Glacier 3000 weather and webcams

The readings come from MeteoSwiss station DIA, Les Diablerets, at 2,964 m on the Scex Rouge crest, a few metres below the top of the cable car. MeteoSwiss updates it every 10 minutes, so the panel tells you what it is like up there now, not what the valley forecast says.

The gust figure is the one to watch. It is a good guide, but the operator decides whether the lifts run, and its openings page is the place to confirm that.

Very. The cable car lifts you from 1,546 m at Col du Pillon to 2,971 m at Scex Rouge in about 15 minutes, and Les Diablerets village sits lower still, at about 1,200 m. At the top it is colder and more exposed than anywhere you will have been that morning.

The operator warns that in spring and autumn it can snow at any time, or be very warm. Compare the live panel with the forecast for your village and pack for the colder of the two.

Wind is what most often stops the lifts. The operator inspects the mountain each morning and publishes its opening forecast at about 08:30 on the openings page, which then shows every lift, trail and restaurant with its status and the time of the last update.

Tickets are not refunded for bad weather, so check before you go rather than at the ticket office. If you have several days in the area, pick the clearest and calmest one.

Glacier 3000 runs three pages worth bookmarking: the live openings page (glacier3000.ch/en/openings/), the webcams (glacier3000.ch/en/webcams/) and its own weather page (glacier3000.ch/en/weather/). The webcams show you at a glance whether the summit is in cloud or sunshine.

If anything is unclear, the operator's phone line, +41 (0)24 492 33 77, is staffed every day of the year from 08:00 to 17:00.

A clear day is what makes Glacier 3000. Glacier 3000 says that from Scex Rouge and the Peak Walk you can see 24 peaks over 4,000 m, among them the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc, the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. A look at the summit webcam before you leave tells you whether you will see them.

If the top is in cloud, wait it out indoors at Le 3 or Restaurant Botta, or come back another day.

Dress for the summit, not the car park. The operator's advice is below; in every season it includes sunglasses and sun cream.

If you arrive under-dressed, the souvenir shop at the top rents mountain trousers, jackets and shoes. It does not hire skis; for those, use the shops in Les Diablerets or Gstaad.

The first section climbs from 1,546 m to the Cabane mid-station at 2,525 m very quickly, and the operator sets two rules because of it. Babies under 15 months are not taken up, for medical reasons related to the altitude, and it recommends waiting until a child is 2. It also advises against the trip during pregnancy, because of that rapid rise on the first section.

For everyone else, the summit building is a comfortable base: lifts connect Le 3, Restaurant Botta, the Carnotzet terrace and the rooftop terrace, so you can step inside whenever the wind picks up.