Today in the Alps...

Updated: 12pm Sunday 28 September 2025 - Six alpine glaciers are open this weekend, with great snow conditions…

 

The fresh snow that fell at altitude in the Alps last week has vastly improved conditions in the Alps, with half a dozen glaciers now open for skiing this weekend.

Blue skies over slopes with fresh snow in Passo Stelvio, Italy – Weather to ski – Today in the Alps, 28 September 2025 Of the glacier areas open for skiing in the Alps, Passo Stelvio probably saw the most snow, with at least 30-40cm – 28 September 2025 – Photo: passostelvio.eu

In Austria, Sölden has postponed its opening until next weekend. However, the Hintertux glacier is back up and running, after an unscheduled late summer break due to poor snow. It is joined by the Pitztal glacier, which opened this weekend. In Switzerland, you can ski in Zermatt and Saas-Fee, and in Italy you can ski at Val Senales and Passo Stelvio. 

 

Note that the extent of skiing available in all the glacier areas open remains very limited. Indeed, at this time of year the glaciers are mostly used by race training camps with only the odd tourist. 

Blue skies and fresh snow on the Saas-Fee glacier, Switzerland – Weather to ski – Today in the Alps, 28 September 2025 Significant new snow and great skiing conditions on the glacier above Saas-Fee – 28 September 2025 – Photo: saas-fee.ch

Nonetheless, snow conditions are much improved, especially in Passo Stelvio, Val Senales, Zermatt and Saas Fee, all of which are located either on or to the south of the “main alpine ridge”, a natural dividing line between weather coming from the north and the south. As last week’s storms mostly came from the south, these were the glaciers that saw the most snow.

 

Pitztal and Hintertux are to the north of the ridge and, while they also saw some improvements, the direction of the storm meant that they received less snow than their counterparts further south.

 

Next week, the weather in the Alps is expected to be mostly dry to start with but, later in the week, cooler and more unstable conditions will approach the eastern Alps (i.e Austria), where there could be a few snow flurries at altitude. 

Fresh snow on the highest piste in the Alps in Zermatt, Switzerland – Weather to ski – Today in the Alps, 28 September 2025 Perfect snow conditions on the highest piste in the Alps in Zermatt (3899m), which is only open in the summer and autumn – 28 September 2025 – Photo: matterhornparadise.ch

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Updated: 12pm Thursday 25 September 2025 – More openings in the Alps with improving snow conditions on the glaciers…

 

As forecast a few days ago, it has been a relatively cool and unsettled week in the Alps with some moderate falls of snow high up on the glaciers.

Cloudy skies over the Passo Stelvio pass, with fresh snow on the ground – Weather to ski – Today in the Alps, 25 September 2025 Fresh snow on the Passo Stelvio pass, with considerably more up on the glacier – 25 September 2025 – Photo: pirovano.it

Just to be clear, these snow falls will have no bearing on how the main winter season might pan out, but they have greatly improved skiing conditions on the glaciers, more of which are due to open over the coming days/weeks.

 

Right now, you can ski on 4 glaciers in the Alps: in Switzerland, in Zermatt and Saas-Fee; and in Italy, in Passo Stelvio and Val Senales.

 

It is very unusual to have no Austrian glacier area open at this time of year, but this will soon change when Sölden kicks things off tomorrow (26 September) and Hintertux reopens on 27 September (after having been forced to close in early August due to insufficient snow).

 

The Pitztal glacier will also open for skiing from 27 September, with other Austrian glaciers like Stubai, Kitzsteinhorn and Mölltal scheduled to open in October. 

Updated: 11am Monday 22 September 2025 – Some welcome snow for the glaciers…

 

After another eye-catching warm spell at the end of last week, when temperatures again hit 30˚C in some lower alpine valleys, the weather broke again yesterday with showers and storms breaking out across much of the Alps. 

Cloud over the snow-covered glacier in Saas-Fee, Switzerland – Weather to ski – Today in the Alps, 22 September 2025 Thanks to yesterday’s storm, snow conditions on the glacier above Saas-Fee are much improved today – 22 September 2025 – Photo: saas-fee.ch

So far this September the weather in the Alps has seen notable hot spells interspersed with brief cooler periods with a few showers. This time around, the more autumnal weather looks set to stay for a while, with relatively cool temperatures and showers on the cards for most of the Alps this coming week.

 

This is good news for the glaciers, most of which will see welcome top-ups of snow over the next few days, with Hintertux and Pitztal expected to open for skiing on Saturday. These areas join Zermatt, Saas-Fee, Passo Stelvio and most recently Val Senales which opened last Friday. 

 

Note that in adverse weather and snow conditions glacier ski areas are subject to closure at short notice. Always check with the relevant tourist office or lift company before committing. 

Updated: 1pm Monday 8 September 2025 – Changeable weather in the Alps…

 

The weather in the Alps remains changeable. After occasional high altitude snowfalls last week, summer returned to the Alps at the weekend, with temperatures close to 30˚C in some lower valleys. However, this hot spell was briefer than originally forecast.

Cloudy skies over the Saas-Fee glacier in Switzerland – Weather to ski – Today in the Alps, 8 September 2025 Cloudy with a dusting of new snow on the Saas-Fee glacier today, but snow conditions remain less than ideal – 8 September 2025 – Photo: saas-fee.ch

More ‘normal’ temperatures and showers are on the cards over the coming days, meaning more bits and pieces of snow falling at high altitude. This may temporarily improve conditions again on some of the glacier though, fundamentally, they remain in poor shape after another exceptionally hot alpine summer.

 

Right now, weather-permitting, you can only ski on 3 European glaciers:

  • In Italy, the Passo Stelvio glacier is scheduled to close on 2 November 2025.
  • In Switzerland, both Saas-Fee and Zermatt are set to remain open throughout autumn. Note that access from the Italian side to the glacier area which Zermatt shares with Cervinia closed on 7 September.

 

As glacier ski areas are subject to closure at short notice in adverse weather and snow conditions, always check with the relevant tourist office or lift company before committing. 

Updated: 3pm Monday 1 September 2025 - Snow is falling across some higher parts of the Alps…

 

After another very hot summer in the Alps, the weather has now turned more autumnal in recent days, with fresh snow falling at high altitude. This unsettled weather will continue until Friday before warmer and sunnier conditions return at the weekend. 

Fresh snow on the tables and ground at 3000m altitude in La Plagne, France – Weather to ski – Today in the Alps, 1 September 2025 Fresh snow at 3000m in La Plagne – 1 September 2025 – Photo: laplagne.com

While any fresh snow on the glaciers at this time of year is welcome, it can’t disguise the fact that the Alps have endured yet another torrid summer, with increasingly poor conditions in the few alpine resorts which still offer summer skiing.

 

Indeed, the glacier at Hintertux – traditionally one of the most reliable for snow in the Alps and usually open 365 days a year – was forced to suspend operations shortly after our last report in early August and is set to reopen at an unconfirmed date in September.

 

Right now, weather-permitting, you can only ski on 3 European glaciers:

  • In Italy, the Passo Stelvio glacier is scheduled to close on 2 November 2025.
  • In Switzerland, both Saas-Fee and Zermatt are set to remain open throughout autumn. Note that access from the Italian side to the glacier area which Zermatt shares with Cervinia is only open until 7 September.

 

Note that glacier ski areas are subject to closure at short notice in adverse weather and snow conditions. Always check with the relevant tourist office or lift company before committing. 

Updated: 10am Friday 1 August 2025 – Summer skiing conditions in the Alps are temporarily improved…

 

Thanks to July snowfalls, summer skiing conditions are temporarily improved in the four summer ski areas currently open in in the Alps: namely Hintertux in Austria, Passo Stelvio in Italy, and Saas-Fee and Zermatt in Switzerland, the latter also accessible via Cervinia in Italy. 

View of blue skies over the snow-covered slopes of the glacier in Saas-Fee during its summer ski season – Weather to ski – Today in the Alps, 1 August 2025 Fresh snow has improved snow conditions on the glacier in Saas-Fee, for now at least – 1 August 2025 – Photo: saas-fee.ch

After a very hot start to the Alpine summer, which saw rapidly deteriorating snow conditions on the glaciers, the weather in the Alps turned cooler in the second week of July, allowing for temperatures more like the long-term average, making July 2025 an outlier compared with recent years.

 

Thanks to generally above average precipitation and some fresh snowfalls at high altitudes, summer snow conditions have improved and, for now, are not as bad as had been feared a few weeks ago.

 

That’s the good news. The bad news is that the improvement to snow conditions on the Alpine glaciers is only temporary and that August is likely to be hot, and potentially very hot, again.

 

Summer skiing will continue in the four ski areas currently open, but snow conditions will deteriorate again as temperatures rise, with the glaciers likely to look increasingly threadbare again as the month progresses.

 

Read more in our blog on the Top 5 places to ski in the Alps in August