Magazine
Two streams, deliberately kept apart: News are dated reports on snow conditions, glaciers and lift operations. Explainers are pieces that will still be correct in two years. Honestly researched, sources in the open.
News
Dated reports, newest first
Saas-Fee stops too: from Monday, Switzerland has no summer skiing at all
9 August is the last operating day. From 10 August the Fee glacier stands still. That takes out the second and last Swiss summer ski area – and leaves exactly one in the entire Alps.
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Alpine weather outlook: the next 14 days, honestly calculated
The freezing level does not drop below 3,950 metres once in the coming fortnight. What that means for Zermatt, Saas-Fee and the Stelvio Pass – and from which day a 14-day outlook stops being a forecast.
Hintertux gives up year-round skiing: the end of an era in four steps
Austria's only 365-day ski area closed from mid-July in 2026. The retreat played out over four summers and shows how these endings actually happen: not with an announcement, but with ever longer pauses.
When do Swiss ski resorts open for winter 2026/27?
Four resorts start in October, nine in November, 72 not until December. The announced dates, the pattern behind them, and an honest answer to how binding a date announced in August really is.
Europe’s hot summer 2026: what really was a record and what was not
Seven national heat records, 42,000 hectares of wildfire in the Gironde, summer skiing halted in Zermatt. A stocktake of the European summer of 2026 – and a correction on two countries that keep getting named.
Five metres in eight days: the record storm in the Andes
Between 15 and 23 July 2026, Portillo received almost an entire season’s snow at once. For the ski areas it is an exceptional winter; for the valleys below it is a disaster with 13 dead. What happened.
Where people are skiing right now: the southern hemisphere in August 2026
While the Alpine glaciers stand still, the southern hemisphere is in peak season. The Andes are swimming in snow, Australia is fighting dry weather, New Zealand sits in between. The overview with current figures.
Zermatt halts summer skiing: too warm, too little night frost
Zermatt Bergbahnen shut down skiing on the Theodul glacier on 31 July 2026. Switzerland’s last year-round ski area is out of action for now. What happened, and where you can still ski.
New lifts for 2026/27: what is happening on the building sites this summer
Zermatt is building the Patrullarve chairlift, a new access cableway is going up in the Trift, and Ischgl/Samnaun is investing 50 million. An overview of this summer’s construction work.
El Niño is back: what it means for the 2026/27 winter – and what it does not
The Pacific is running hot: +2.1 °C in the Niño index, and NOAA expects a strong El Niño event. What that climate signal is worth for the Alpine winter – an honest assessment.
Glacier situation in the hot July of 2026: what GLAMOS measures – and why it is serious
The glacier loss day fell on 29 June in 2026 – almost as early as in the record year 2022. What the measurements mean and what they imply for the ski autumn.
Where can you still ski in August 2026?
Update from 6 August: after Zermatt, Saas-Fee is stopping too, with 9 August the last day. That leaves only the Stelvio Pass in the Alps. Where the lifts are running and what you need to know.
Explainers
By topic, stays valid
What does a kilometre of machine-made snow cost in water and power?
65 gigawatt hours of electricity and 13 billion litres of water per winter in Switzerland. We broke the figures down to a single kilometre of piste, cross-checked them – and found a contradiction the industry itself concedes.
Weather or climate? The difference in five minutes
Record snow in Chile, record heat in Europe – both in the same month. Why that is not a contradiction, what separates weather from climate, and how to tell whether a claim is serious.
What does skiing in Switzerland actually cost?
Day passes from CHF 40 to 95, median 57. What a ski day really costs once you add travel and food, where you get the most piste per franc, and which discounts are worth it. Numbers from all 85 resorts.
Season passes 2026/27: where buying early really pays off
Magic Pass from CHF 419, dynamic pricing everywhere: an overview of Switzerland’s season pass landscape – and the three rules that make early buying work.
Why Zermatt had to close and Saas-Fee did not
Zermatt reaches 3,899 m and shut down first. Saas-Fee tops out at 3,600 m and lasted longer; the Stelvio Pass at 3,450 m is the only one still running. Why the altitude figure everyone quotes is the wrong number, and which three factors actually decide it.
Chronicle: the summer ski areas that no longer exist
In the 1980s the lifts were running in July on more than 20 Alpine glaciers. Today there are three. The chronicle of a quiet disappearance – from Laax in 1992 to the Kitzsteinhorn in 2023.
Why 2022 was the collapse summer
Around 6 per cent of Swiss glacier ice disappeared in a single year. 2022 was the summer that broke summer skiing – the anatomy of an extreme year.
