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Which ski resorts open earliest?

In calendar order, from the first week of October. The earlier the date, the worse the record, and this page prices that trade in both hemispheres.

10 seasons, the 2016 to 2025 opening weeks · computed 27 August 2026 · natural snow only

The earliest opening in the index is Levi, in the first week of October. It has not had 30 cm of natural snow on the ground in that week in any of the last 10 seasons. The earliest opening with a strong record is Lake Louise, four weeks later, snow-ready in 8 of 10. That gap is the entire trade-off, and the rest of this page is it in detail.

Every ten days of patience, priced

Mean score of all destinations sharing each opening window. Snow-ready means modelled snow depth of at least 30 cm on at least 3 of the 7 opening-week days, natural snow only, no snowmaking modelled.

Opening windowDestinationsMean score
10-01 to 10-07 1RESORTS 0MEAN /10
10-21 to 10-27 1RESORTS 0MEAN /10
11-01 to 11-07 3RESORTS 2.7MEAN /10
11-11 to 11-17 4RESORTS 2MEAN /10
11-21 to 11-27 20RESORTS 4.1MEAN /10
12-01 to 12-07 11RESORTS 4.8MEAN /10
12-11 to 12-17 3RESORTS 5MEAN /10
12-21 to 12-27 1RESORTS 7MEAN /10
06-01 to 06-07 3RESORTS 0MEAN /10
06-11 to 06-17 4RESORTS 4.8MEAN /10
06-21 to 06-27 2RESORTS 9MEAN /10

The curve is monotonic in the southern hemisphere and almost monotonic in the northern: the single exception is mid November, which sits below the first week of November because Lake Louise carries the earlier window almost single-handed. Small groups move the mean a long way, so read the window sizes alongside it.

Northern hemisphere, earliest first

All 44 northern destinations in calendar order of their traditional opening week.

Index #DestinationCountryOpening weekSeasons snow-readyScoreMean depthModel cell
53 Levi Finland October 0/10 0.3CM 297M
49 Kitzbühel Austria Late October 0/10 1.2CM 745M
16 Lake Louise Canada Early November 8/10 41.8CM 1652M
42 Breckenridge United States Early November 0/10 10.7CM 3793M
43 Åre Sweden November 0/10 7.9CM 412M
18 Sölden Austria Mid November 6/10 37.6CM 2997M
36 Vail United States Mid November 1/10 13.5CM 3432M
40 Mammoth Mountain United States Mid November 1/10 8.2CM 3202M
46 Killington United States Mid November 0/10 4.4CM 1196M
1 Whistler Blackcomb Canada Late November 10/10 135.9CM 664M
4 Zermatt Switzerland Late November 10/10 76.6CM 1608M
6 Shymbulak Kazakhstan Late November 10/10 65.3CM 3222M
11 Livigno Italy Late November 9/10 60.8CM 1931M
12 Val Thorens France Late November 9/10 54.8CM 2387M
10 St. Moritz Switzerland Late November 9/10 66.9CM 2764M
21 Jackson Hole United States Late November 5/10 29.7CM 1966M
22 Big Sky United States Late November 5/10 25.9CM 3246M
24 Trysil Norway Late November 3/10 18.1CM 1064M
29 Aspen Snowmass United States Late November 2/10 17.3CM 2587M
30 Palisades Tahoe United States Late November 2/10 16.7CM 1916M
25 Cortina d'Ampezzo Italy Late November 2/10 33.5CM 1258M
27 Telluride United States Late November 2/10 19CM 3820M
37 Park City United States Late November 1/10 13.1CM 2146M
39 Baqueira Beret Spain Late November 1/10 10CM 2364M
33 Tremblant Canada Late November 1/10 16.3CM 909M
35 Alta & Snowbird United States Late November 1/10 14.9CM 3111M
50 Yongpyong South Korea Late November 0/10 1.1CM 1392M
52 Sierra Nevada Spain Late November 0/10 0.6CM 3190M
47 Nozawa Onsen Japan Late November 0/10 4.3CM 1509M
3 Revelstoke Canada Early December 10/10 95.2CM 2241M
5 St. Anton am Arlberg Austria December 10/10 68.6CM 1417M
8 Chamonix France December 9/10 72.7CM 1034M
9 Verbier Switzerland Early December 9/10 69.2CM 1555M
20 Val Gardena Italy Early December 5/10 31.9CM 2007M
23 Zakopane / Kasprowy Wierch Poland December 3/10 19.8CM 1926M
26 Grandvalira Andorra Early December 2/10 22.1CM 2402M
31 Jasná – Chopok Slovakia December 2/10 15.6CM 1276M
28 Kranjska Gora Slovenia Early December 2/10 17.8CM 1442M
34 Niseko United Japan Early December 1/10 15.3CM 302M
41 Špindlerův Mlýn Czechia Early December 0/10 11.7CM 1225M
13 Garmisch-Classic Germany Mid December 9/10 52.8CM 1915M
19 Hakuba Valley Japan Mid December 5/10 33.3CM 720M
38 Bansko Bulgaria Mid December 1/10 10.1CM 2627M
17 Gudauri Georgia Late December 7/10 44.4CM 2881M

Southern hemisphere, earliest first

All 9 southern destinations, opening in their own winter.

Index #DestinationCountryOpening weekSeasons snow-readyScoreMean depthModel cell
45 Perisher Australia Early June 0/10 4.4CM 1729M
48 Thredbo Australia Early June 0/10 3.5CM 2001M
51 Afriski Lesotho Early June 0/10 0.8CM 3079M
7 Las Leñas Argentina Mid June 9/10 101.8CM 2155M
14 Valle Nevado Chile Mid June 8/10 82.5CM 3048M
32 Coronet Peak New Zealand Mid June 2/10 13CM 1456M
44 Mt Hutt New Zealand Mid June 0/10 5.6CM 1979M
2 Portillo Chile Late June 10/10 132.7CM 3223M
15 Cerro Catedral Argentina Late June 8/10 57.3CM 2032M

The model cell column is the elevation the weather reanalysis assigns to that destination's grid square, being the average of all the terrain inside it. Read a score against the cell, not against the summit: the full index sets out why. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0), adapted for display.

What the earliest openers have in common

Very little, geographically. The eight earliest northern openings in this index cover 5 countries and model cells from 297 m to 3793 m. What they share is a commercial one: an early date is a decision to be first, and being first is worth money whether or not the sky cooperates. The record is the check on that decision, not a criticism of it.

The southern side is cleaner. Its earliest window, the first week of June, holds 3 destinations with a mean score of 0; its latest, the last week of June, holds 2 with a mean of 9. Three weeks is the difference between never and nearly always.

The practical version

If the date is fixed and the mountain is not, take the destination with the best record in that window rather than the biggest name. If the mountain is fixed and the date is not, the table above tells you what a fortnight of patience is worth at that specific place. And in either case, check what is actually happening before you travel: the historical base rate and this week's weather are different questions, and the destination files answer the second one live.

Related questions

Answered from the same ten-season record, not from a resort's own calendar.

Which ski resort opens earliest in the world?

Of the 53 destinations in this index, Levi has the earliest traditional opening week, the first week of October. Its ten-season record in that week is 0 snow-ready seasons out of 10, so an early opening there is not an early natural-snow season.

Is it better to go early or wait?

On the record, waiting pays. Grouped by opening window, the mean score rises steadily through the calendar in both hemispheres: from 0 out of 10 in the first week of June to 9 in the last week, and from 0 in the first week of October to 7 in late December.

What is the earliest reliable opening?

Lake Louise, opening in the first week of November and snow-ready in 8 of the last 10 seasons at a mean depth of 41.8 cm. It is the only destination in the index opening before mid November with a record that strong.

The other end of the table

16 destinations were snow-ready in at least 8 of 10 opening weeks, and 6 in all 10. What they have in common is not what you would guess.

Read the answer
Or take the whole ranking

All 53 destinations in one table, with the season-by-season record behind every score and both tables free to download.

Open the index

More of these: the question index. Live conditions for any of these mountains: the destination files or the live board.