The region of Bavaria launched the ski season on Tuesday (24.11. 2015), with the first German ski resort opening in Grasgehren. The Ruhrquelle resort in North Rhine-Westphalia also begins its operations this weekend. Feldberg will activate their ski lifts on Friday, along with smaller resorts in the Black Forest High Road.

Some ski resorts in Austria will also be launching the season earlier than planned. The ski resort in Wilder Kaiser-Brixental will be open during the weekend. In Saalbach-Hinterglemm, the slopes of the Zwölferkogel, Bernkogel and Asitz will also be prepared to welcome skiers.

Most slopes in Zermatt in Switzerland and in the Oetztal in Austria are generally prepared by the end of November and early December. More downhill kilometers for skiers are already available in the glacier ski areas of Tirol.

More snowfall is expected in the coming days. Around 70 percent of the ski resorts in the Alps will be in operation by December 5, 2015.

ak/at (BR, Badische Zeitung, snowplaza)