Summer Skiing in the Alps, Scandinavia, North America & Beyond
12th June 2026
Last modified on June 26th, 2026
Another ski resort in the Alps has opened for summer glacier skiing. There’s some skiing in Scandinavia and North America with a resort in Canada opening some slopes for summer. UPDATED
Tignes in France opened last Saturday and it brings the total number of glacier ski areas in France to three, as it joins Val d’Isere and Les2Alpes.
It plans to open runs on the Grande Motte glacier from 20th June to 19th July, but that is dependent on conditions.
It has been a pretty good month so far in the Alps with some snow and cool temperatures, but it is the freezing level has risen to well over 4,000m in the current heatwave gripping parts of Europe.
“There remains some uncertainty as to exactly how long the extreme heat in the Alps will last, however, most models agree that heatwave conditions are likely for at least a week and, quite likely, much longer,” said Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk.
“This second bout of exceptionally hot weather in the Alps is obviously not good news for the glaciers where, after a generally good spring and early summer skiing season, snow conditions have started to and will continue to deteriorate at increasing pace over the coming days.”
France currently has the most lift-served skiing of anywhere in the northern hemisphere.
Another resort that opened for some skiing and snowboarding last weekend was Sunshine Village in Canada.
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The resort shut on 18th May and it reopens for a short summer stint that will run into July.
“Our decision to host summer skiing is thanks to record snowfall,” said the resort.
There is currently a mid-mountain base of 1.82m and 2.38m on the upper slopes.
“This season has been a bit of a fairy tale and we couldn’t have written it to be as great as it has turned out to be if we had tried,” said the vice-president of brand and communications for Sunshine, Kendra Scurfield.
“It won’t be like deep powder turns during summer skiing, but it will be slushy summer skiing – high vibes – and just with the novelty of skiing in July in the Canadian Rockies,” she added.
It’s only the third time the area has been able to open some slopes for summer skiing in nearly 100 years of operations.
There are 10 ski runs on offer and three terrain parks.
Sunshine Village remains cool with temperatures at –5 to +3 °C on the upper slopes and there have been a few light snow showers.
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Back in the Alps, Val d’Isère opened for summer skiing on June 6th.
It had initially announced a three week opening, but now says it hopes to offer summer glacier skiing for five weeks to 12th July if conditions permit.
The resort offers skiing and riding on the Pisaillas Glacier accessed via the Col de l’Iseran, with slopes divided up between race team training and the general skiing public.
Summer ski terrain is located between 2,725 m and 3,197 m and served by the Cascade chairlift and Montets drag lifts.
Three runs open to the public:
- Moraine
- Montet
- Combe du Géant
Our Tignes and Val d’Isere winter snow reporter, Steve Angus, has sent us these images and videos from the slopes:
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Summer skiing in Val d’Isere. Image © Steve Angus/PlanetSKI
Summer skiing in Val d’Isere. Image © Steve Angus/PlanetSKI
Summer skiing in Val d’Isere. Image © Steve Angus/PlanetSKI
Summer skiing in Val d’Isere. Image © Steve Angus/PlanetSKI
Steve’s 12-year old daughter, Olivia, has been out on the slopes race training.
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And here are some images from Olivia:
Summer skiing in Val d’Isere. Image © Olivia Angus/PlanetSKI
Summer skiing in Val d’Isere. Image © Olivia Angus/PlanetSKI
Other resorts open in the Alps:
- Zermatt/Cervinia (Switzerland/Italy)
- Hintertux (Austria)
- Les2Alpes (France)
- Passo Stelvio (Italy)
The glacier area of Zermatt/Cervinia is now the only ski area in the Alps that aims to be open 365 days a year.
It can be accessed from the Swiss and Italian sides.
Cervinia made its announcement of year-round skiing earlier as a new lift improves access.
Cervinia, Italy. Image c/o Warren Smith Ski Academy.
Hintertux in Austria used to try to open all year.
It remains open at the moment, but it is now set to close on 26th July.
“After that, we’ll enjoy the glacier summer to the fullest off the slopes,” said the resort.
Skiing is expected to restart in September 2026 and the ‘Hintertux Park Opening’ is scheduled for early October.
Hintertux does not say whether this is a permanent end to year-round skiing, or just for this year.
The French resort of Les2Alpes remains open for spring and summer skiing.
Some areas are restricted for race training only, but other slopes are open to the general public with the fun park open.
The glacier is in good condition for the time of year.
The resort is open until July 5th so the snow last month has set things up well.
Les2Alpes, 12th May 2026. Image c/o Les2Alpes tourist office.
Passo Stelvio in Italy offers glacier skiing across the summer months and is hoping to stay open until the end of October.
It can have up to 20km of pistes open between 2,758m and 3,450m, though this usually goes down as the conditions deteriorate.
Another ski area that will be open later in the summer is Saas-Fee:
- Saas-Fee in Switzerland (18th July to 31st October)
For a detailed look at the options in June see this article from our good friends over at weathertoski.co.uk:
In Scandinavia, the Galdhopiggen Sommerskisenter is currently open in Norway, though Stryn has now shut.
Riksgransen in Sweden has been open open this month for weekends only (Thursday to Sunday), but it closed last weekend on the summer solstice.
Resorts open in North America:
USA
- Timberline Lodge, Oregon
- Beartooth Basin, Wyoming
Canada
- Banff Sunshine Village, Alberta (re-opens June 20th to July 5th)
See here for PlanetSKI related report on conditions in Australia and New Zealand:
In South America, Cerro Bayo in Argentina is open with other areas, including Las Lenas, fnow open.
In Chile, Portillo opened last weekend.
Do check back for the latest updates…
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