The major ski area on Hlidarfjall near Akureyri in northern Iceland opened for business this week. Three lifts on the mountain were opened for the first day of the skiing season and other lifts will become available if the weather permits.
The Hlidarfjall skiing area offers evening skiing from 4pm to 7pm on weekdays and the pistes are well lit. At weekends skiers can enjoy a full day on the slopes from 10am until 5pm.
The ski resort behind Dalvik also opened this week, offering free skiing to begin with. Ski passes will go on sale from December 9th.
Both resorts are relying on producing fake snow to get the season started. The fake snow at Hlidarfjall is financed by Vinir Hlidarfjalls (“Friends of Hlidarfjall”) and at Dalvik by Samherji, a local seafood company.
Meanwhile ski slopes in Europe have opened up to six weeks earlier this year thanks to a major snow storm which blew across the eastern Alps last month. Some resorts, such as Kitzbuhel in Austria, received over a metre of snow during the storm.