January
Not_recommendedDeep winter. See the trail's closed season.
0.8 (Zermatt 1638 m) / about -6.3 at 2900 m col height°C high · -7.4 (Zermatt) / about -11.8 at col height, with frost on all 31 nights°C low · 9.1Weather and seasons
Best time to walk the Walker's Haute Route
Mid-July to mid-September, which is also what the guidebook says: cols clear of snow, every hut and mountain hotel on the route staffed, and 12.6 to 15.4 hours of light. Inside that window the first two weeks of September are the better answer for anyone who would rather have space than certainty, because the ground is as clear as August and the beds are gettable.
What changes through the year
The season runs from roughly the third week of June to about the third week of September, set by two things that do not quite coincide: snow on cols of 2850 to 2965 m, and when the huts are staffed. Published Swiss climate figures will mislead you here, because every long-run station is in a valley: Zermatt at 1638 m averages 20.0 C by day in July, while at 2900 m the same month averages about 8.5 C by day and freezes on around ten nights, and September freezes on sixteen. Those col figures are interpolated between the two MeteoSwiss stations that bracket the height, Col du Grand St-Bernard at 2472 m and the Jungfraujoch at 3571 m; rainfall cannot be corrected the same way, because Grand St-Bernard sits on the main divide and records 2285 mm a year against Zermatt's 640, so read the monthly rain figures as valley figures and nothing more. Mid-July to mid-September is when it all works, and the first two weeks of September give the same clear ground with beds you can still book. This is a guidebook route rather than a waymarked one, so there is no single season to look up: every hut, hotel, bus and lift on it runs its own dates and each has to be checked on its own.
Month-by-month guide
February
Not_recommendedThe coldest month at the altitude the route actually crosses. See the trail's closed season.
1.7 (Zermatt 1638 m) / about -6.8 at 2900 m col height°C high · -7.3 (Zermatt) / about -12.5 at col height°C low · 10.5March
Not_recommendedDaylight is back to nearly 12 hours and it changes nothing, because the average day at col height is still around -5 C. See the trail's closed season.
5.7 (Zermatt 1638 m) / about -5.0 at 2900 m col height°C high · -4.0 (Zermatt) / about -10.4 at col height°C low · 11.9April
Not_recommendedThe valleys thaw and the cols do not. Zermatt averages 9.8 C by day; at 2900 m the average day is still below zero and around 20 days never rise above freezing. See the trail's closed season.
9.8 (Zermatt 1638 m) / about -2.6 at 2900 m col height°C high · -0.7 (Zermatt) / about -7.8 at col height, with frost on around 29 nights°C low · 13.6May
Not_recommendedThe month that misleads people. The Rhône valley at Sion averages 21.5 C by day and the lower stages are green and pleasant, while at the height of the cols the average day only just clears freezing, it still freezes on more than twenty nights, and nothing at altitude is staffed.
13.9 (Zermatt 1638 m), 21.5 (Sion 482 m, Rhône valley) / about 1.7 at 2900 m col height°C high · 3.2 (Zermatt) / about -3.7 at col height, with frost on around 23 nights and 11 days that never clear freezing°C low · 15.0Watch for: A warm Rhône valley reading tempting people high too early. Sion is 2400 m below the cols this route crosses and tells you nothing about them.June
MixedA month of two halves, and which half you get is decided by the winter that has just gone rather than by the calendar. Early June the 2850 to 2965 m cols are still under snow and almost nothing high is staffed. From about the third week the huts start opening and the light is at its annual maximum of 15.8 hours.
17.8 (Zermatt 1638 m) / about 6.2 at 2900 m col height°C high · 6.6 (Zermatt) / about 0.2 at col height, with frost on around 15 nights°C low · 15.8, the longest of the yearWatch for: Hard old snow on a steep morning slope, which is the hazard of this month rather than cold. Poles earn their place and on the north side of the highest cols an axe may not be optional. The Col de Riedmatten in particular is steep and exposed on both sides.July
ExcellentThe month it all works. Snow on the cols is near its yearly minimum from about the second week, every hut, hotel, bus and lift on the route is running, and 15.4 hours of light makes a 1400 m climbing day a choice rather than a race.
20.0 (Zermatt 1638 m) / about 8.5 at 2900 m col height°C high · 8.3 (Zermatt) / about 2.3 at col height, with frost on around 10 nights even now°C low · 15.4Watch for: Afternoon convective storms. The Swiss Alpine Club puts the main thunderstorm build between 1pm and 4pm and the greatest frequency between 4pm and 7pm, and a 2900 m col is the wrong place to be in one, so get the high ground done before mid-afternoon when the forecast is unstable. Livestock guardian dogs work the Valais alpages through the June to September grazing season: stop, stay calm, give the dog time and room, and move away quietly.August
GoodUnderfoot it is the best of the year, the snowline reaching its annual high on north-facing ground late in the month. What separates it from July is the number of people and the wet-day count, which is the highest of the twelve at Zermatt.
19.6 (Zermatt 1638 m) / about 8.6 at 2900 m col height°C high · 8.3 (Zermatt) / about 2.7 at col height, with frost on around 9 nights°C low · 14.2Watch for: The same afternoon storm cycle as July. Heat and water on the long south-facing climbs, Le Châble to Mont Fort and St Niklaus up onto the Europaweg, both of which carry little shade and get done at the hottest part of the day by anyone leaving after breakfast.September
GoodTwo different months in one. The first fortnight is, for a lot of walkers, the best of the year here: cols clear, fewer wet days than July or August, and beds you can actually get. From about the 20th the huts start closing, frost at col height climbs to around sixteen nights, and it turns into a self-sufficient trip on a route that is not built for one.
15.4 (Zermatt 1638 m) / about 4.8 at 2900 m col height°C high · 5.0 (Zermatt) / about -0.5 at col height, with frost on around 16 nights°C low · 12.6Watch for: Daylight is 12.6 hours and the astronomical figure flatters what you get: the Val d'Hérens, the Val d'Anniviers and the Mattertal are deep, steep-walled valleys and the sun leaves the floor well before it sets, so bring the long descents in earlier than in July. The Valais high hunt opens in the second half of the month and runs on into October across exactly this ground.October
PoorThe walking is over before the weather looks it. Zermatt still averages 11.2 C by day, but at the height of the cols the average day is 1.4 C, it freezes on around 23 nights, and the huts that make the route possible have gone.
11.2 (Zermatt 1638 m) / about 1.4 at 2900 m col height°C high · 1.4 (Zermatt) / about -3.6 at col height, with frost on around 23 nights and 12 days that never clear freezing°C low · 11.0Watch for: Having no way out of a bad day. Nothing is staffed at height, the Turtmanntal is closing down, and a col that turns out to be snowed in means walking back down a dead-end valley on 11 hours of light. The Valais hunt is on across this ground.November
Not_recommendedWinter proper at the height that matters: the average day at 2900 m is below freezing and it never clears zero on about 22 days. See the trail's closed season.
5.1 (Zermatt 1638 m) / about -3.3 at 2900 m col height°C high · -3.1 (Zermatt) / about -8.2 at col height°C low · 9.5December
Not_recommendedThe shortest days of the year, under nine hours. See the trail's closed season.
1.5 (Zermatt 1638 m) / about -5.5 at 2900 m col height°C high · -6.3 (Zermatt) / about -10.9 at col height°C low · 8.7, the shortest of the yearSources and research notes · 27 sources
- data.geo.admin.chAll climate figures for all twelve months. MeteoSwiss normal-value tables 1991-2020. Valley reference: Zermatt 1638 m, an endpoint of the route, with Grächen 1605 m, Evolène / Villa 1825 m and Sion 482 m for the gradient. Col-height temperature figures are interpolated between the two stations that bracket 2900 m, Col du Grand St-Bernard 2472 m and Jungfraujoch 3571 m; frost and ice-day counts are interpolated the same way. Also the wind figures and the 2285 mm annual rainfall at Grand St-Bernard used to explain why its rainfall must not be read across to the inner Valais.Checked 30 Jul 2026
- api.sunrise-sunset.orgdaylight hours for all twelve months, computed for the 15th of each month at Zermatt (46.02 N, 7.75 E). The route spans about 0.1 degrees of latitude, so one figure serves it.Checked 30 Jul 2026
- cicerone.co.ukbest months and the June and July snow judgement. Cicerone's guidebook is the nearest thing this route has to an authority, since there is no route operator, no waymarked relation and no official site.Checked 30 Jul 2026
- sac-cas.chJune and August ground (the summer snowline reaching its annual high only in late August on north-facing slopes and early September on south-facing), September ground (an early-autumn cold front dropping the snowline 500 to 1000 m), and the July and August thunderstorm timing.Checked 30 Jul 2026
- sac-cas.chJune, April, September and October services, closed season and booking pressure: the Cabane de Prafleuri at 2657 m, 59 beds, staffed through April for ski tourers, partly in June, fully July to September.Checked 30 Jul 2026
- sac-cas.chJune, September and October services and closed season: the Cabane de Moiry at 2825 m is partly open in June, full in July and August, partly open in September and shut from October.Checked 30 Jul 2026
- cas-montreux.chThe owning club's own statement of the Moiry season, used to corroborate the portal listing.Checked 30 Jul 2026
- sac-cas.chJune and September services and booking pressure: Cabane du Mont Fort at 2457 m, 58 beds, partly open in June and September, full in July and August, booked through its own site.Checked 30 Jul 2026
- randa.chJune and September services, closed season and booking pressure: the Europahütte at 2220 m, 42 beds, staffed late June to mid or late September, booked direct with the Brantschen family in Randa.Checked 30 Jul 2026
- zermatt.swissSeptember services: an independent confirmation that the Europahütte's season finishes around 20 September.Checked 30 Jul 2026
- weisshorn.chJune, September and October services and booking pressure: the Hôtel Weisshorn at 2337 m runs a summer season from about mid-June to about the second week of October, longer at both ends than the high huts, and books direct.Checked 30 Jul 2026
- louvie.chbooking pressure: the Cabane de Louvie at 2250 m, on the Col de Louvie variant, books through its own reservation site and its phone is out of service outside the staffed period.Checked 30 Jul 2026
- valdanniviers.chJune, August, September and October services and closed season: the PostBus towards the Moiry dam runs in the summer season only, roughly the last week of June to about the second week of October, and the Zinal to Grimentz and Moiry shuttle drops to weekends from about the end of August.Checked 30 Jul 2026
- verbier4vallees.chJune, September and October services: the Verbier to Les Ruinettes lift runs weekends early in June, daily from about 20 June, and on to late October, while Le Châble to Verbier runs most of the year.Checked 30 Jul 2026
- oberems.chMay and November services and closed season: the commune of Oberems closes the Turtmanntal road (Oberems to Gruben) in mid-November and reopens it in May, which is what makes Gruben, the only stop at the end of stage 11, unreachable for half the year.Checked 30 Jul 2026
- zermatt.swissclosed season, the Europaweg part: the current closed section, the signed detour, and the fact that the Grächen to Europahütte stage reopened in 2021 and is not the closure.Checked 30 Jul 2026
- randa.chclosed season, the Europaweg part: the commune of Randa's own June 2026 notice of a partial opening with the Springelboden to Eggenstadel section still shut.Checked 30 Jul 2026
- europaweg.chclosed season, the Europaweg part: the joint site of the Europaweg communes, giving the same closed section and detour as of late June 2026.Checked 30 Jul 2026
- valrando.chNovember ground: the Valais hiking association states that summer bridges, walkways, handrails and steps are dismantled for the cold season and that winter routes do not follow the summer paths.Checked 30 Jul 2026
- valrando.chJuly watch for: the Valais hiking association gives June to September as the alpage grazing season during which livestock guardian dogs are with the flocks.Checked 30 Jul 2026