European Skiers Catch Powder Turns Amid Massive, Unseasonal Storm

Well, it’s happening—people are skiing fresh snow in Europe. And no, we aren’t talking about turf fields, manky glaciers, or futuristic snowmaking machines that can run when it's 70 degrees outside. This is real skiing on real mountains.

An Austrian ski area (Hochkönig, located near Salzburg) fired up one of its lifts this past weekend, September 14-15, 2024, after a storm deposited several feet of snow throughout the mountains. It’s nothing too fancy—the lift, called Arthurhaus, is humble, covering about 200 feet of vertical. But, given the time of year, I doubt the skiers who lined up to catch some pre-pre-season turns were complaining about the terrain on offer. The ski area aims to remain open until September 22nd, 2024.

Tao Kreibich, a professional skier from Austria, caught some freshies, too, as illustrated in a series of seasonally confused Instagram videos. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve assumed they were filmed in late October or November. The wackiness wasn’t lost on Kreibich. “September are you drunk?” he wrote in the caption of one of his videos.

Kreibich has spent the past few days skiing and touring near Innsbruck, Austria. Over email, he explained what the conditions looked like.

"The snow was actually insane. I have never seen so much snow in September since I can remember. It snowed to about 800m, and there was about one meter of fresh on 1500m," he wrote. "I've never seen such good coverage from just one dump—it was almost impossible to go through and touch rocks. I did one solo ski tour, which was a proper storm day, it felt like in January."

"Skiing this kind of snow in the forests in September was absolutely unreal—we had two winters where we had less snow on this elevation in February," he added.

Video: Tao Kreibich September, 2024 Powder Skiing

The Guardian reported that areas in Tirol, Austria, have been blanketed by up to three feet of snow, calling the situation “exceptional.” Exceptional, indeed—we’re still about a week out from the official start of Fall. Skiing Northern Hemisphere pow in mid-September is weird, no matter how you slice it.

While the notion of skiing in September may be celebratory, conditions throughout parts of Europe are dire. The storm—dubbed “Boris”—has led to heavy rainfall, flooding, and numerous evacuations. ÖBB, Austria’s national rail operator, has extended an urgent travel warning through September 19th. The operator advises against non-essential journeys within this window. CNN reported that Poland has declared a state of emergency amidst the storm.

Scott Duncan , a Scottish meteorologist, attributed the dramatic weather event to numerous factors on X.

“Let’s start with the background. It has been an exceptional summer for the Mediterranean Sea. Heat records have been broken,” he wrote. “Warmer sea surface temperatures allow more moisture to evaporate, like fuel for a storm. The warmer the water, the greater the evaporation.” Then, a historic cold wave from the Arctic collided with the available sources of heat and moisture. Duncan noted, "We already know Austria rainfall records are being pulverized."

Related: Fresh Snow Blankets European Mountains With More on the Way

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