Austrian Glaciers Announce Late Spring Closure Dates

There’s still 2-3 months of the 24-25 ski season to go at seven Austrian glaciers which have now announced their likely closing dates in May and June in six cases, with one aiming to continue to stay open year-round.

The past week has also seen Austrian glaciers receive a big snowfall boost, with the Stubai among several posting more than a metre (40”) of snowfall in 36 hours at the end of last week.

Once open 365 days a year, Sölden which opened in early October last year,  will complete a seven month season on 1st May, while the Pitztal Glacier, which is home to the country’s highest slopes, will have been open nearly 8 months by its closing date on 5th May. The Kaunertal and Innsbruck’s closest glacier, Stubai, will stay open until 20th May and the Hintertux Glacier continues to stay open year-round.

Those five glaciers are in Tirol region. There are two more, the Molltal glacier in Carinthia is aiming to keep going through to 26^th May, the Kitzsteinhorn glacier in Salzburgerland to 2^nd June

Most of the glaciers are posting good snow depths, with the Kaunertal currently having Austria’s deepest at nearly 4 metres and most of the rest posting 3 metres (10 feet) plus lying on their runs.

Freestyle is a big part of spring snowsports on the glaciers and most put a lot of effort into their  snow parks, with kickers, jumps, pipes, rails and boxes ready to be tackled.

Betterpark Hintertux, which is open from mid-April to mid-June, is the highest and most snow-sure freestyle spot in Austria. There is everything for perfect jumps here, plus a changing jib setup. There’s also the Snowpark Kaunertal open from mid-April with the longest jibline in the Alps.

Last year the Alps saw some of their heaviest snowfall from march to may after a dry start to the season.