Ski Season 2026/27: Opening Dates for 20 Resorts

The 2026/27 ski season in the Alps opens in stages: glacier areas run from October (Kitzsteinhorn above Kaprun from 10 October 2026, Saas-Fee from 31 October), Kitzbühel starts early on 6 November with a snow-farmed run, and most big resorts open between 21 November (Val Thorens, Tignes) and 12 December (Les Arcs, the full Verbier 4 Vallées). The latest closing dates published so far are 2 May 2027 for Val Thorens, Tignes, Val d’Isère, Ischgl and Chamonix’s Grands Montets. The table below lists 20 resorts whose operators or official tourist boards have published dates, with the nearest airport and our transfer guide for each.

Ski resort opening dates 2026/27: the full table

Resort	Country	Opening date 2026	Closing date 2027	Nearest airport(s)	Our guide
Zell am See–Kaprun (Kitzsteinhorn glacier)	Austria	10 Oct (glacier); Schmittenhöhe 4 Dec	May 2027 (glacier)	Salzburg (SZG)	Salzburg → Zell am See
Sölden	Austria	Glaciers from mid-Oct; winter ski area 12 Nov	End of April	Innsbruck (INN)	Innsbruck → Sölden
Saas-Fee	Switzerland	31 Oct	18 Apr	Geneva (GVA), Zurich (ZRH)	–
Zermatt	Switzerland	Glacier skiing all year; winter timetable from 1 Nov	2 May (winter timetable)	Zurich (ZRH), Geneva (GVA)	Zurich → Zermatt
Kitzbühel	Austria	6 Nov (Resterkogel, public at weekends)	4 Apr	Munich (MUC), Salzburg, Innsbruck	Munich → Kitzbühel
Obergurgl-Hochgurgl	Austria	19 Nov	18 Apr	Innsbruck (INN)	–
Val Thorens	France	21 Nov	2 May	Geneva, Lyon, Chambéry	Geneva → Val Thorens
Tignes	France	21 Nov	2 May	Geneva, Lyon, Chambéry	Lyon → Tignes
Ischgl	Austria	26 Nov	2 May	Innsbruck (INN)	Innsbruck → Ischgl
Saalbach (Skicircus)	Austria	27 Nov	4 Apr	Salzburg (SZG)	Salzburg → Saalbach
Val d’Isère	France	28 Nov	2 May	Geneva, Lyon, Chambéry	Lyon → Val d’Isère
Chamonix (Grands Montets)	France	28–29 Nov (weekend); daily from 5 Dec	2 May	Geneva (GVA)	Geneva → Chamonix
St. Anton am Arlberg	Austria	2 Dec	18 Apr	Innsbruck (INN), Zurich	Innsbruck → St. Anton
Lech Zürs	Austria	2 Dec	18 Apr	Innsbruck (INN), Zurich	–
Courchevel	France	4 Dec (Village, Moriond, La Tania 5 Dec)	18 Apr (Moriond, La Tania 11 Apr)	Geneva, Lyon, Chambéry	Geneva → Courchevel
Mayrhofen	Austria	4 Dec (Penken); Ahorn 12 Dec	11 Apr (Penken); Ahorn 4 Apr	Innsbruck (INN)	Innsbruck → Mayrhofen
Méribel	France	5 Dec	18 Apr	Geneva, Lyon, Chambéry	Geneva → Méribel
Verbier	Switzerland	5 Dec (Verbier–La Tzoumaz); full 4 Vallées 12 Dec	25 Apr (4 Vallées 18 Apr)	Geneva (GVA)	–
Morzine (Portes du Soleil)	France	11 Dec	18 Apr	Geneva (GVA)	–
Les Arcs	France	12 Dec	Not yet published	Geneva, Lyon, Chambéry	Lyon → Les Arcs

All dates are the resorts’ planned dates for winter 2026/27, as published by the lift companies or official tourist offices in October 2026, and every one of them depends on snow and weather. Resorts often open a few lifts first and the whole area a week or two later, so if you are booking a trip for the opening weekend, check what will actually be running.

When does the ski season start in 2026?

There is no single start date. Glacier resorts open first: their pistes are high up on glacier ice, so they hold snow long before the valleys get any and stay cold enough for skiing in October. In 2026 the Kitzsteinhorn above Kaprun opened on 10 October, lifts were already running on Sölden’s Rettenbach and Tiefenbach glaciers before the Alpine Ski World Cup opener there on 24–25 October, and Saas-Fee opens its winter season on 31 October. Zermatt’s Matterhorn Glacier Paradise is open for skiing all year, and the lift company’s winter timetable starts on 1 November 2026.

Non-glacier resorts usually open from the second half of November. Kitzbühel is the early exception: snow saved from last winter (so-called snow farming) lets it open a single run on the Resterkogel on 6 November, used by race teams on weekdays and open to the public at weekends. The first big French openings are Val Thorens and Tignes on 21 November, followed by Val d’Isère and Chamonix’s Grands Montets on 28 November. By the second weekend of December almost every major Alpine resort is open.

When does the ski season end in 2027?

High resorts run longest. Val Thorens, Tignes, Val d’Isère and Ischgl plan to close on 2 May 2027, and the Grands Montets in Chamonix also runs to 2 May. Most of the Austrian Arlberg and Ötztal resorts finish on 18 April, as do Courchevel, Méribel, the wider 3 Vallées area and the Portes du Soleil. Lower resorts close earlier: Kitzbühel and the Saalbach Skicircus on 4 April 2027 and Mayrhofen’s Penken on 11 April. Easter Sunday falls on 28 March 2027, so the Easter holidays are well inside the season everywhere in the table.

France: Val Thorens, Tignes, Val d’Isère and the 3 Vallées

Val Thorens lifts run from 21 November 2026 to 2 May 2027, opening with the resort’s “Grande Première” weekend on 21–22 November. Tignes uses the same dates, 21 November to 2 May, and Val d’Isère opens a week later on 28 November and also closes on 2 May. In the rest of the 3 Vallées, Courchevel opens on 4 December (Courchevel Village, Moriond and La Tania on 5 December) and Méribel on 5 December; both close on 18 April 2027, with Moriond and La Tania ending on 11 April. The linked 3 Vallées ski area is listed as open from 5 December 2026 to 18 April 2027. Les Arcs opens on 12 December 2026; the resort had not published its closing date when we checked.

Geneva, Lyon and Chambéry all serve these resorts. Geneva has the most flights, Lyon avoids Swiss roads, and Chambéry has the shortest transfer but mainly winter ski flights – our Geneva, Lyon or Chambéry comparison sets out the distances. For transfers, see Geneva Airport to Courchevel, Méribel and Val Thorens and Lyon Airport to Val Thorens, Tignes and Les Arcs, and the resort pages for Val Thorens, Tignes, Val d’Isère, Courchevel, Méribel and Les Arcs.

France: Chamonix and Morzine

In Chamonix, the Grands Montets area opens for the weekend of 28–29 November 2026, closes again from 30 November to 4 December, and then runs daily from 5 December 2026 to 2 May 2027, according to the Chamonix-Mont-Blanc tourist office. Chamonix is 88 km from Geneva Airport, about 1 hour 15 minutes by road – see our Geneva Airport to Chamonix guide and the Chamonix transfers page.

Morzine is part of the Portes du Soleil, which gives one season for the whole area: 11 December 2026 to 18 April 2027. Geneva is the usual airport; compare drivers on the Morzine transfers page or the Geneva Airport transfers page.

Switzerland: Zermatt, Verbier and Saas-Fee

Zermatt is the one resort in this list where the question “when does it open?” has no single answer. Skiing at Matterhorn Glacier Paradise is possible all year, and the Zermatt Bergbahnen winter timetable runs from 1 November 2026 to 2 May 2027. The Matterhorn-Express gondola via Schwarzsee runs from 14 November 2026. One change for spring 2027: the Sunnegga funicular closes from 12 April 2027 for control-system work. Our Zurich Airport to Zermatt guide covers the train and the drive to Täsch, and the Zermatt transfers page lists operators.

Verbier publishes dates per sector: Verbier–La Tzoumaz from 5 December 2026 to 25 April 2027, and the whole 4 Vallées area from 12 December 2026 to 18 April 2027. Geneva Airport is the natural gateway; see the Verbier transfers page. Saas-Fee, which has glacier skiing, runs from 31 October 2026 to 18 April 2027 – see Saas-Fee transfers.

Austria: Tyrol (Ischgl, St. Anton, Sölden, Obergurgl, Mayrhofen, Kitzbühel)

Ischgl opens on 26 November 2026 and closes on 2 May 2027, with the Top of the Mountain opening concert on 28 November. St. Anton am Arlberg and Lech Zürs both open on 2 December 2026 and close on 18 April 2027; St. Anton’s “Stanton Ski Open” weekend runs from 4 to 6 December. Obergurgl-Hochgurgl runs from 19 November 2026 to 18 April 2027. In Sölden, the glaciers open from mid-October and the main winter ski area from 12 November 2026, with the season ending at the end of April 2027. Mayrhofen starts on the Penken on 4 December 2026 (Ahorn from 12 December) and closes on 11 April 2027 (Ahorn on 4 April).

Innsbruck Airport is about 1–1.5 hours from St. Anton, Ischgl, Sölden and Mayrhofen by road; our Innsbruck Airport transfer guide covers buses, trains and transfers, and you can compare drivers on the Innsbruck Airport transfers page or the resort pages for Ischgl, St. Anton, Sölden, Lech and Obergurgl.

Kitzbühel opens on 6 November 2026 on the Resterkogel, with the first ski weekend on the Hahnenkamm planned for 21–22 November. The season finale on Hahnenkamm–Fleckalm–Pengelstein runs until 4 April 2027; the Kitzbüheler Horn closes on 21 March and the full ski connection on 29 March. The Hahnenkamm races are on 22–24 January 2027. Munich Airport is about 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours away by road – see Munich Airport to Kitzbühel and Kitzbühel transfers.

Austria: Salzburgerland (Saalbach, Zell am See–Kaprun)

The Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn runs from 27 November 2026 to 4 April 2027. In Zell am See–Kaprun, the Kitzsteinhorn glacier opened on 10 October 2026 and, according to the Austrian tourist board, runs into May 2027; the Schmittenhöhe above Zell am See starts on 4 December 2026. Both resorts are about 80–90 km, roughly 1.5 hours, from Salzburg Airport – see Salzburg Airport to Saalbach and Zell am See and the Saalbach and Zell am See transfer pages.

Resorts that have not published 2026/27 dates yet

When we checked the official resort websites at the end of October 2026, the following had not yet published opening dates for this winter, so they are not in the table: Borovets and Pamporovo in Bulgaria (Bansko’s lift company has since given 1 December 2026 to 11 April 2027), Kopaonik in Serbia, Jasná in Slovakia, St. Moritz and Davos Klosters in Switzerland, and Cortina d’Ampezzo, which Dolomiti Superski lists as “to be confirmed” while the rest of the Dolomites open from 28 November 2026. For transfers in the meantime, see our guides from Sofia Airport to Bansko, Borovets and Pamporovo, Belgrade Airport to Kopaonik and Zurich Airport to St. Moritz and Davos.

Opening weekends and transfers: what to expect

• Partial openings are normal. Kitzbühel, Chamonix and the Verbier 4 Vallées all open a few lifts or sectors first.
• Airport links start later than the lifts. Seasonal coaches such as Altibus from Geneva and Lyon, and many shared shuttles, start in mid-December, not on the resort’s opening day. If you go in November, plan on a train-and-bus combination or a pre-booked private transfer. Our ski transfer prices comparison shows the typical cost per route.
• Saturdays are busy from Christmas. Changeover days fill roads and shuttles from late December to Easter; in November and early December transfers are usually easier to book and the roads quieter.
• Dates can move. Every resort in the table says its dates depend on snow and weather. A warm autumn can push back the first weekend.

How we compiled these dates

We took every date from the lift company or the resort’s official tourist office (for example les3vallees.com, tignes.net, valdisere.com, ischgl.com, kitzski.at, mayrhofen.at and verbier4vallees.ch), and for some Austrian resorts from the Austrian National Tourist Office’s winter openings list, checked at the end of October 2026. We left out any resort without published 2026/27 dates instead of guessing from previous seasons. We will update the table as the remaining resorts announce their dates.

Tips for early-season ski trips

• Choose high or glacier resorts (Val Thorens, Tignes, Saas-Fee, Sölden, Kaprun, Zermatt) for November and early December – they have the most reliable snow.
• Check the resort’s live lift status a day or two before you travel rather than relying on the planned opening date.
• Book flexible accommodation if you can; resorts sometimes delay openings by a week.
• Pre-book your transfer if you land in the evening or on a Saturday, and give the operator your flight number so they can track delays.
• From 1 December 2026 the Austrian motorway vignette is digital only – your transfer company deals with it, but drivers in hire cars need to buy it online.