J2Ski Snow Report - October 23rd 2025
J2Ski Snow Report - October 23rd 2025
Published : 23-Oct-2025 07:01
Crystal Mountain, Washington, USA, looking good and opening soon - depending on snow arriving
This week sees significant pre-season snow in the Alps, the start of Sweden's ski season, and the imminent opening of several US ski resorts. Meanwhile, the southern hemisphere's ski season is concluding, with only one area remaining operational in New Zealand.
The Snow Headlines - October 23rd
- First big pre-season snowfall underway in the Alps.
- Sweden's season underway.
- US 25-26 ski season start appears imminent.
- Up to 15 centres open in the Alps this weekend, but none in France.
- 25-26 FIS Ski World Cup Tour due to start this weekend in Sölden.
- Southern hemisphere's 2025 ski season ending on Saturday.
Snow in the forecast, with high winds in Europe.
Re-publication :- the J2Ski Snow Report Summary, being the text above this line, is free to re-publish, but must be clearly credited to www.J2ski.com with text including "J2Ski Snow Report" linked to this page - thank you.
World Overview
The 2025–26 ski season in the northern hemisphere is gaining momentum, with early openings already underway across six Alpine and Scandinavian nations. Glacier slopes and snow from last season have enabled limited operations, but colder temperatures and fresh snowfall this past week have accelerated progress. Sweden's Kåbdalis became the first resort in the country to open for the season.
Austria leads the Alps with seven glacier centres open, while Switzerland added a fifth near St Moritz, with a sixth expected soon. Italy maintains a couple of options, but France's season is still a month away. A major storm is moving into the Alps and is expected to bring more than 30–60 cm/12–24 inches of snowfall on high slopes by Sunday, driven by strong winds, with rain on lower slopes.
Scandinavia now has four open resorts.
Other than the one indoor slope, there is still nowhere open in North America, but we feel very close to the season start, with resorts like Arapahoe Basin nearing launch, thanks to consistent low temperatures ideal for snowmaking this past week. They keep stressing they are about to open, but as we publish this week's report, have not confirmed a date.
In the southern hemisphere, by contrast, we are very close to the end of the 2025 season. Only two ski areas remain operational, both on Mount Ruapehu in New Zealand. However, after some warm, wet weather, only one plans to reopen for a final day this weekend. The last areas that had been open in Australia and South America closed for 2025 last Sunday.
Northern Hemisphere
The Alps
There are now 14 ski areas open across the Alps, with Switzerland's Titlis (Engelberg) and Diavolezza glaciers the latest to launch their 2025-26 seasons. Conditions were mostly dry through the past week, with freezing levels between 2,000 m/6,561 ft and 3,000 m/9,843 ft. Glacier temperatures dipped to -10°C/14°F overnight, rising just above freezing by day, with occasional light snowfall and plenty of sunshine.
Since Thursday, things have started to change with a major front moving through, driven by gale-force winds. It should mean half-metre (or more) accumulations at about 3,000 m/9,843 ft altitudes by Sunday, progressively less at lower elevations with rain below 1,500 m/4,921 ft to 2,000 m/6,561 ft.
Austria leads in terms of early-season choice with seven glacier resorts open (the most in the world at present). Hintertux offers the most terrain (25 km/15.5 miles of slopes), followed by Sölden with 23 km/14.3 miles and the green light to host this weekend's World Cup opener. Kitzsteinhorn and Stubai have each passed 10 km/6.2 miles of open slopes, while Kaunertal, Pitztal, and Molltal remain open with limited terrain.
Switzerland has four to six areas open, depending on how you count. Zermatt, Saas-Fee, Engelberg, and Diavolezza (weekends only) are skiing, while Davos has launched cross-country tracks. Adelboden is set to open this weekend.
Italy's Passo Stelvio and Val Senales are also open, with Cervinia's link to Zermatt due to reopen this weekend for the 25-26 season on 25 October.
Scandinavia
Sweden has joined the early starters for the 2025–26 ski season, with Kåbdalis opening around 2 km/1.2 miles of pistes using snow stockpiled from last spring. This follows Finland's Levi and Ruka, which also rely on stored snow and have seen fresh flurries turn the wider landscape white.
Norway's Galdhøpiggen glacier remains open too, though its summer ski season is winding down.
Temperatures on Scandinavia's highest slopes have dipped to -10°C/14°F, with regular snowfall. Looking ahead, the region faces a cold, unsettled spell with snow showers likely above 600–800 m/1,969–2,625 ft in the north, while southern parts stay milder and wetter with highs around 10–12°C/50–54°F.
USA
After last week's major snowstorm across northern and western North America, attention has shifted to Colorado's high-altitude resorts, where cold, dry conditions have enabled consistent snowmaking. Arapahoe Basin declared, "Now is the time to get excited," with signs pointing to an imminent season start. Copper Mountain, Keystone, and Loveland are also actively snowmaking in anticipation of early openings.
We expect announcements of imminent openings at any time now.
The multi-day storm was the largest of the autumn / winter so far, dropping up to 45 cm/18 inches in places. Much of it melted soon after, but Mount Rose Ski Tahoe, Tahoe's highest resort at nearly 3,000 m/9,843 ft up top, received over 30 cm/12 inches and plans to open on 8 November.
North of the border and in the US part of the Pacific Northwest corner of the continent, the snowfall has continued this week. Revelstoke saw 30 cm/12 inches of fresh snow on Sunday, with Alberta and BC resorts also reporting solid accumulations. Banff-area resorts, Lake Louise and Sunshine, are targeting the first weekend of November – only a fortnight away now.
Looking ahead, a weak La Niña is favouring continuing cooler, wetter conditions in the Pacific Northwest and inland ranges. Snowmaking windows look strong at altitude, with freezing levels dipping midweek. The Rockies should see intermittent snow, while the Sierra Nevada and Wasatch Range may get light flurries. The Northeast remains comparatively mild and wet, with limited snowfall.
Southern Hemisphere
As mentioned in our introduction, only two ski areas remained open in the entire southern hemisphere at the start of this week. They were Whakapapa and Turoa, both located on Mount Ruapehu on the North Island of New Zealand.
With the final resorts in Australia and the Andes closed over last weekend, these two are, as is often the case, the last with lifts still spinning, with this coming week expected to be the last here too for 2025. Spring conditions are settling in, with daytime highs around 8°C/46°F and overnight lows still dipping to freezing.
Recent precipitation has been more rain than snow, and Turoa has decided damage to its snow surface from rain means it cannot reopen this season. Whakapapa will operate this weekend, but says conditions are marginal and that Saturday 25th will be its last day. Each resort has roughly 6 km/4 miles of terrain available, about 15% of their totals. The forecast points to continued thawing under mostly cloudy skies, with temperatures ranging from 0°C/32°F to 12°C/54°F.
Join the conversation : Discuss this in the J2Ski Forum
This news item has been viewed 228 times.
Also on J2Ski :- Sölden Snow Forecast Ski Hotels Ski Hire Ski Holidays