May marks the end of the season in the northern hemisphere and the final weeks of the countdown to the start of the ski season in the southern hemisphere – which normally gets underway in early June.
In the lull between most northern hemisphere ski areas closing and the first southern hemisphere centres opening we traditionally see the fewest ski resorts open on the planet, usually getting down into single figures.
So by mid-May we now usually have more indoor snow centres open around the world than conventional outdoor ski areas.
Last Blast in the Alps
Most ski areas will have closed in the Alps by the start of May but about 1% will still keep operating for the first week or two of the month.
It can change each year but in Austria, the Pitztal and Solden glaciers usually stay open to early May while the Kaunertal (pictured above in late April 2023), Kitzsteinhorn and Molltal stay open until later in the month and the Stubai often into June, while Hintertux is open year round.
In France Tignes, Val d’Isere and Val Thorens are among the last to close, and Les 2 Alpes switches from winter to summer glaciers skiing through the month. In Italy Cervinia and Passo Tonale.
For Switzerland Adelboden, the Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz, Engelberg, and Glacier 3000 near Gstaad and Les Diablerets stay open a week or more into May, while Zermatt aims to stay open year-round.
Skiing and Snowboarding Under The Midnight Sun
One of the bucket list “things to do on skis before you die” – skiing or snowboarding under the midnight sun when ski slopes in the far north move into a period of 24-hour daylight, becomes possible at the Swedish resort of Riksgränsen about a third of the way into May. The centre runs its lifts for around 30 minutes or just after midnight on several evenings each week, so anyone up there then can ski or board under the midnight sun.
Elsewhere in Scandinavia
Scandinavia is home to the world’s most northerly ski areas which translates into low temperatures and snow falling later into spring, as well as a higher likelihood that snow quality will stay good later in the year. Most Norwegian and Swedish ski areas end their seasons right at the start of May (including Hemsedal, pictured top) but several ski centres up in Finnish Lapland stay open a week or so into May.
This is also the month when Norway’s three summer glacier ski areas at Folgefonn (“Fonna”), Stryn and Galdhopiggen, begin their annual seasons.
May Skiing in North America
With few glacier ski areas most Canadian and US ski areas decide in the early spring, depending on how the season has gone and whether there’s a lot of snow lying or not, if they’ll stay open into May and for how long, generating excitement from season extension announcements.
Some though, almost always do offer May skiing as the norm.
They include Timberline in Oregon, where there’s a ‘permanent snowfield’ (close in status to a glacier) where the US team, and others, train in spring. Some years it stays open through to early September. Fellow Oregon resort Mt Bachelor usually stays open through May.
Arapahoe Basin in Colorado is often open from late October to early June and in California Mammoth and The Palisades can stay open to June, July or even August. Also in the Western US, Crystal Mountain in Washington state and Snowbird (pictured above in mid-April 2023) and Brighton in Utah are reliable May openers, as are Breckenridge and Winter Park in Colorado.
On the East Coast Vermont’s Killington and Jay Peak also open for part of May most years.
North of the border Alberta’s Lake Louise and Marmot Basin are open for the first week of May with Sunshine at Banff (Pictured below) staying open for around three weeks, the same as Whistler Blackcomb in BC. Quebec’s Sommet St Sauveur sometime opens in May.
There’s also the Beartooth Basin summers I area usually opening in late May on the Oregon/Wyoming border.
Powering on Towards Summer Skiing
We’ve covered most of the glacier and summer ski areas in separate sections but it’s worth noting that while some ski areas see their seasons wind down in May, others are just getting started, or still have months to go.
In the Alps, it’s the Hintertux glacier in Austria, Zermatt’s ‘Glacier paradise” summer ski area and the summer-only Passo Stelvio area in Italy that meet these criteria.
In Norway, three summer glacier areas usually open in May. For the US there’s Beartooth Basin summer ski area as well as (some years) resorts like Mammoth in California and (most years) Timberline in Oregon.
Japan has the Gassan summer ski area.
Summer Only Areas Start Opening
As well as ski areas already open, a small number of ski areas open only in the late spring and summer months.
The only centre like this in the Alps is on the Stelvio Pass in Italy, which opens at the end of May and, snow permitting, stays open right through to the start of November.
As mentioned above, there are also three Norwegian ski areas that usually open from early May. The Stryn, Folgefonn and Galdhopiggen glaciers.
Over in the USA, as mentioned in the North America section above, Beartooth Basin opens for snowsports on the Montana/Wyoming border, the only North America summer-only centre and over in Japan there’s the Gassan ski area open from April to July.
Hit the Plastic or Head Indoors
May is one of the months when there are now more indoor snow centres around the world open than outdoor ones. There are more than 100 indoor centres in more than 30 countries now, with five in England. Dry ski slopes are even more numerous, with several hundred open in more than 50 countries, about a quarter of them in the UK.
Will Southern Hemisphere Ski Areas Open Early?
The first ski areas in the southern hemisphere to open for the season usually do so in early June, but if it’s a particularly cold and snowy spring there, resorts in Argentine, Australia, Chile or New Zealand have been known to bring forward their opening days to late May. Whether they do or not we can expect to see pre-season snowfalls and cold weather hyped on social media to get southern hemisphere skiers excited for the season ahead.
Argentina’s Cerro Castor below.
For the latest snow forecast and updates on where is best to ski now, as well as ski news, gear reviews and resort spotlights, you can check out our regular podcast here Apple | Spotify | Podcasts or search The White Out on your chosen podcast directory.