Historic times of alpine passes opening

[roubaixtuesday]

Am contemplating a tour which may cross the alps may-june.

Many passes close through winter, but, accepting there may be significant differences year to year according to conditions, is there anywhere an easy way to look up when they've opened historically, just to have a guide to what's likely?

[roubaixtuesday]

Col d'Agnel is of particular interest, but also alternatives to it as it's particularly high.

[rareposter]

Have you got anything more specific than "the Alps"?
Given that it goes from the Mediterranean right up to southern Germany and across half of Austria...

At the southern end, they're open much earlier - the northern / eastern Alps it's not unknown to have snow there in May although with climate change that is becoming rarer. I've seen photos of the historic stretch of the glacier on Grossglockner and its current reach is vastly less.

I've been up / over Stelvio a few times and it's always been stunning weather, warm and sunny even at the summit. A week after we were there (still "summer" in theory) a mate tried to ride it and had to turn back because it was below zero and sleeting by the time he was at the top third. So it can be wildly variable.

[roubaixtuesday]

Have you got anything more specific than "the Alps"?
Given that it goes from the Mediterranean right up to southern Germany and across half of Austria...

At the southern end, they're open much earlier - the northern / eastern Alps it's not unknown to have snow there in May although with climate change that is becoming rarer. I've seen photos of the historic stretch of the glacier on Grossglockner and its current reach is vastly less.

I've been up / over Stelvio a few times and it's always been stunning weather, warm and sunny even at the summit. A week after we were there (still "summer" in theory) a mate tried to ride it and had to turn back because it was below zero and sleeting by the time he was at the top third. So it can be wildly variable.

Yes, I'm aware it's variable as I said in the post.

And as I said, the col d'Agnel is of particular interest, but also alternatives (crossing France to Italy).

A wide range of routes are possible for the tour, this is just for the early mulling over of options stage.

[incidentally, entirely separate to this request, I'm planning a trip to the Stelvio in June, quite excited already!]

[wirral_cyclist]

We had 3" snow on Petit St Bernards Pass on July 7th one year, no plough ever appeared and snow hung around during an Italian lunch and the time it took to drive into France, so 2hrs +. We had a car with winter tyres having been in the area since Easter, those cars shod in ordinary rubber struggled.

[roubaixtuesday]

We had 3" snow on Petit St Bernards Pass on July 7th one year, no plough ever appeared and snow hung around during an Italian lunch and the time it took to drive into France, so 2hrs +. We had a car with winter tyres having been in the area since Easter, those cars shod in ordinary rubber struggled.

Thanks, and I've experienced similar. But I'm not after one-off summer experience, I'd like, if it's possible, to see when these passes are first cleared in the spring.

[wirral_cyclist]

We had 3" snow on Petit St Bernards Pass on July 7th one year, no plough ever appeared and snow hung around during an Italian lunch and the time it took to drive into France, so 2hrs +. We had a car with winter tyres having been in the area since Easter, those cars shod in ordinary rubber struggled.

Thanks, and I've experienced similar. But I'm not after one-off summer experience, I'd like, if it's possible, to see when these passes are first cleared in the spring.

I think every French pass is always open from June onwards, all but the highest passes are usually well open by mid May - essentially once the pistes (resorts) have been shut after Easter for a week (or four in France [1])
But that's assuming no thawing or mudslides that affect even low roads and so need sorting (Ugine - Flumet I'm looking at you!).

[1] oh hang on I can't see Italy trying too hard, well not unless it's a competition

[bohrsatom]

Not aware of a single source which catalogues these things, but I've found a bit of googling for local news sites (in the relevant language) will give you an idea of when the passes have opened in previous years

[Vorpal]

www.100cols.nl has status on some passes along with expected opening dates. I'm not aware of any sites that have all of them. Though some countries have maintained sites with up-to-date information. For example https://www.alpen-paesse.ch/ If you click the details for each pass, most show historic winter closure / spring opening dates.

[ed.lazda]

Years ago I had a road atlas (remember those?) that had the Alpine passes labelled with their expected opening times. I think it was a Michelin, but I can't be sure of that.

[ANTONISH]

The problem is that a the authorities may intend to open a pass on a particular date but the weather can prevent it.
In the past I've resorted to French traffic sites to get up to date information.
Google maps are sometimes useful as they deal with current conditions - for example in 2014 I was intending to ride the Pyrenees tourist raid and I found that I couldn't get a route over the Aubisque - there had been a landslip and I was offered a diversion.

I think you need to keep ypur plans updated and be flexible dependant on the conditions. FWIW , I rode over the Petit St Bernard about 2012 in June - high snow banks either side but the road was clear.

[roubaixtuesday]

The problem is that a the authorities may intend to open a pass on a particular date but the weather can prevent it.
In the past I've resorted to French traffic sites to get up to date information.
Google maps are sometimes useful as they deal with current conditions - for example in 2014 I was intending to ride the Pyrenees tourist raid and I found that I couldn't get a route over the Aubisque - there had been a landslip and I was offered a diversion.

I think you need to keep ypur plans updated and be flexible dependant on the conditions. FWIW , I rode over the Petit St Bernard about 2012 in June - high snow banks either side but the road was clear.

Yeah, won't be depending on anything, but would be good to have a rough idea of what's likely.

[roubaixtuesday]

www.100cols.nl has status on some passes along with expected opening dates. I'm not aware of any sites that have all of them. Though some countries have maintained sites with up-to-date information. For example https://www.alpen-paesse.ch/ If you click the details for each pass, most show historic winter closure / spring opening dates.

Brilliant, thank you.

That Swiss site is exactly what I'm after, but for France. Anyone know of a French equivalent?

[Vorpal]

www.100cols.nl has status on some passes along with expected opening dates. I'm not aware of any sites that have all of them. Though some countries have maintained sites with up-to-date information. For example https://www.alpen-paesse.ch/ If you click the details for each pass, most show historic winter closure / spring opening dates.

Brilliant, thank you.

That Swiss site is exactly what I'm after, but for France. Anyone know of a French equivalent?

I don't know of one. There are a few sites that have that sort of information for the grand cols, for example https://www.alti-mag.com/alti-actus/alp ... rands-cols

Otherwise, I think it is left up to the department. https://www.itinisere.fr/fr/actualites/ ... s/36/11982 is a good example, but not all do such a good job with it.

[roubaixtuesday]

www.100cols.nl has status on some passes along with expected opening dates. I'm not aware of any sites that have all of them. Though some countries have maintained sites with up-to-date information. For example https://www.alpen-paesse.ch/ If you click the details for each pass, most show historic winter closure / spring opening dates.

Brilliant, thank you.

That Swiss site is exactly what I'm after, but for France. Anyone know of a French equivalent?

I don't know of one. There are a few sites that have that sort of information for the grand cols, for example https://www.alti-mag.com/alti-actus/alp ... rands-cols

Otherwise, I think it is left up to the department. https://www.itinisere.fr/fr/actualites/ ... s/36/11982 is a good example, but not all do such a good job with it.

That's pretty much exactly what I was after. Thank you!