The 2018-19 ski season has got under way today (July 14th) at Saas Fee. The Swiss ski area has one of the longest ski seasons on the planet, lasting nine months through to April next year.
Initially glacier skiing will take place between 7am and noon on up to 20km of runs with the ski area and the time open lengthening in the autumn – closing at 1pm in September, then 2pm to mid-October and 3pm thereafter with the lift opening time in the morning also getting later each time.
Currently the glacier is reported to have 15km of runs plus it's terrain park open and about a dozen lifts. The snow depth is 110cm with no recent snowfall and the freezing level at 3800m, above the highest point in the ski area. Down in resort afternoon temperatures are above 20C.
Saas Fee is one of only two Swiss areas open for skiing and boarding in summer along with the year-round area at nearby Zermatt (although there are also some summer snow play areas for example on the Jungfraujoch above Wengen and Grindelwald).
As several ski areas open and close at different times and for different periods in spring, summer and autumn, with Hintertux and Zermatt open year round, its difficult to say which opening represents the 'start' of a new season.
Austria's Molltal glacier is open 11 months a year from mid-June through to the following mid-May so could be said to be already a month in to its 2018-19 ski season (!) …but Saas Fee is the first to open a fresh for 18-19 since midsummer and the year turning with the days getting shorter. Half a dozen more glacier areas will open in September at the start of autumn which is perhaps a more favourable time for the start of the new season.