The Pitztal glacier in the Austrian Tirol opens for skiing today, joining Passo Stelvio and Val Senales in Italy to become the third skiing option in the Alps this season.
Today in the Alps...
Updated: – Hintertux glacier opens for skiing today!
The glacier at Hintertux opens today, now the fourth option for skiing in the Alps this autumn, after Italy’s Passo Stelvio and Val Senales, and Pitztal in Austria.
A less-than-ideal opening day of the ski season at the Hintertux glacier – Photo: hintertuxgletscher.at, 2 October 2026
Hintertux reports that 12km of pistes are open. However, with only a 5cm icy base to play with, not to mention the thick fog and drizzle shrouding the area early this morning, it won’t go down as the best opening day of a ski season in the Alps!
The weather in the Alps should improve later today, and especially tomorrow, when the glacier at Saas-Fee in Switzerland will also reopen for skiing having suspended operations on 10 August. However, the snow quality remains very poor across all skiable glaciers in the Alps, with not much sign of any serious relief coming any time soon.
There may be a little high-altitude snow in the Alps later next week but that’s still a long way off, so remains very uncertain at this stage.
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Updated: 10.20am Saturday 26 September 2026 – Pitztal glacier opens for skiing today!
Skiing on the Pitztaler Glacier starts today. This is how preparations looked on Tuesday 22 September, before a dusting of snow temporarily blanked the higher peaks – Photo:pitztal.com, 22 September 2026
The extent of skiing on all these glaciers remains very limited with just two runs open in Pitztal on a heavily managed base. There was a dusting of snow on the Austrian glaciers mid-week, though not enough to radically transform the otherwise barren landscape for any length of time. Overall, the weather in the Alps this September has again been exceptionally dry and warm.
Looking a bit further ahead, the forecast for the Alps remains unfavourable for the glaciers, with next week set to get off to a very warm start across the board. It will turn a fraction cooler mid-week with some showers and even a dusting of snow possible at high altitude, however, temperatures will remain above average for the foreseeable future.
Next weekend will see Hintertux - which until recently opened 365 days a year –open its glacier for skiing for the first time since July. Sölden and Kaunertal, however, have postponed their openings and (at the time of writing) have yet to confirm until what exact dates.
Read our latest blog to find out where you can normally ski in the Alps in September…
Updated: 10.30am Saturday 19 September 2026 – Val Senales opens for skiing today!
The glacier at Val Senales, also known as Schnalstal, opens for skiing today. It joins Passo Stelvio as one of just two skiing options in the Alps right now.
Val Senales/Schalstal opens for skiing today, but on a very limited basis with less than 1km of open piste! – 19 September 2026 – Photo: schnalstal.com
Before anyone gets too excited, the extent of available skiing at Val Senales is, for now, very limited (less than 1km of piste) and is entirely dependent on artificial snow. Passo Stelvio is only slightly better with around 3km of pistes open.
The next wave of glacier skiing openings are expected to be in Austria, where Pitztal, Kaunertal, Kaprun and Sölden are all scheduled to open next weekend (25-26 September 2026). However, with snow conditions remaining poor, some of these areas may push these opening dates back.
The weather in the Alps is not very promising for snow sports enthusiasts right now. It is mostly dry and warm again, and will turn quite hot even in the western Alps where freezing levels are set to surpass 4000m for several days in a row.
Towards the end of next week, it may turn cooler from the east with a sprinkling of snow possible on the Austrian glaciers, albeit nothing significant at this stage. Indeed, it will probably turn very warm again towards the end of the month.
Updated: 11.25am Friday 11 September 2026 – Fresh snow in the Alps!
Following an exceptionally hot summer, the weather in the Alps has turned a little cooler and more unsettled in recent days, culminating in the first significant snow at high altitude since late spring.
Saas-Fee’s summer ski area after this week’s dusting of snow – Photo: saas-fee.ch, 11 September 2026
This was how Saas-Fee looked before this week’s snow – Photo: saas-fee.ch, 8 September 2026
As usual, we are at pains to point out that this snow means nothing in terms of the coming winter ski season. However, with a temporary dusting as low as 2600m and 20cm+ in places above 3400m, it has at least spruced up the appearance of the glaciers, which have suffered unprecedented damage this summer, in the context of the “skiing era”.
Whether or not this fresh snow will be enough to allow either Zermatt or Saas-Fee to contemplate reopening their glaciers for skiing any time soon remains to be seen. Due to the combination of heatwaves and high-altitude rain, Zermatt, which is normally open for skiing all year-round, suspended operations on , while Saas-Fee (which opened in mid-July) gave up just 10 days later.
At the time of writing, the only ski area in the Alps currently open is Italy’s Passo Stelvio, although Val Senales (Schnalstal) hopes to join the action on .
In Austria, the glaciers at Sölden, Hintertux, Pitztal and Kaunertal are all expected to open for skiing around or .
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