Swiss pass roads open end of May?

Hello ,

I am currently in the middle of organizing a bit of a road trip through Europe towards the end of May. And will be driving down towards Interlaken by the 23rd of May .

From there, on the 24th of May , I was hoping to be heading down towards the Grimsel Pass and Furka Pass , but it's been brought to my attention that these roads tend to close during the winter.

I would have thought they would be open by the end of May right ?

Does anyone have any advice on this please ?

Any help would be greatly appreciated of course.

Thank you.

Mathew.

<<" I would have thought they would be open by the end of May right ?

Does anyone have any advice on this please ? ">>

Not sure where you got your data for late May, but it does not match my experience. Might happen if the winter snow pack is light.

To be safe, plan on June 15th. A pleasant surprise would be late May.

One way to crosscheck is to check the bus schedules over those routes for different days.

Use the timetable

www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

I ran across a web site with pass open/close conditions the other day, and posted it in some link in this forum.

Haven't go time to find it now,but perhaps you or someone else can.

Slowpoke

The highest passes could still be closed. Here's more information: myswissalps.com/ car/trafficinfo.

Hi Mathew-

Please check his thread:

www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/sustenpass-when-accessible-how-long-a-drive

Also, check this information about the seasons and altitudes. Late May still has much of the Jungfrau region shut down.

www.myswissalps.com/be sttimetovisit

Slowpoke

Thank you everyone for your help and advice .

It looks like the roads will be closed around the time I was planning on being there, very unfortunate as it's a big part of the trip. Looks like I'm going to have to re arrange the Swiss part another time ,and take advantage of the amazing views and roads around later in the year.

Would you say that July would have good weather usually on the mountain passes ?

And certainly I will coming back to this forum for advice when it comes to the next trip , very informative and quick responding replies which is very greatly appreciated.

Mathew

Hi Mathew,

Well, they may be closed, but could be open as well. You need to have an alternative route in mind if you come in May. July through September are perfect. All passes will be open, except of course for the unpredictable: snow storms and landslides can occur at any time at that altitude.

I'm glad you like the website!

Hi Mathew

This website provides information about the status of the Swiss alpine passes.

http://alpen-paesse.ch/en/alpenpaes se/furkapass/

If you go to the downloads link on the above site, you can download a PDF showing opening and closing times of the passes for the last 20 years or so. That shows that the Furka and Grimsel passes have only been open by 24 May in 4 or 5 years out of the last 22 years, so the chances don't look good!

It's in German, so here are the key terms translated:

Oeffnung / Schliessung der Alpenpaesse - Opening / closing of the alpine passes

Ganzjährig geöffnete Pässe - Passes open all year

Pass/Jahr - Pass/Year

Ostern - Easter

Pfingsten - Whitsun/Pentecost

There is also an app called "Swiss alpine passes status information". The link below is for the iOS version.

https://itunes.apple.c om/us/app/swiss-alpine-passes-status/id840299325?mt=8

The app is supposed to be available in both German and English, but mine is in German and I can't see any way to change the language. Anyway, here is a translation of the various status descriptions:

Wintersperre - Closed for the winter

Offen, schneebedeckt - Open, snow covered

Offen, normal befahrbar - Open, no restrictions

Wintersperre, Teilöffnung - Winter closure, partly lifted

Perhaps this site will also interest you, if you are not already aware of it:

http://www.myswitzerla nd.com/en-au/suggestions/grand-tour-of-switzerland.html

Hi Alpenrose66-

Good find. Thanks.

I live in the USA and mine opened in English.

Slowpoke