Norway’s Galdhøpiggen Shuts Until September After Summer Snow Loss

• Only Three Alpine Glaciers Still Open as Global Summer Skiing Draws to a Close
• Saas-Fee, Zermatt, Stelvio Hold On With Limited Mid-August Terrain
• Timberline Ends Nine-Month Season, Closing North America’s Last Slopes
• US Resorts Eye November Openings Amid Early La Niña Hopes

NORTHERN HEMISPHERE INTRO

We’re down to just three centres offering outdoor lift-served skiing in the Northern Hemisphere this week, now all in Europe’s Alps, the lowest number of 2025 so far. The last centre that had been open in North America ended its season on Sunday, leaving Europe the only continent where you can still take a lift up and ski down a snowy slope in the open air (indoors, you can in New Jersey, USA, and at dozens of locations in Asia!). The three European options are in the Italian and Swiss Alps. As you’d expect for mid-August, weather conditions have more to do with the snowpacks surviving the summer heat this week than seeing fresh snowfall. The one centre that had been open up in Norway, on Scandinavia’s highest slopes, has announced it has closed down for a month until the season starts to turn in late September.

ALPS REPORT

With Austria’s formerly year-round Hintertux glacier ski area still closed through August, there’s no change in the choice of three Alpine glacier ski areas currently open for skiing. Switzerland’s Zermatt (0/120cm / 0/48”) and Saas-Fee (0/200cm / 0/80”), along with Italy’s Passo Stelvio (0/80cm / 0/32”), are still posting the same snow depths and available terrain (about 14km / 9 miles each for the two Swiss areas, 7km / 4 miles in Italy). It has, though, been a little warmer this past week than the one previously, with the freezing point rising back up to 3,500–4,500m. That meant that the few showers that passed through at the end of last week were light rain rather than snow at most levels. Things have turned a little colder and more unsettled in recent days, though, bringing hope of some fresh glacier snow.

ALPS FORECAST

Though there’s more sunshine forecast, there’s also some precipitation, but with the freezing point above 4,000m, rain and sleet look more likely than snowfall at high levels at present. Despite that, glacier centres may get snow at times, especially towards the weekend, with 5–10cm (2–4”) expected to refresh cover.

SCANDINAVIA REPORT

After some light rain showers at the end of last week, Scandinavia’s only still-open glacier ski area, Galdhøpiggen (0/40cm / 0/16”), has been reporting mostly dry conditions with plenty of sunshine. Conditions had remained skiable, though variable, with occasional rain at lower elevations, but the centre announced on Monday that it would cease ski operations for a month through to September 19th, by which time conditions should be more autumnal. Overnight lows on the region’s highest slopes have still been dropping one to five degrees below freezing, but daytime highs have been up to +10°C or more. The centre’s snow depth, which had held up well and even seen some top-ups through the summer to date, has dropped again to its lowest level reported so far in 2025.

SCANDINAVIA FORECAST

Forecast cooler temperatures at Galdhøpiggen Glacier should mean light snowfall midweek, with up to 7cm (3”) forecast by Friday. Temperatures range from 0°C to 10°C, with freezing levels around 1,900–2,200m.

USA REPORT

America’s 2024–25 season of lift-accessed skiing finally ended last weekend when Timberline on Mt. Hood in Oregon, which had, as usual, been the last centre still open after a nine-month-long season, finally decided to end its run. Its Palmer Snowfield was down to about a foot of snow left and about a mile of slope by that point.

Ironically, the Western US has finally seen cooler weather just as it was closing, with clouds appearing at last and rain showers, with rumours of a few snowflakes spotted on higher ground. Although there remains high-altitude terrain that determined tourers can hike up to, the only organised outdoor snowsports left in North America for a few more weeks is the hike-to terrain park at Copper Mountain, where the snow is reported to be “holding up well.” It remains open to the public Fridays to Sundays and reserved for those attending private camps at the resort’s Woodward facility Mondays to Thursdays. On social media, though, there are increasing signs of resorts now looking to the start of the 2025–26 season.

The Arizona Snowbowl, which opened into June this year for the first time ever, and Utah’s highest slopes were among those announcing November opening dates, now just three months away. Most American ski media have also moved from expecting a neutral El Niño/La Niña winter to a rising hope of a weak La Niña, which could potentially be a little snowier than hoped. The Farmer’s Almanac predictions for the winter, based on natural signs rather than modern meteorological science, are calling for colder-than-average temperatures and snowy weather in North America’s central and eastern regions, warmer in the west. Ski areas in the Northeast are clearly excited by the forecast. The only other thing to mention is that wildfires are burning close to ski areas again, with Idaho’s Tamarack resort currently near a blaze.

USA FORECAST

Warm and mostly dry across Colorado’s high country, with daytime highs reaching 77–86°F and lows around 35–43°F. No significant snowfall expected, though isolated showers may pass through mountain zones.