Question: for European skiers - summer glacier skiing.

[skibum4ever]

I'm thinking of coming to Europe for some summer glacier skiing. I've done some reading, but would appreciate the personal touch.

Is a trip like this practical? I'd like to hit 3 or 4 areas for a couple of days each, then do some sightseeing as well. We have driven around France, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy in both winter and summer, but this would be a combo of the 2.

Where is the best snow? Which areas have the most open terrain? Which areas have the most variety of runs? Has anyone skied any of the glaciers this summer?

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

 

[altagirl]

I've skied the glacier at Soelden, but it was in early October, not quite summer. It was really fun, and we went for a long weekend. I've also skied at Kaprun and Zell am See glaciers... haha, because it was the days before the internet was of any use to check conditions, so we had headed to Kitzbuhl and discovered there wasn't any snow there at all, so looked at our map and found the nearest thing that said glacier and went there. That's the trip that gives my "planner" friends who don't leave home without reservations fits. But we had a blast - it was a few friends from work when I lived in Germany. We loaded up on a long weekend, drove south and once we were on the road said "so where are we going?" Um... I've heard of Kitzbuhl, let's try that. Oh, no snow? Um... lets find a glacier. Added several hours of driving, but it ended up being just a fantastic trip and we had a wonderful powder day at Zell am See, which was my first real powder day ever. Good stuff.

I thought that most of the glaciers aren't really open year round anymore - it's more spring and fall, but I could be wrong.

 

[Cygnet]

You might find the following newspaper article helpful
www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/snowandski/features/10820156/The-best-glaciers-for-summer-skiing.html

It reviews the best glaciers for summer skiing. The European ones are:
Tignes, Les 2 Alpes (France). Kitzsteinhorn, Hintertux, Stubai Glacier (Austria), Saas-fee (Switzerland) and Zermatt/Cervinia (Switzerland/Italy).

I've not been summer skiing but I have skied in Les 2 Alpes (LDA) in the winter and been on a walking holiday to Zermatt in early September. From what I've heard it's more of a summer holiday with some limited skiing rather than a skiing holiday when you might not do much else! We considered going to Les Deux Alpes last summer but decided against it. The altitude, limited skiing (LDA is only open in the mornings) and high temperatures lower down didn't appeal.

The glaciers are high and, unless you're used to it, you may need time to acclimatise to the altitude. Summer skiing at Les Deux Alpes is from ~3,200m to 3,600m. At Zermatt it's up to 3,800m (12,500ft). Not insignificant heights!
The glacier skiing area in Les Deux Alpes is not very big and the runs are not challenging. When we were in Zermatt (early September) the ski area was closed for the week because of high winds.

Sorry I don't have any first hand experience- and it may be that my comments are not applicable to the other resorts. The individual resorts websites will have more info about the summer skiing on offer.

Good Luck - let us kno what you decide..

 

[snow addict]

I would recommend Zermatt. The views alone are worth the trip. Some great hiking in the valley too. Italy is across the border if you want sightseeing (or shopping).

 

[SaraJ]

I last went to Hintertux sometime in May. The conditions were excellent then. I have heard that the snow is great now too. It's been raining in the valley recently and has been cold enough for it to be snowing on the glacier, so I can well believe it's in pretty good condition at the moment. Hintertux is open all year round.
In previous years I been there in July and August, skiing on glacier ice, slush and rivers. I have also been there in July skiing on snow similar to what you would find in a warm April - hard first thing, slush by 10, very heavy deep slush by 1pm. Here are some pictures taken in July last year. The skiing is accessed by gondolas and T-bars. The T-bars usually close at 1.30pm but the gondolas run until 4pm - for the hardcore and the non-skiing sightseers.
I've also skied on the Stubai Glacier, Tignes and Zermatt outside of the main ski seasons.
I find Stubai quite mellow, nice for cruising around but personally I prefer Hintertux. Skiing on the Tignes glacier is ok as far as glacier skiing goes, but I don't like the town. There are lots of other activities available and the scenery of the mountains etc. is amazing but I prefer the prettiness and green of Austria.
I don't know how much of the Zermatt glacier is skiable in summer. I've been there a couple of times in November. I thought it was quite flat and dull for skiing. On the other hand, the Matterhorn is spectacular, the town is lovely and I'm sure a mountain activity holiday would be great in that area.
I'm not sure that I'd want to drive from glacier to glacier for a few days at each. Glacier skiing in summer is nice to try but it's more a novelty thing to do, unless you're training for something and need to practice. Saying that, I have the opportunity to ski on the Hintertux glacier whenever I get the urge so maybe I'm a bit spoilt.
Hope this helps!
If you decide to come to Tirol (Hintertux and Stubai) and you have questions, give me a shout - that's where I live :-)

 

[Perty]

Zermatt will have summer skiing and I know some international ski teams train there. The town buzzes in the summer and there is still lots going on as it's a big centre for mountaineering and hiking. It is a bit overrun with sightseers-lots of Chinese tourist these days who like to have their photo taken with the Matterhorn in view. I've not skied there in the summer but Mr P has, as well as done other on mountain activities.

 

[SaraJ]

This thread has gone a bit quiet so I don't know if you're still interested, skibum4ever?
Anyway, I went skiing to Hintertux today. For 29th July it was great. The snow was quite soft and slushy but there was no glacier ice anywhere near the pistes. It was like spring skiing rather than what I would normally expect in summer.
The weather was a bit rubbish, cloudy, snowy and windy at the top, rainy lower down. It was great to go skiing though
There was nobody much around - some kids race training, who appeared to have come by bus from Greece (Google Maps tells me that's about 2000km. Can you imagine 2000km sitting on a bus!) and BASI are running some courses this week. So there are a few groups of people stressing about lesson plans.

 

[skibum4ever]

SaraJ, thanks for the input. I am ready to ski anytime, anywhere. I keep presenting partial plans to DH, and he keeps rejecting them.

So far he's rejected Mt. Hood and a European tour which would include a few days of glacier skiing. He's also rejected ever returning to South America.

I'm currently scoping out a 3 week trip to Australia, with skiing during the week and traveling/sightseeing on weekends. He didn't seem interested at first, but may be changing his mind.

We'll need to confirm plans pretty soon, or the best part of their winter will be over. Stay tuned . . ......

 

[VickiK]

How about New Zealand, @skibum4ever ?

 

[skibum4ever]

When we went in 1989, Australia had more snow than NZ.

That seems to be true this year as well.