6–8 November: four glacier ski tests in Tyrol and Salzburg, two of them free
Autumn skiing on the Tiefenbach glacier above Sölden on 7 November 2015. Photo: qwesy qwesy via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0, cropped.
From Friday 6 to Sunday 8 November 2026 four Austrian glaciers put the 2026-27 skis on the snow for the public. Kitzsteinhorn above Kaprun and the Stubai glacier lend test skis free with a lift pass and an ID. Pitztal sells a one-day test pass for €30; the Swiss brand MACH SKI runs a hotel package in Sölden from CHF 599. Nine brands stand at the Kitzsteinhorn rack. The snow is thin: 20 to 75 cm on the glaciers as of Wednesday 4 November.
In short
- Kitzsteinhorn Ski & Board Test, Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 November from 9 a.m., free, nine brands, pick-up at the Alpincenter at 2,450 m.
- Stubai Zoo Park & Test Days, 6 to 8 November, free with a lift pass; the test area at Eisgrat opens Saturday 9:00–15:30 and Sunday 9:00–15:00.
- Pitztal Testival by Sport Förg, 6 to 8 November: €30 for a one-day test pass on site, €159 or €199 with a two- or three-day lift pass.
- MACH SKI test weekend in Sölden, 6 to 9 November: hotel packages from CHF 599 for two nights, places limited.
- Snow on 4 November: Kitzsteinhorn 75 cm at 3,029 m, Sölden 50 cm at 3,000 m, Stubai 20 cm at 3,000 m.
Four tests, two of them free
| Event | Dates and hours | Where | Cost | Organiser |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kitzsteinhorn Ski & Board Test | Sat 7 and Sun 8 November, from 9 a.m. | Alpincenter, 2,450 m, Kaprun | Free, photo ID, subject to availability | Gletscherbahnen Kaprun with Bründl Sports |
| Stubai Zoo Park & Test Days | Fri 6 to Sun 8 November; test area Sat 9:00–15:30, Sun 9:00–15:00 | Eisgrat, about 2,900 m, Stubai glacier | Free with a valid lift pass and ID | Stubaier Gletscher with the brands |
| Pitztal Testival by Sport Förg | Fri 6 to Sun 8 November, from 9 a.m. | Pitztal glacier, St. Leonhard | €30 one-day test pass on site; €159 (2 days) or €199 (3 days) with lift pass | Pitztaler Gletscherbahn with Sport Förg |
| MACH SKI test weekend | Fri 6 to Sun 8 or Mon 9 November | Rettenbach and Tiefenbach glaciers, Sölden | From CHF 599 (2 nights) or CHF 799 (3 nights) per person, with lift pass and test skis | MACH SKI, booked online |
The weekend follows the Dutch Winteropening on the Tiefenbach glacier, which ran from Saturday 31 October to Tuesday 3 November with more than 1,000 pairs of test skis; Skiinformatie.nl reported on 31 October that the organiser expected over a thousand Dutch visitors.
Kitzsteinhorn: nine brands, walk up with an ID
The Kitzsteinhorn event page names the brands at the test: Atomic, Blizzard, Fischer, Head, Julbo, Nitro, Salomon, Van Deer-Red Bull Sports and Völkl. The test equipment is handed out at the Alpincenter at 2,450 m from 9 a.m. on both days, subject to availability and against a photo ID. There is no registration. The lift company runs the test with Bründl Sports, the Kaprun retailer, which calls it a partner event.
On Saturday 7 November from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. the Cash4Tricks contest in the Glacier Park at 2,900 m pays cash per landed trick, from a pot of €1,500, with free registration on site.
Stubai: a park weekend with three ski brands
The Stubai glacier combines its test days with the opening of the Stubai Zoo snow park. The test area at Eisgrat opens Saturday 9:00–15:30 and Sunday 9:00–15:00. With a valid lift pass the whole event is free, the lift company's page says; an ID is all a tester needs.
The twelve brand logos on the page lean towards snowboards: Armada, Faction and Salomon are the only ski brands next to Bataleon, Bent Metal, Burton, Capita, Deeluxe, Gnu, Lib Tech, Rome and Union. The programme adds park sessions with Halldor Helgason on Saturday and with Snowboarder MBM and Prime Skiing on Sunday, plus a film premiere in Neustift on Friday evening; X-ACES published the timetable on 30 October.
Pitztal and Sölden: the paid options
The Pitztal Testival opens the winter season on Tyrol's highest glacier. The retailer Sport Förg runs the test station. A one-day test pass costs €30 and is sold on site only. The packages with a lift pass cost €159 for two days and €199 for three days, with workshops included. The brand list on the tourism pages (Atomic, Blizzard, Fischer, Head, Elan, Nordica, Salomon, Völkl, Stöckli) still carries the 2025 heading, so treat it as last year's list.
MACH SKI, the Swiss brand of handmade skis, sells its Sölden test weekend as a hotel package. Two nights cost from CHF 599 and three nights from CHF 799 per person, with half board, the lift pass and the test skis from the glacier test centre on the Rettenbach. Places are limited; booking runs through the brand's web shop.
How much snow is on the glaciers
The glaciers are open, but the cover is thin. The operators' snow reports of Wednesday 4 November give these figures.
| Glacier | Lifts and runs open | Snow depth | Last snowfall |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitzsteinhorn | 12 lifts, 6 runs, skiing down to the Alpincenter | 75 cm at 3,029 m, 50 cm at 2,450 m, 0 cm at 1,976 m | Not stated |
| Stubai glacier | 14 of 25 lifts, 11 of 40 runs | 20 cm at 3,000 m, 0 cm at 1,700 m | 1 November |
| Sölden | 12 of 31 lifts | 50 cm at 3,000 m, 5 cm at Giggijoch, 0 cm in the village | 25 October; next snow forecast for 7 November |
| Pitztal glacier | All lifts | 30 cm on the mountain | Not stated |
Thomas Maierhofer of Gletscherbahnen Kaprun told the regional weekly Tips on 12 October that the season started on schedule thanks to the company's snow management. Snowplaza lists all four events in its overview of opening weekends.
What to test on a glacier in November
A glacier test in November happens on firm, groomed snow at 2,500 to 3,000 m, often machine-made or stored since spring. That favours skis that live on the piste: a slalom carver of 65 to 70 mm with a radius of 12 to 14 m, or a frontside ski of 72 to 80 mm for longer turns. A 100 mm freeride ski tells you little on that surface.
Most brands at the free tests are in our catalog. Carvers that fit a glacier day are the Head Supershape e-Magnum, the Atomic Redster X9 S, the Rossignol Forza 60 Ti and the Blizzard Firebird SRC. Take your own boots and ask for your usual length first. The Pick-a-Ski tool narrows the rack to the skis that match your level before you drive up.
Sources
- Event and snow-report pages of Gletscherbahnen Kaprun, Bründl Sports, Stubaier Gletscher, Tirol Werbung, TVB Pitztal, MACH SKI, Ötztal Tourismus and Double Dutch, read 4 November 2026
- X-ACES, 30 October 2026; Snowplaza, opening-weekends overview 2026; Skiinformatie.nl, 31 October 2026; Tips, 12 October 2026
