Besides Hintertux re-opening, the country's highest slopes at the Pitztal glacier are due to start their season too.

The following weekend, from October 3rd, the Kaunertal glacier and Solden, which hosts the opening World Cup Alpine ski races of the 25-26 Winter Olympic season in a month's time, will join them.

Other Austrian glacier areas including the Stubai and Molltal glaciers are expected to open in October, meaning it will return to its usual autumn position of having more centres open than any other European country and anywhere in the world for much of October.

Most centres combine October Fest style celebrations with new season gear tests and terrain park openings to attract very early season skiers.

The resorts have had a boost from several snowfalls over the past few weeks, most recently up to 15cm on glaciers in the past 48 hours.