Skiing down the Glacier de la Grande Motte | Photo: Tignes Ski Resort
For decades, one of the biggest draws of Tignes, France, was the promise that you could ski there in the middle of summer. At more than 3,450 meters (11,340 feet) on the Grande Motte Glacier, World Cup racers, ski clubs, and recreational skiers flocked to the glacier long after most European resorts had packed away their lifts for the season.
Now, resort officials are openly acknowledging that those days may be numbered. Following another exceptionally warm start to summer across Europe, Tignes says it is preparing for a future where skiing on the Grande Motte Glacier may no longer be possible. “We know that its melting will cause long-term difficulties for skiing,” Clément Colin, chairman of Altta, the public company that now operates Tignes’ lift system, told AFP.
The announcement comes as Europe experiences yet another intense early-summer heatwave. At 9:00 a.m. this month, temperatures on the Grande Motte Glacier at 3,456 meters (11,340 feet) had already reached 5°C (41°F). Overnight temperatures have remained above freezing, preventing the glacier from refreezing before the next day’s sunshine. Skiers arriving via the Grande Motte cable car immediately noticed the difference. “The landscape is very different,” one skier told AFP. “You can really see how much it’s melting and how much global warming is affecting it.” Another visitor added: “It rained, there’s not much snow. It’s a bit sad to see the glacier like this.” The visible snowpack has thinned dramatically, with exposed glacier ice appearing earlier than in previous years—a clear sign that winter snow has already melted away.
Tignes was once synonymous with year-round skiing. In the 1980s, Europe boasted roughly 40 summer ski areas, accounting for nearly 80% of the world’s glacier ski resorts. Today, only around a dozen remain, and most operate for just a few weeks each year. The European Alps have also become one of the fastest-warming mountain regions on Earth. According to research published in Nature, Alpine glaciers lost an estimated 39% of their total ice mass between 2000 and 2023, one of the fastest rates of glacier loss anywhere in the world. Over the past two decades, Tignes has steadily shortened its own summer ski season.
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Summer glacier skiing at Zermatt | Photo: SnowBrains
Today, the resort operates summer skiing only from June 20 through July 19, relying largely on the remnants of the previous winter’s snow rather than glacier ice itself. “Summer skiing is done on the remains of winter snow,” Colin explained. “As soon as the ice appears on the surface, the season stops.” Attendance has declined as well. Since opening on June 20, the resort has reportedly sold fewer than 8,000 lift tickets, reflecting both changing conditions and a reduced ski offering.
Scientists monitoring the glacier estimate Grande Motte is losing between 2 and 4 meters (6.5 to 13 feet) of thickness every year. At that rate, Colin believes skiing on the glacier may become impossible within the next decade. “In ten years, the glacier will have almost completely melted.”
Like many glacier resorts, Tignes has tried to slow the melting. In 2021, the resort covered sections of the glacier with large white geotextile blankets in an effort to preserve snow around the Grande Motte cable car station and stabilize the underlying ice. The coverings were designed to reduce summer melting and help maintain the station’s foundations.
Since then, however, the practice has become increasingly controversial. Environmental groups argue that the blankets generate waste as they deteriorate and protect only small sections of glacier while doing little to address the underlying causes of glacier retreat. Rather than pursuing increasingly expensive engineering solutions, Tignes is beginning to plan for life after summer glacier skiing. The resort intends to expand pedestrian access to the summit and continue developing its Altitude Experiences program, placing greater emphasis on sightseeing, hiking, and mountain tourism. “We are preparing for the end of skiing on the Grande Motte glacier,” Colin said.
After those remarks generated headlines across France, Colin later clarified that skiing is not ending immediately, but acknowledged that climate change is making its long-term future increasingly uncertain.
Cable car over the Grand Motte Glacier | Photo: Tignes
Tignes is far from alone. Nearby Val d’Isère continues to operate summer skiing on the Pisaillas Glacier, but officials have already discussed shifting operations earlier into spring as increasingly frequent June and July heatwaves shorten viable snow conditions.
Austria’s Hintertux Glacier, long famous for offering year-round skiing, has periodically suspended operations because of poor snow conditions in recent years. Switzerland’s Zermatt has also experienced temporary summer closures. Meanwhile, Austria’s Dachstein Glacier, once one of Europe’s premier summer ski destinations, permanently removed its glacier lifts in 2023, effectively ending lift-served summer skiing there. Rather than expanding summer operations, many Alpine resorts are now repositioning glacier skiing as an extension of the spring season.
Warmth and melting have been occurring throughout the Alps for decades, but we may now be approaching a tipping point. Even the highest and most historically prominent European summertime ski areas are facing major challenges at the hands of climate change. The days of year-round skiing in Europe will, sooner rather than later, likely come to an end — just another example of how the weather-dependent sport we all love may be more vulnerable than we’d like to admit.