Summer skiing: a melting tradition
In the 1970s the lifts were running on dozens of Alpine glaciers in July. From 10 August 2026, a single area carries midsummer skiing in the Alps: the Stelvio Pass. What happened, and where can you ski right now?
Where can you ski in summer right now?
Zermatt
CH- Top elevation
- 3,883 m
- Operations
- Summer skiing suspended since 31 July 2026 (background)
Stelvio Pass
IT- Top elevation
- 3,450 m
- Operations
- late May to early November
Saas-Fee
CH- Top elevation
- 3,500 m
- Operations
- summer skiing: last day 9 August 2026 (background)
Hintertux
AT- Top elevation
- 3,250 m
- Operations
- paused in 2026: low demand and snow conditions
As of 6 August 2026. Season data depends on weather and snow conditions – always check current piste status before you travel.
The heyday (1960s–1980s)
After the war, the high glaciers were systematically opened up for summer skiing. The ice fields were considerably larger and reached further down – skiing in June and July was taken for granted on numerous glaciers. The 1970s were even a comparatively cool, snow-rich phase: on some glaciers, lift installations were buried by snow and migrated into the ice. Those very installations are resurfacing today, exposed by the melt, as “ghost lifts”.
The turn
The Swiss glacier surface roughly halved between 1973 and 2016. Where Alpine glaciers lost around one per cent of their volume a year between 1970 and 2000, since 2000 it has been two to three per cent a year. The hot years 2022 and 2023 alone cost around a tenth of the remaining ice mass.
Three turning points
- 2003 – Stubai pulls the plug: the summer of the century ends summer skiing at Austria’s largest glacier area.
- 2022 – The collapse summer: a snow-poor winter plus record heat, with rain above 4,000 m. Zermatt pauses for around 50 days, the Stelvio Pass for two months in the middle of high summer.
- 2023 – Removal becomes permanent: the Kitzsteinhorn ends summer operations and the surface lifts on the Dachstein are dismantled. Pauses turn into a permanent end.
Chronicle: abandoned summer ski areas (a Swiss selection)
- 1992Laax (Vorab)
- 1993St. Moritz / Corvatsch
- 1998St. Moritz / Diavolezza
- 1999 / 2013Verbier / Mont Fort
- 2004Glacier 3000 / Gstaad
- 2006Engelberg / Titlis
The full Alpine chronicle (AT/IT/FR) is available as a magazine piece.
Outlook
Glaciologists expect the Alpine glaciers to melt almost completely within this century – according to the IPCC, smaller glaciers will disappear almost regardless of the emissions pathway. For summer skiing that means the remaining areas will be fewer, higher and open for shorter periods. Summer skiing is becoming a niche for very high locations such as Zermatt.
Sources: GLAMOS / ETH Zurich, IPCC, NOAA, resort information (Zermatt Bergbahnen, S.I.F.A.S., Zillertaler Gletscherbahn) – compiled in the report “Das Ende des ewigen Schnees”, June 2026.