It may not feel like it yet, but with the summer solstice now behind us, it means that it means that that annoying part of the year for skiers when winter is getting further away is over and mother nature has now officially warned us that the rundown to next winter and the 26-27 ski season is underway!
The summer solstice also marks the end of the 2026 season at Riksgransen (pictured), which has been offering its trademark skiing under the midnight sun for the past six weeks during its 24 hour daylight up in the Arctic Circle.
Riksgransen in June
Of course, it’s hard to know when one season ends and another begins, because some resorts like Les 2 Alpes in France, Hintertux in Austria and Timberline in Oregon have been operating since last autumn 2025 and are still open for skiing and boarding today. Just one area is left where you can, weather permitting, ski year round – Switzerland’s Zermatt. Plus there are now more than 100 indoor snow centres where you can ski any and every day, now spread across more than 30 countries on six continents – way more choice than the diminishing number of summer glacier ski areas.
Celebrating Juneteenth on the slopes at Timberline Oregon
You can also chase the ski season around the world – it’s just getting started in the southern hemisphere for 2026 in Lesotho, Southern Africa, the Andes of South America and down in Australia and New Zealand.
But one resort that clearly ended its 25-26 season last April and opens for summer skiing, which then morphs into autumn skiing and then its full winter season opens for its 26-27 season in July is Switzerland’s Saas-Fee. Perhaps it has an argument that it’s first to open for the northern hemisphere’s next season after the summer solstice?
It’s summer skiing takes place on the Allalin glacier from July 18, 2026. The summer operations run daily through the warmer months, initially from 7am to noon, but with lift times shifting to start and end later in the day as the year progresses and temperatures start to fall in the autumn.