Is January a Good Time to Ski in the Alps?
Published 7 Oct 2026
Yes, January is a good month to ski in the Alps, and on 15 winters of history it is the snowiest one. Across the 38 Austrian, Italian and Swiss resorts we track, January has more snowfall days than any other month at 32, and by 15 January 33 of the 38 had held a 30 cm or deeper base at mid-mountain in at least 14 of the last 15 winters. On 31 December that count is 22.
Two things sit underneath that answer. The five resorts that fall short in mid-January are not the low ones you would guess: four of them are Dolomite and Trentino resorts with a mid-mountain at 2,000 m or higher. And January is two different bookings. The median resort has 118.5 cm at mid-mountain on the 15th and 139 cm on the 31st, so the second half of the month is close to February snow, and the first half is not there yet.
Is January the snowiest month in the Alps?
By how often it snows, yes. A snowfall day here is a day on which the model records more than 1 cm of new snow at the resort’s mid-mountain elevation, averaged over the last 15 winters. Taking the median across all 38 resorts:
| Month | Median snowfall days, 38 resorts |
|---|---|
| November | 9.8 |
| December | 12.4 |
| January | 13.5 |
| February | 11.2 |
| March | 11.7 |
| April | 10.0 |
| May | 8.5 |
January has more snowfall days than December at all 38 resorts, more than February at 34 and more than March at 33. The first half of the month is the single snowiest fortnight in the dataset, with a median of 7.1 snowfall days against 6.5 in the first half of December and 6.3 in the first half of February.
The six resorts where January is not the snowiest month are the useful part. Two are near misses of a different kind: Obergurgl-Hochgurgl has 10.1 days in January against 10.3 in March, and the Stubai Glacier, modelled at 2,900 m, has 14.3 in January against 15.4 in May. The other four are Val Gardena, Corvara, Cortina d’Ampezzo and Madonna di Campiglio, and they have the four lowest January counts on the site, between 7.0 and 7.6 days, about half the median. At all four the count is higher in February, and at three of them higher again in March. The north and south guide describes the same pattern for the eastern end of the Italian side.
Snowfall days count how often it snows, not how much. For that you need the depth, and the depth is where the two halves of January come apart.
How deep is the snow in January?
Deeper every fortnight, and by the end of the month close to the February level. Each figure below is read on one snapshot date, the 15th for a first half and the last day of the month for a second, and is the median across the 38 resorts of each resort’s own median depth on that date.
| Snapshot date | Median depth, 38 resorts | Resorts at 30 cm+ in all 15 winters | In 14 or more |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 December | 71 cm | 15 | 20 |
| 31 December | 98.5 cm | 15 | 22 |
| 15 January | 118.5 cm | 25 | 33 |
| 31 January | 139 cm | 27 | 34 |
| 15 February | 145.5 cm | 30 | 38 |
| Last day of February | 142 cm | 32 | 38 |
All 38 resorts are deeper on 31 January than on 31 December, and the median gain is 36 cm. From 31 January to the end of February the median gain is 8 cm. January is the last month in which the base is still being built at speed. No resort we track has its deepest half-month in January, but the median resort reaches 88% of its own season peak by the 31st, against 62% on 31 December.
The reliability column moves earlier than the depth does. Between 31 December and 15 January, 21 resorts add at least one winter to their count and none loses one. Only the first half of December brings a bigger step, and it is why the answer for the week after New Year differs so much from the answer for Christmas week, which the Christmas, January and February guide covers from the price side.
After that the two halves split. Mid-January still leaves five resorts below 14 of 15, on a base that is 27 cm thinner at the median than a month later. By 31 January, 32 of the 38 resorts are within reach of their 15 February depth or already there: 32 are deeper on 15 February, four are level and two are shallower.
Which resorts are not a safe bet in January?
Five on 15 January, four by the 31st, and the list is not sorted by altitude.
| Resort | Mid-mountain | Winters of 15 with 30 cm+, 31 Dec | Winters, 15 Jan | Winters, 31 Jan | Winters, 15 Feb | Median depth, 15 Jan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Val Gardena | 2,000 m | 8 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 46 cm |
| Cortina d’Ampezzo | 2,470 m | 9 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 71 cm |
| Flachau | 1,450 m | 12 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 71 cm |
| Corvara | 2,198 m | 11 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 62 cm |
| Madonna di Campiglio | 2,000 m | 10 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 64 cm |
Flachau is the expected kind of exception, a low Salzburg resort, and it has caught up with its neighbours by the end of the month. The other four are the story. They sit between 2,000 m and 2,470 m, higher than seven resorts that clear 14 of 15 on the same date, and they are the four with the fewest January snowfall days. Corvara, on the Sella Ronda in Alta Badia, is the newest of them on this site and its record sits close to Val Gardena’s on the other side of the same massif.
This matters for how far the numbers can be trusted. Our history is modelled at each resort’s mid-mountain elevation, so altitude is an input, and “higher resorts score better” is partly built in. The Dolomite rows run against that input, not with it. The cleanest check is the seven resorts that share an identical 2,000 m mid-mountain: on 15 January they range from 46 cm at Val Gardena to 118 cm at Bormio, and from 11 of 15 winters to 15 of 15. None of that spread is height. The altitude guide works through why.
Two cautions before anyone crosses the Dolomites off. These are natural-snow figures and snowmaking is not modelled, so coverage on the pistes can be better than a 46 cm median suggests. And 13 of 15 is still a good record. The point is narrower: these four are the resorts where waiting for February changes the record most.
Are the low resorts good enough in January?
Reliable, yes, and noticeably thinner. Six Austrian resorts here have a mid-mountain below 1,800 m: Zell am See, Kitzbühel, Flachau, Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Mayrhofen and Seefeld in Tirol. All six stand at 12 of 15 on 31 December. By 15 January five of them are at 14 of 15, and none is at 15.
Their depth is the gap. On 15 January the six hold between 66 cm and 88 cm at mid-mountain against the site median of 118.5 cm, and on 31 January between 94 cm and 115 cm against 139 cm. That is well clear of the 30 cm threshold, and a thinner margin than the same week buys higher up.
Engelberg is the outlier in that band. Its mid-mountain point is Trübsee at 1,796 m, and it holds 126 cm there on 15 January with 15 of 15 winters and 14.8 snowfall days in the month, the third highest count on the site. Andermatt, also in central Switzerland, has the highest at 15.2. In the model, at least, where the resort sits is doing there what height does elsewhere.
January at all 38 resorts
Sorted by the count of winters on 15 January, then 31 January, then by depth.
| Resort | Mid-mountain, m | Winters of 15 with 30 cm+, 15 Jan | Winters, 31 Jan | Median depth in cm, 15 Jan | Depth in cm, 31 Jan | Snowfall days, Jan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saas-Fee | 2,980 | 15 | 15 | 174 | 214 | 12.1 |
| Zermatt | 2,582 | 15 | 15 | 160 | 174 | 12.3 |
| La Thuile | 2,200 | 15 | 15 | 158 | 170 | 14.1 |
| Andermatt | 2,206 | 15 | 15 | 157 | 181 | 15.2 |
| Courmayeur | 1,956 | 15 | 15 | 156 | 192 | 13.4 |
| Verbier | 2,200 | 15 | 15 | 153 | 194 | 13.4 |
| Grindelwald | 2,061 | 15 | 15 | 149 | 174 | 14.4 |
| Stubai Glacier | 2,900 | 15 | 15 | 139 | 158 | 14.3 |
| St. Moritz | 2,486 | 15 | 15 | 138 | 141 | 11.3 |
| St Anton am Arlberg | 2,085 | 15 | 15 | 133 | 151 | 14.2 |
| Crans-Montana | 2,200 | 15 | 15 | 130 | 165 | 12.7 |
| Obergurgl-Hochgurgl | 2,150 | 15 | 15 | 127 | 144 | 10.1 |
| Sölden | 2,284 | 15 | 15 | 126 | 146 | 13.5 |
| Engelberg | 1,796 | 15 | 15 | 126 | 151 | 14.8 |
| Laax | 2,228 | 15 | 15 | 123 | 151 | 14.5 |
| Hintertux Glacier | 2,660 | 15 | 15 | 120 | 145 | 13.8 |
| Ischgl | 2,320 | 15 | 15 | 119 | 150 | 14.2 |
| Bormio | 2,000 | 15 | 15 | 118 | 129 | 9.6 |
| Davos Klosters | 2,215 | 15 | 15 | 115 | 134 | 13.9 |
| Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis | 2,000 | 15 | 15 | 114 | 136 | 13.5 |
| Flumserberg | 2,020 | 15 | 15 | 110 | 140 | 14.3 |
| Kaprun | 2,450 | 15 | 15 | 106 | 138 | 14.5 |
| Lech-Zürs | 2,000 | 15 | 15 | 100 | 132 | 14.3 |
| Sauze d’Oulx | 2,000 | 15 | 15 | 80 | 106 | 10.1 |
| Obertauern | 2,000 | 15 | 15 | 76 | 96 | 15.0 |
| Sestriere | 2,400 | 14 | 15 | 80 | 106 | 9.8 |
| Seefeld in Tirol | 1,760 | 14 | 15 | 66 | 96 | 13.1 |
| Breuil-Cervinia | 2,750 | 14 | 14 | 147 | 160 | 13.2 |
| Livigno | 2,300 | 14 | 14 | 128 | 133 | 10.3 |
| Mayrhofen | 1,565 | 14 | 14 | 88 | 115 | 14.3 |
| Zell am See | 1,350 | 14 | 14 | 76 | 97 | 14.1 |
| Saalbach-Hinterglemm | 1,550 | 14 | 14 | 72 | 96 | 13.3 |
| Kitzbühel | 1,400 | 14 | 14 | 71 | 94 | 13.3 |
| Madonna di Campiglio | 2,000 | 13 | 13 | 64 | 84 | 7.6 |
| Corvara | 2,198 | 13 | 13 | 62 | 69 | 7.4 |
| Flachau | 1,450 | 12 | 14 | 71 | 95 | 14.5 |
| Cortina d’Ampezzo | 2,470 | 11 | 13 | 71 | 74 | 7.6 |
| Val Gardena | 2,000 | 11 | 13 | 46 | 56 | 7.0 |
Every one of these resorts has January inside its lift season: the latest opening date we hold falls in December and the earliest closing date in late March. None of this is temperature, daylight or price, which our data does not hold. The next three sections take those from measured sources.
How cold is skiing in January?
In the village, January is the coldest month of the year. On the mountain it usually is not, and the difference is worth knowing before you pack.
MeteoSwiss publishes 1991 to 2020 climate normals for stations in or beside three of the resorts on this site:
| Station | Altitude | Mean, Jan | Mean, Feb | Mean daily minimum, Jan | Ice days, Jan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davos (village) | 1,594 m | -4.7°C | -4.2°C | -8.8°C | 14.5 |
| Samedan (valley floor near St. Moritz) | 1,709 m | -8.4°C | -7.1°C | -15.8°C | 18.9 |
| Weissfluhjoch (above Davos) | 2,691 m | -7.8°C | -8.5°C | -10.4°C | 27.3 |
An ice day is one on which the temperature never rises above freezing. In Davos that is about half of January. At Weissfluhjoch, in the Parsenn ski area above Davos, it is 27 days of the 31.
The two valley stations are coldest in January. Weissfluhjoch is coldest in February, by 0.7°C. So the standard line that January is the coldest month to ski is true where you sleep and slightly wrong where you ski. Samedan also shows that a valley floor can be colder than a station almost a thousand metres above it.
How short are the days?
Short, and lengthening quickly. In Innsbruck the sun is up for 8 hours 33 minutes on 1 January and 9 hours 33 minutes on 31 January, with sunset moving from 16:34 to 17:14 (timeanddate.com). The month hands back about an hour of day.
Day length is not the same as sun on the snow, and steep valleys lose more than the calendar says. The same MeteoSwiss normals give Davos 112 hours of sunshine in January against 155.5 in March. Engelberg village, on a valley floor at 1,036 m under the Titlis, records 51.2 hours in January and 128.2 in March.
When in January is it quiet, and when is it cheap?
From the end of the Christmas school holidays to the end of the month.
In Austria the Christmas school holidays run from 24 December to 6 January in every federal state, and the one-week semester holidays are staggered by state across the first three weeks of February (Federal Ministry of Education, 2026/27 dates). Between the two there is no Austrian school holiday at all. Germany and the Netherlands, the two largest foreign markets for Austrian winter tourism, publish theirs by state and by region, and the dates shift each year, so check the German and Dutch calendars for the week you have in mind.
The overnight statistics show what that does to demand. Statistik Austria counted 16.43 million overnight stays in January 2026 and 18.09 million in February 2026, both preliminary figures for all Austrian accommodation, cities included. Divided by the days in each month, that is about 530,000 a night in January and 646,000 in February, so February was 22% busier per night. January’s figure includes the New Year week, so the gap for the weeks after 6 January is wider than that. The same release calls February traditionally the most important month of the winter season, with more than a quarter of all winter nights.
Lift pass pricing follows the same calendar where it is tiered. Dolomiti Superski’s 2025/26 tariff set high season as 21 December to 10 January and again 1 February to 21 March. The only regular-season days between those dates were 11 to 31 January, when the adult day pass was €77 instead of €86. Accommodation prices have no single published source we can cite, so this guide gives no figure for them. The comparison guide covers how the weeks rank.
What the January numbers cannot tell you
Modelled depth at one altitude is not piste condition. Every snow figure here comes from the Open-Meteo historical archive, queried at a single mid-mountain point per resort. It says nothing about the run back to the village, about wind-scoured ridges, or about what the groomers did overnight. The methodology page sets out the full recipe.
Snowmaking is not modelled. The figures are natural snow only. Real coverage on the main pistes is often better than these numbers.
The depth figures are two dates, not a month. Each half-month is read on the 15th or the last day, so nothing here describes the first week of January directly.
Fifteen winters is a short record. One winter moves a resort from 14 of 15 to 13 of 15. Treat a one-winter difference between two resorts as a tie. The longer station record points the same way for low ground: a peer-reviewed analysis of Alpine stations from 1971 to 2019 (Matiu et al. 2021) found snow depth declining most at lower elevations.
None of this is a forecast. The statistics describe what the last 15 winters did. They make no claim about any particular coming January, and a poor start to a season can leave even a 15 of 15 resort skiing on a thin base in the first week.
How should you book January?
- Pick the half before the resort. By the 31st the base is close to February’s at most resorts and the Austrian semester holidays have not started. The weeks straight after 6 January are outside the school holidays too, on a thinner base.
- In the first half, favour the 25 resorts at 15 of 15. They are the top of the table above, and they include Engelberg at 1,796 m and Courmayeur at 1,956 m, so this is not only a list of glaciers.
- At a low Austrian resort, book the second half. The six below 1,800 m gain 21 cm to 30 cm between the two snapshot dates, which is about a third more base for the same resort.
- For the Dolomites and Madonna di Campiglio, weigh February or March. Their snowfall-day counts are higher in February and March than in January, and all four reach 14 or 15 of 15 by mid-February. The March guide has the other half of that pattern.
Then check the live side of the site in the week before you travel. From late autumn each resort page shows the modelled and measured base, the 7-day forecast and the avalanche danger level for its region, rebuilt every morning.