Saas Fee Suspends Summer Skiing as Hot Temperatures Take Their Toll
7th August 2026
Last modified on August 10th, 2026
It shut on Monday 10th August and follows Zermatt that closed at the beginning of the month. The only glacier ski area now open in the Alps is Passo Stelvio in Italy. The days of summer skiing in the Alps look numbered as climate change accelerates. UPDATED
Saas-Fee only opened for summer glacier skiing three weeks ago, but with the freezing level in the Alps at up to 5,000m in places and 30 degrees in the valleys the closure was inevitable.
“Due to the persistently high temperatures and the resulting changes in snow and glacier conditions, the summer ski area will be temporarily closed from Monday, Aug. 10, 2026, until further notice,” said the resort.
Despite extensive preparation work, the resort said that the current conditions no longer allow the slopes and glacier infrastructure to meet the required quality and safety standards.
Conditions are being monitored and resort will reopen as soon as conditions allow.
Saas-Fee is popular with race teams as they train for the winter ahead.
The resort said that teams with existing bookings will be contacted and refunds made.
It is forecast that the hot weather across the Alps will continue as high pressure dominates weather systems.
We have reported on the impact on the glaciers in a separate post:
It is expected that this summer in the Alps will be the warmest on record, with temperatyre records broken in June and July.
The sole remaining glacier ski area currently open, Passo Stelvio in Italy, is reported to be in “very poor condition”.
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“The snow is in a very sorry state here already and, given that the hot weather is forecast to continue, who knows how long it will remain open,” said Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk.
It can offer around 20kms for runs, but currently there are only 3kms open.
Zermatt suspended skiing at the beginning of August hasas we reported at the time:
View from the top of Zermatt. Image © PlanetSKI
“The persistently high temperatures, the lack of a night-time cool-down, repeated thunderstorms and the changed snow and glacier conditions mean that it is currently no longer possible to provide safe, high-quality skiing for guests,” said the Zermatt lift company in a statement.
It has been the same situation in neighbouring Saas-Fee.
In Zermatt the training slopes remain available to individual Swiss-Ski teams, but on a limited basis.
“Summers like this have catastrophic effects on glaciers, so probably in Zermatt, we will still be able to practice summer skiing in the coming years, but in the long term, it is clear that summer skiing is doomed,” said Christophe Lambiel from the University of Lausanne.
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On PlanetSKI we wrote about the potential end of summer glacier skiing back in June 2017 from the slopes of Les2Alpes in France.
Our advice almost a decade ago was simple:
Summer glacier skiing in Les2Alpes, June 2017. Image © PlanetSKI
Summer glacier skiing in Les2Alpes. Image © PlanetSKI
Summer glacier skiing in Les2Alpes. Image © PlanetSKI
Les2Alpes has now ended its summer skiing season as forecast, though it does have an extended spring period for skiing and snowboarding on its glacier.
This summer two other summer ski areas, Hintertux in Austria and Tignes in France, closed their summer skiing operations earlier than planned due to poor conditions caused by the warm temperatures.
Grande Motte glacier, Tignes. August 2026. Image c/o David Morgan.
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Summer skiing has been suspended before on the glacier in Zermatt as we reported on PlanetSKI in July 2022:
This year the neighbouring resort of Cervinia in Italy announced it would be able to offer year-round skiing due to a new access lift to the glacier:
That desire has been thwarted by the numerous heatwaves.
The lift company said that “as soon as natural conditions allow, summer skiing operations for guests will resume immediately.
It is not just skiing that is affected as hiking and climbing are impacted.
“To further complicate matters, there have also been an unusual number of severe thunderstorms, including near the main Alpine ridge around Zermatt/Saas-Fee, traditionally one of the drier parts of the Alps,” said Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk.
“With rain falling as high as 4,000m these storms have accelerated the thaw and destabilisation of the glaciers.”
On the Italian side of the Matterhorn above Cervinia there was a large rockfall last week.
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Do check back for updates…
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