What's actually happening in Chamonix right now — lifts, conditions, events and valley life, gathered from across the local sources and told straight. Updated through the season.
04 Aug 2026
Climate · Aiguille du Midi
The famous ice tunnel is melting — closures at 3,800m in the summer heat
Successive heatwaves have pushed the freezing level to a staggering 4,600 metres — above the summit of Mont Blanc — and the legendary ice-tunnel exit at the Aiguille du Midi top station has had to close on the hottest days, with meltwater trickling from the cave. The cable car and panoramic terraces run normally, and mountaineers have other exits — but an ice cave melting at 3,800m is the climate story of the valley's summer, told in one image.
The 102nd Fête des Guides begins Wednesday — four days across the whole valley
The world's oldest guiding company throws its biggest celebration from 12–15 August, with events in villages the length of the valley. The heart of it is the 15th: the ceremony on the church square from 8:30am — new guides inducted, the fallen remembered — then climbing, zip lines and games at Les Gaillands all afternoon, a crafts festival and concerts in Servoz until late, and a film evening on the 16th. Every centime supports the guides' emergency fund, as it has since 1924.
UTMB week returns 24–30 August — the valley's biggest seven days
The trail-running world descends on Chamonix for the UTMB World Series Finals: 10,000 runners, eight races, three countries, and a town transformed — cowbells in the streets, headtorches moving through the mountains at 3am like constellations. Practical advice for everyone else: it's the busiest accommodation week of the summer, so book beds and airport transfers now, and expect the centre to be gloriously, chaotically full.
Vallée Classics brings a week of classical music to the valley's venues
For one week the valley swaps trail shoes for string quartets: the Chamonix Vallée Classics festival fills churches and halls with world-class chamber music, part of a packed August programme that also includes heritage walking tours with the Guides du Patrimoine and family shows. Proof, if needed, that the valley's culture doesn't all happen above 2,000 metres.
Trail des Aiguilles Rouges closes the season on 27 September — 50km, 3,700m up
The valley's cult season-closer is set: 50 kilometres and 3,700 metres of climbing through the Aiguilles Rouges massif, on some of the steepest, most technical trails Chamonix has — with the whole Mont Blanc range as the view across the valley. A shorter version runs alongside for mortals. Registrations and the après-race meal are open now; it sells out.
One month in, the Musée du Mont-Blanc is the valley's must-see rainy-day answer
The transformed museum on Avenue Michel Croz has settled into its first summer — 1,200m² of the valley's story in a restored palace hotel, with the opening exhibition of two centuries of Alpine prints running until April 2027. Open Wednesday to Monday, and the €25 annual Pass Musées covers all six valley museums — the best culture-per-euro deal in Chamonix.
HOW WE DO NEWS: CHAM GATHERS WHAT'S HAPPENING FROM ACROSS THE VALLEY'S SOURCES, SUMMARISES IT HONESTLY, AND ALWAYS LINKS BACK TO THE ORIGINAL SO YOU CAN READ MORE. WE DON'T REWRITE OTHERS' REPORTING AS OUR OWN. SPOTTED SOMETHING WE SHOULD COVER? TELL US VIA THE CONTACT PAGE.
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