2026 Summer Skiing Ends Across the Northern Hemisphere as Passo Stelvio Last To Shut Down

The Northern Hemisphere’s last remaining summer ski area, Passo Stelvio in Italy, has temporarilly suspended operations due to extreme heat impacting snow cover, marking the first time in modern skiing history that no outdoor lift‑served summer skiing is available anywhere north of the equator.

Stelvio’s shutdown follows weeks of unusually high temperatures at altitude, a lack of overnight refreezing, and repeated storms that destabilised the glacier surface. Operators said conditions could no longer meet required safety standards.

The closure completes a rapid sequence across the Alps. Switzerland's Saas‑Fee halted summer skiing on 10 August, citing freezing levels near 5,000 m and deteriorating glacier infrastructure. Zermatt‑Cervinia, now the world’s final year‑round outdoor ski area, suspended public summer skiing at the beginning of August after a prolonged heatwave prevented overnight refreezing on the Theodul Glacier. Austria’s Hintertux had announced earlier in the year that it would not attempt to operate in August this year.

Further north, Norway’s Galdhøpiggen, one of Scandinavia’s two remaining summer‑ski options, also closed for its warm‑season break, leaving no remaining outdoor glacier operations in Europe.

Although summer skiing options have been in decline for three decades now, this is believed to be the first time since lift-accessed summer skiing started in the mid 20^th century that no centre is able to operate.  Even during the 2020–21 pandemic, Zermatt managed to remain open, and in the last similar hot summer in 2022, Austria’s Hintertux continued operating through record summer heat when all other areas closed thanks to a snowmaking system on its glacier. This year, however, sustained high temperatures across Western Europe have pushed freezing levels to unprecedented heights, stripping glaciers of snow cover and exposing bare ice.

Saas-Fee, Passo Stelvio and Zermatt all say they'll re-open summer slopes as soon as conditions improve. Three Austrian glaciers all plan to start their 26-27 seasons next month too.