Ski Resorts announce early Autumn 2018 season start dates

13th August 2018, by Amy Grealish

Finnish ski resort of Ruka one of many resorts to announce autumn opening dates

A number of ski resorts have begun announcing their planned opening dates for the 2018-19 ski season, some as soon as this autumn.

Ruka in Finland may be the first resort in the world without a year-round glacier to confirm their opening date – they are currently aiming to commence their ski season on Friday, 5th of October which is just eight weeks away.

Whilst in the Alps, Kitzbuhel has already announced its 2018-19 ski season will start on the 13th October at their Resterkogel / Pass Thurn area.

Both resorts use snow-farming techniques, where they store snow from the previous season under covers then spread it out on the slopes the following autumn as the weather cools again in order to guarantee such early opening.

Ruka and Kitzbuhel join around 15 glacier ski areas in the Alps that are likely to re-open from early September to mid-October, whilst across the Atlantic it’s likely some of the highest resorts in Colorado will open from mid-October on, with Arapahoe Basin expected to be the first.

• ski
• snow
• snowboard
• colorado
• kitzbuhel
• kitzbühel
• ruka
• early opening

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