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Early July: the standard route is essentially snow-free
As of the start of July, conditions have transitioned to typical summer hiking, with most of the standard route now snow free. This is the moment the trail becomes the one people picture.
What changes when the snow goes
Mainly, the numbers start being honest. Stage times in guidebooks assume dry ground and a visible path; in June they are optimistic by an hour or more on the high crossings. From now until roughly mid-September, a six-hour stage is a six-hour stage.
It also reopens the choices. The high variants become a real option rather than a gamble, and the cols stop dictating which day you can start.
What does not change
The beds. July and August are when the trail is fullest, and a snow-free path does nothing about a full refuge. If you are walking in the next few weeks without every night confirmed, the thing to watch is the booking portal, not the forecast.
Worth checking anyway
Snow-free is not the same as hazard-free — afternoon storms are the summer pattern here, and they build fast over the massif. The morning briefing in the planner carries the day's forecast alongside the climb and the terrain, which is the combination that actually decides when you should leave.
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