For Friday 6 to Sunday 8 November
Kitzbühel and Gstaad open as the glaciers peak on Sunday
Nine resorts are open in our catalogue, and Kitzbühel and Gstaad join them on Friday and Saturday. A wet Friday leaves a few centimetres high up in the Valais and the Aosta valley, with rain on the lower slopes. Then it turns dry, and by Sunday the high glaciers in Tyrol, the Valais and at Cervinia all score excellent.
Valais glaciers hold up all weekend
Matterhorn Ski Paradise is the strongest pick on Friday with an excellent score. It gets around 3 cm on top, with gusts up to 67 km/h. It slips to good on Saturday and is back to excellent on Sunday. Saas-Fee stays good on Friday and Saturday, then climbs to 95 on Sunday under clear skies.
Friday's front brings the most snow to resorts that are still closed: around 10 cm on top at Crans-Montana and around 8 cm at Verbier. Both get close to 10 mm of rain or more at the bottom.
Tyrol glaciers: wait for Sunday
On Friday, Pitztal and the Stubai glacier both score excellent. Hintertux is slushy. Saturday is the weak day: up to around 3 cm of snow, some fog and gusts up to 60 km/h at Stubai pull all three down to mixed.
Sunday is the pick. Hintertux and Pitztal reach 96 and Stubai 95. Sölden is also open, with a little snow on Saturday. Obergurgl-Hochgurgl follows on 19 November.
Cervinia excellent once Friday clears
Breuil-Cervinia is good on Friday, with around 3 cm and a foggy day. It jumps to 95 on Saturday and Sunday.
Nearby, the closed resorts collect early snow: around 6 cm at La Thuile and around 5 cm at Pila on Friday. On Saturday, Madonna di Campiglio and Paganella get around 6 cm on top, with rain lower down at Paganella.
Openings in Austria and Switzerland
Kitzbühel opens on Friday, its announced date. The weekend there is dry and mild, with the freezing level above the top on Friday. Gstaad opens on Saturday after a wet Friday, with around 17 mm of rain at the bottom and rain even on top. Engelberg-Titlis stays open, with around 3 cm on Friday.
In Graubünden, Saturday brings around 5 cm to Arosa Lenzerheide and around 3 cm to Davos Klosters. Davos opens on 13 November and Andermatt+Sedrun+Disentis on 14 November. Then comes a busy weekend of openings on 21 November: St. Moritz, Grindelwald-Wengen, Mürren-Schilthorn and Val Thorens.
Storms in Hokkaido and at Whistler
In Hokkaido, the freezing level falls to around 500 m. Asahidake gets around 11 cm on Saturday and around 16 cm on Sunday. Sapporo Kokusai gets around 9 cm on Saturday, but gusts reach about 100 km/h. Sapporo Kokusai opens on 20 November and Teine the day after.
Whistler has heavy rain on Saturday, up to the top. On Sunday the freezing level falls below 900 m and around 15 cm of snow falls high up, with gusts near 80 km/h. Our estimate puts its opening on 20 November.
Our call
For the weekend, go high and go on Sunday: Hintertux, Pitztal, Saas-Fee and Cervinia all score excellent, and Cervinia already does on Saturday. Then watch Davos Klosters on 13 November and the openings on 21 November.