Ski season: when and where to ski, month by month

In the Northern Hemisphere, most resorts open in December and close in April, with the most reliable snow from mid January to mid March. In the Southern Hemisphere the season is June to September. January powder and March sunshine are very different holidays, so it is worth deciding which one you want before picking dates.

Month by month

• November: high resorts and glaciers open. A few Colorado resorts start in late October or early November, Whistler usually in the last week of November, often with only part of the mountain running.
• December: most of the Alps and Japan open. Snow early in the month is not guaranteed at lower resorts; Christmas week is reliable at altitude.
• January: cold and usually the best snow quality. Japan gets its heaviest snowfalls from mid January.
• February: the deepest base of the season in most places, and still cold.
• March: longer, sunnier days and softer snow in the afternoon. Base depths are at their highest, so high resorts are at their best.
• April: spring skiing on high slopes and glaciers, with lunch on the terrace. Low resorts close.
• June to September: skiing moves south, to New Zealand, Chile, Argentina and Australia, and to a few glaciers in the Alps.

The Alps

Resorts above 1,800 m, and those with glaciers, hold the most reliable snow. Zermatt skis from late November to early May on the main mountain, and its glacier is open almost all year. Chamonix has some of the steepest terrain in Europe and the off-piste Vallée Blanche, best from February to April. In Tyrol, the Hintertux glacier runs year-round, and resorts such as St. Anton and Ischgl run from early December to late April. The Dolomites link more than a thousand kilometres of runs in the Dolomiti Superski area, usually from early December to early April. Andorra and the rest of the Pyrenees have a similar season.

Japan

Niseko in Hokkaido and Hakuba in the Japan Alps are famous for light, deep powder. Cold winds from Siberia pick up moisture over the Sea of Japan and drop it as snow on the mountains, often every day in January and February. Both open in December and run into April or early May. Go mid January to mid February for the deepest snow, or March for more sunshine.

North America

Whistler usually opens in late November; Whistler Mountain closes in April and Blackcomb often keeps going into late May. The Colorado Rockies open around Thanksgiving and close in mid April; the snow there is dry because of the altitude and inland climate. In Banff, Lake Louise and Sunshine Village have one of the longest seasons in Canada, from November to May. In New England, resorts such as Stowe in Vermont run from late November to April, colder and icier than the West.

China and Korea

Chongli, north-west of Beijing, hosted most of the 2022 Winter Olympic snowboard, freestyle and cross-country events. Its resorts run from November to early April. Changbaishan in Jilin has some of the best natural snow in China, December to March.

Southern Hemisphere

• Queenstown, New Zealand: Coronet Peak and The Remarkables from mid June to early October; August is usually the most reliable.
• Mendoza, Argentina: Las Leñas, about 450 km to the south, from mid June to late September.
• Chile's resorts near Santiago, such as Valle Nevado, have the same June-to-September season.

Tips

• If your dates are fixed early in the season, choose a high resort or a glacier.
• Late season at a high resort often gives you good snow and much more sunshine than January.
• Book lessons and rentals ahead in peak weeks, particularly in February.