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How early is too early for Switzerland hiking?

Wanting to do some hiking in the Interlaken area in late May. Have heard that snow level may still be too low at that time? Any experience?

Posted by
1167 posts

That is really too early for high level hiking. We were there in mid-June and there was still a lot of snow.

Posted by
12040 posts

May is not a good month. Snow is not the only problem, it's also one of the damper and cloudier months of the year. Mid to late June is just about the earliest time of year to consider high altitude hiking. In some of the highest hiking areas in the Pennine Alps (around Zermatt), I've even encountered significant obstacles of snow as late as July.

Posted by
3387 posts

We are in Switzerland right now (have been for 10 days) and have done a lot of hiking. That said, we have been to Mt. Fort in Valais (3330 meters) yesterday and there was no way we could have hiked up there at all. All of the other hiking we have done though has been lovely at elevations below 3000 meters. Lots of patches of snow though so I would imagine that May could be challenging.