Les 2 Alpes Boasts Deepest Snow in Northern Hemisphere – 290cm Still Holding Strong

• Summer Skiing Kicks Off in Val d’Isère as Five Alpine Glaciers Stay Open
• Hintertux Leads for Terrain With 27km Open Despite Soaring Alpine Temps
• Stryn Glacier Delivers Extra Cat Skiing Amid Scandinavia’s Summer Heat Surge
• Austria Down to One Glacier as Molltaler Ends Seven-Month Season Early

ALPS REPORT

There was some unsettled weather in the Alps at the weekend, leading Austria’s Molltaler Glacier to cancel the planned final day of its seven-month-long season on Sunday, so it effectively ended Saturday. But we still have five centres open in the Alps as Val d’Isère (0/150cm / 0/60”) began its four-week-long 2025 summer ski season. It joins Les 2 Alpes (0/290cm / 0/116") as a second French option, with both areas aiming to continue through to the first week of July. Les 2 Alpes has about 6km (3.5 miles) of slopes open between 3,200 and 3,600m altitudes and reports the deepest snow remaining on an open ski area in the northern hemisphere, even overtaking the one centre still open in Japan, Gassan (45/190cm / 18/76”). There are six runs open, with three accessible to everyone (Moraine, Montet, and Combe du Géant) and three reserved exclusively for club and national team training (Champions, Aiguille-Perse, and Pisaillas). The slopes are accessible via the Cascade chairlift and the Montets drag lift.

With Molltaler closed though, Austria has dropped to just one area open for the first time since last September. The year-round Hintertux (0/245cm / 0/98”) has, though, the most terrain open in the northern hemisphere, still reporting 27km (17 miles) of slopes open. Italy’s Passo Stelvio (10/180cm / 4/72”) has about 90% of its summer ski area open as the sole Italian centre currently operating. You can, though, access the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise ski slopes above Zermatt (0/120cm / 0/48") from the Cervinia/Italian side too; there are about 16km (10 miles) of slopes open there, including Europe's highest, up to 3,899m. The past few days have seen mostly warm and sunny conditions, with temperatures barely dipping to freezing even on high slopes. With the freezing point between 3,700 and 4,300m altitudes, it's been reaching the high single figures above freezing on glaciers in the afternoons, so the best conditions are definitely first thing.

ALPS FORECAST

Warm weather is forecast for the week ahead with mostly sunny skies, just the chance of some localised precipitation bubbling up in the afternoons. Unfortunately, the warm weather means that any light showers are more likely to be rain than sleet or snow. Overnight lows are getting close to freezing on the highest slopes but rarely getting below, with daytime highs hitting +10°C even up on glaciers.

SCANDINAVIA REPORT

Two of Scandinavia’s three summer glacier ski areas remain open, although temperatures have been quite warm in recent days, with afternoon highs of +10 to +15°C despite overnight lows dropping back towards freezing. The warmest temperatures have been reported at the Stryn glacier (120/200cm / 48/80"), which ran additional cat skiing sessions at the weekend. It’s slightly cooler at higher-altitude Galdhøpiggen (40/120cm / 16/48"). The third centre, Fonna, is believed to be planning some weekend cat skiing but doesn’t plan to open its lift this year following an ownership transition.

SCANDINAVIA FORECAST

Predominantly sunny skies are forecast for the remainder of the week, with temperatures swinging between -4 and +15°C. So, freeze-thaw conditions (max 1°C on Wed afternoon, min -5°C on Sun night) and winds will be generally light.