Early Snow: Six Ski Resorts For Early Season Skiing
Good news for skiers: It looks like the ski season is starting early this year. Even better news? Here are six ski resorts that open before the others for early season skiing! World on Skis can help bring you there!
This article was originally published on SkyScanner.net and can be found here.
With winter on its way, snow lovers are already sharpening their edges, polishing their goggles and scanning the snow reports for the first signs of the white stuff.
If you’re one of those people who just can’t wait to hit the slopes, Skyscanner reveals some of the best places to get an early season ski trip in.
But how can you be sure that you’ll find snow, rather than grass on the slopes?
Well, the general rules for early season skiing are similar to late season skiing; head high or head north if you want the best chance of hitting the slopes before the New Year. Resorts that have invested heavily in snow making systems are also most likely to be able to guarantee the goods.
Ski Val Thorens (France)
As Europe’s highest ski resort, most of the skiing here is over 2000m, which means the snow starts falling early. Part of the huge Three Valleys ski area, Val Thorens is an excellent bet for good snow conditions early in the season.
Ski Tignes (France)
Winter sports enthusiasts can start skiing early here on the glacier which offers an impressive 20km of runs and a vertical drop of over 750m. Skiing on the rest of the mountain starts in mid December, making Tignes a fairly solid choice for an early season schuss.
Ski Zermatt (Switzerland)
This famous Swiss ski resort has lifts that take you to a dizzy 3899m, and offers skiing that starts in late November. Zermatt is one of the few, truly year-round ski destinations in the world and a sure bet for pre-Christmas skiing.
Ski Saas Fee (Switzerland)
With a ski area that sits between 1800m and 3500m and has access to a glacier, Sass Fee offers early-season skiers plenty of snow. Early November sees some of the world’s best freestyle snowboarders descend on the town for the LG Snowboard FIS World Cup.
Ski Whistler-Blackcomb (Canada)
The excellent slope grooming and snow-making facilities at Whistler Blackcomb help to ensure a lengthy season that starts in late November/early December. This Canadian super resort has repeatedly been voted the best ski resort in the world.
Ski Solden (Austria)
Like Zermatt, Solden has year-round skiing on its two glaciers, so when it comes to early-season trips, it’s a pretty sure bet – so sure in fact that Solden say “snow is absolutely guaranteed from November to May”. With a state of the art mountain railway, and a massive ski area, Solden is a great choice for the early bird skier.