Where to Ski And Snowboard - Storms return to the Alps

Storms return to the Alps

5th January 2012, by Chris Gill

UPDATE: Friday morning

And there’s more ….

The snow is still falling in the Alps this morning, as ski areas struggle to reopen lifts and slopes. Over 60cm has fallen in the Espace Killy overnight, although we did glimpse the sun on this morning’s webcams! Is that a good sign that things might be set to improve next week – we hope so. Conditions will be superb once it does. The road from Bourg-St-Maurice is now open after it was made safe from avalanches. But elsewhere, the work continues.

In Austria, heavy snowfall has pushed the upper snow depths in St Anton to over 4m. And it continues to snow heavily there on Friday. Check out these pics!

But with it comes big problems for transport systems and lift operators trying to make the ski areas safe and get people in and out of the resorts.

We are now getting reports that lifts and slopes are beginning to open again in resorts such as La Plagne. Keep checking back for further updates. We hope soon to have a report from editor Watts, out in Austria’s Montafon for the next few days.

News just in from one of our reporters:

In Austria ÖAMTC have reported that among other routes closed due to extreme avalanche danger are:

B177 road between Scharnitz Seefeld and Mittenwald in Bavaria
Access to the Felbertauern tunnel between Mittersill in Salzburg and Matrei (alternatives are possible via a long route along the A10 Tauernautobahn and Autoschleusse rail travel by ÖBB between Mallnitz-Obervellach and Böckstein)
B165 Gerlosstraße between Wald im Pinzgau and the Gerlospass (The toll road is open)

Digging deep in Tignes – courtesy of the tourist board

UPDATE: Thursday evening

We’ve now heard that weather conditions in the Alps have worsened considerably this evening, with the road between Bourg St Maurice and Tignes / Val d’Isère now closed. Heavy snowfall and gale force winds are battering the region, and the areas are on high avalanche alert. Emergency shelters have been arranged in Bourg and in Tignes, and many bars and restaurants have been told to close early due to the severe weather. And people are being warned not to walk between Val Claret and Le Lac, or Le Rocher Blanc to Brévières.

In other reports, the severe weather is also cutting off other high and isolated resorts such as Val Thorens, Cervinia and Zermatt. The road into Val Thorens is expected to be closed until late Friday morning. And in Les Arcs, the road linking the villages of 1800 and 2000 / 1950 will be closed overnight for avalanche blasting.

Henry’s Avalanche talks reports that avalanche level 5 alert is now in effect in the Haute Savoie and Mont Blanc regions, following up to 80cm (at 2000m) fresh snow throughout the day.

Here’s the link to the Val d’Isère weather report: http://webtvvaldisere.com/popup-pod.php?id=1134

In Switzerland, an avalanche on Thursday afternoon has stopped travel into and out of Zermatt until at least tomorrow. The railway line is blocked by snow and staff have so far been unable to dig out the tracks. This follows the death of two Austrian skiers in a massive avalanche in the Graubünden area of the country on Tuesday, as the snow continues to pile up across the Alps.

In Austria, the Arlberg pass has now been closed and St Anton now reports 4m snow on the Valluga (2650m), with 35cm fresh powder at village level. The area is expected to get even more snowfall over the next couple of days, as the latest storms move eastwards.

Thursday 5 January

Much of the Alps is already experiencing its second bout of heavy snowfall this week, but this is set to intensify in the north as the day progresses. Not only is it snowing heavily, but storm force winds have already forced some resorts to close for the day, such as Engelberg in Switzerland.

As the gales arrive, warnings have been issued for wind speeds in excess of 100mph across exposed mountain areas, accompanied by yet another huge dump of snow. Blizzard conditions will make skiing and boarding, as well as travelling around, extremely difficult. And the avalanche risk off-piste will be high.

Most of the Alpine regions will be affected by this latest storm, which is also expected to bring a lowering of the temperatures again. This week has been relatively mild for the time of year, and rain has been a problem for some lower resorts with slopes below 1800m.

The good news is that after the weekend, the forecast looks brighter and calmer – so some terrific riding in store when it clears. The best of the snowfalls look to be in Switzerland and France, with western Austria also doing well. Eastern Austria is also improving, and some of this latest snowfall could reach the Dolomites over the weekend too – good news for them, as they have escaped the big dumps so far.

Many resorts have already received 20-30cm fresh snow on Thursday, and it keeps dumping it down…