Austria — If you’re looking to ski outdoors right now, you could head to Austria. Thanks to its high-elevation glaciers, a few ski resorts were able to begin skiing and riding last weekend, marking the official start of the 2025-26 ski season in Europe.
Last weekend, two ski resorts opened up: Pitztal Glacier and the Hintertux Glacier. Here’s a recap of the current terrain and lifts that are open at these two ski resorts.
Pitztal
Austria’s highest glacier is home to lift-serviced skiing and riding. Starting on September 27th, the ski season begins on the upper elevations of Pitztal. Guests reach the glacier by going on the Gletscherexpress funicular lift. Ski operations are from the Wildspitzbahn lift. Slopes 22, 26, and 29 are open, totaling 2.5 km of terrain.
On October 4th, Pitztal will add the Gletscherseebahn and the conveyor lift. For terrain, Pitzaler will add Slope 25. As you can probably tell, Pitztal has some really original trail names.
Hintertux
Hintertux started its 2025-26 ski season on Saturday, September 27th. Currently, Hinterux has 15 km of trails and 10 lifts operating. Tomorrow, the 6ER LÄRMSTAANGE 2 bubble chairlift is scheduled to open. More portions of Hinterux’s terrain park network will also open this weekend.
The ski resort used to operate year-round, but it has reduced operations in recent summers due to a warming climate. During this past summer, it was closed for two months.
This is one of the new Epic Pass partners that was announced earlier this year.
Snow Forecast reports that three more ski resorts are scheduled to open in the coming days, with Kaunertal, Stubai, and Sölden planning to open soon.
Image/Video Credits: Pitztal Glacier, Hintertux Glacier, Ski Wisdom
