With snow forecast for much of lowland France this week, many are anxiously awaiting the start of the 2024/2025 ski season.
A few resorts are set to begin opening runs in November, while the majority will not start up again until the first or second weekends of December.
Here are some of the first opening dates in the Alps;
Saturday, November 23rd
Val Thorens resort, which is situated at 2,300m in altitude, will open on November 23rd. This year, the resort is expected to stay open until May 4th. The ski resort will also host a number of events this year, including the Ice Cross World Cup (December 5-7), and music festivals, like the 16th edition of the electronic music event, Festival'Tho, starting March 18th.
Tignes resort, also located at high-altitude, will start off the season on November 23rd, running until May 4th.
Grands-Montets resort, part of the Chamonix Mont-Blanc ski area, is also set to partially open during the fourth weekend of November, but this will be subject to weather conditions. The other resorts in the ski area are set to open during the first and second weekends of December, with a full opening scheduled for December 21st.
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Saturday, November 30th
Val d'Isère resort, the counterpart to Tignes, will start its ski season during the last weekend of November and keep going until May 4th.
Les 2 Alpes resort, located in Isère with a ski area going up to 3,600 metres, will open on November 30th and stay that way until May 4th.
Montgenèvre resort, located on the border with Italy, will open on November 30th and close on April 25th.
December start-dates
Alpe d'Huez resort will open on December 2nd, while 3 Vallées ski area, which includes the Méribel and Courchevel resorts, is set to open up liaisons between ski resorts the first weekend of December.
Méribel resort will open on December 7th, and Courcheval will open on December 6th.
Otherwise most other French ski resorts will be open (subject to weather conditions) by mid-to-late December.
READ MORE: Reader question: Is it worth booking a ski holiday in France?
What about the Pyrenees mountains?
Most resorts will open during the first and second weekends of December.
Two resorts have provisional opening dates on November 30th. These are the Les Angles resort, which reaches an altitude of 2,400m, as well as the Saint-Lary-Soulan resort.
What to expect this season in terms of snow and weather?
It is difficult to predict long-range weather patterns, but according to Meteo France's weather trend expectations for the next three months, there is a 50 percent chance of warmer than average temperatures.
However, they also said there was a 25 percent chance for colder temperatures, and a 25 percent chance that temperatures will stay within seasonal norms - so really, no-one is sure.
READ MORE: What can I do if I've booked a French skiing holiday and there's no snow?
In a separate document about weather tendencies for the 2024-2025 season, forecasters expected to see several high pressure systems over France in December, which could mean clearer and drier weather than normal.
Forecasters also expected that the high pressure systems may give way to more typical weather conditions starting in January, with February seeing a resumption in low pressure activity, meaning a higher likelihood of clouds and precipitation.
Overall, in the three-month trend expectations, forecasters did not give any indication of whether the winter will be overall more or less dry than previous ones.
If temperatures are high and there is little precipitation, France may experience a season similar to that of last year, which would spell problems for medium and low altitude resorts.
Two resorts have already announced that they will not reopen - Alpe du Grand Serre in Isère and Grand Puy in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence - and ski lifts will be dismantled. In both cases this is not because of specific weather conditions this year, but because they have been running at a loss for years and local authorities decided they could no longer subsidise them.
The La Sambuy resort, near Annecy, closed at the end of last season.
How did the 2023/24 season go?
Despite a cold spell in January, temperatures remained above seasonal averages last winter, creating problems for the weeks in February that are traditionally peak season for French ski resorts.
The Alps faired better in terms of snow than other French mountain ranges.
Nevertheless, snow was virtually non-existent in the Alpine valleys and, despite a few exceptions, at most medium elevation resorts, it was patchy. 'Significant' snow accumulations (greater than 50cm) were concentrated in areas 1,800m above sea level.
As for the Pyrenees, the situation was even worse.
The Pyrenees saw a 70 percent shortfall in snow cover in winter 2023/24 compared with the median of the last 20 years. In early February, only 3,935km of the mountain range was covered in snow. In comparison, the yearly median in early February is 13,087km of snow-cover.
In general, last winter in the Pyrenees has been marked by "few significant snow events, too often followed by rainy periods at high altitude", according to reporting by Actu Fr.
Due to the conditions, several resorts had to shut down runs at least temporarily.
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