The PlanetSKI Snow Report
It has been a strong end to the season of 2025/26 and the snow is continuing to fall at altitude.
The French resort of Les2Alpes is open for spring and summer skiing and saw 70cm of fresh snow this week.
The glacier is in excellent conditions and there is some skiing away from the glacier down to 2,600m.
Not bad for 6th May.
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The resort is open until July 5th so the latest snow sets thing up very well.
So, why was there so much snow in Les2Alpes?
We turn to Fraser Wilkin from weatherertoski.co.uk for the answer.
“The answer is due to a big storm earlier this week that mostly affected the western and south-western Alps (to various degrees),” said Fraser.
“Les 2 Alpes sat right in the sweet spot (especially on Tuesday), collecting at least 50-70cm of snow at altitude.
“The only other area in the Alps that is comparable right now is Zermatt/Cervinia, which also saw significant new snow this week, and where you can also still ski below glacier level – especially on the Italian side.”
There remains glacier skiing at other areas in the Alps:
- Hintertux, Austria.
- Stubai, Austria.
- Kaunertal, Austria.
- Kitzsteinhorn, Austria.
- Mölltal, Austria
- Val Senales, Italy.
- Cervinia, Italy
- Zermatt, Switzerland.
Kaunertal was planning to be open until May 25th, but it announced on Friday that it has brought the date forward by a week to May 17th due to a diminishing snowpack.
Other ski areas that will be open in the summer include Saas-Fee in Switzerland (18th July to 31st October) and Tignes in France (20th June to 19th July).
Summer skiing in Tignes. Image c/o Tignes TO.
Zermatt remains offering year-round skiing and now its neighbour, Cervinia, will be trying to remain open for 365 days per year.
See here for further details in a related article on PlanetSKI:
Warren Smith Ski Academy group in Cervinia, Italy. Image c/o WSSA.
This year Hintertux has called it a day on 365 days skiing after continuing poor snow in recent years.
It aims to be open until 26th July and then it will close.
“After that, we’ll enjoy the glacier summer to the fullest off the slopes,” the resort says on its web site.
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.
See here for further details:
In Colorado in the USA another late season storm is hitting.
Loveland Pass saw lots of snow on Wednesday and, with it, lots of skiers, eager to ski some fresh powder after the state’s lowest snowpack in over 100 years.
It is though too little too late after a very poor winter in the US Rockies.
The Colorado resort of Arapahoe Basin is re-opening this weekend after the recent snow.
In the USA Snowbird (Utah), Mammoth Mountain (California), Timberline Lodge (Oregon) and Jay Peak (Vermont) remain open.
Further north in Canada skiing continues in Sunshine Village near Banff in Alberta after an excellent season.
The resort shuts on 18th May and then reopens in the second half of June 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.
The current plan is to open the Strawberry Express and possibly another lift depending on conditions.
That chair runs about halfway up Mount Standish on its eastern side with access to mostly beginner-friendly terrain.
“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.
Sunshine Village was PlanetSKI’s local ski hill for two months at the start of the winter as we were based in the nearby town of Canmore.
Sunshine Village, Banff, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI
In the southern hemisphere the ski season gets underway in June and resorts in Australia have already seen some snow.
It will melt, but is a sign that winter is on the way
Lake Mountain, Mount Hotham and Mount Buller had some snowfall.
Do check back for more…
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