Swiss Alpine resorts covered in white gold for Christmas

Alpine resorts covered in white gold for Christmas Keystone-SDA

Many areas at low altitudes in Switzerland are enjoying a blanket of snow. In the mountains, the intense precipitation of the last few days has delighted skiers.

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Snow has arrived in almost all of Switzerland. It is abundant in the Alps, wrote MeteoSwiss on the X social network. Since Friday night, more than a metre of snow has fallen in the high Alps, adds MeteoNews on its website.

As a result, many Alpine resorts were covered in a thick blanket of snow. In canton Valais, there was 180 cm of snow at Crans-Montana, 170 cm at Ovronnaz and 127 cm at Portes du Soleil-Champéry, according to the Suisse Tourism snow report. In Leysin and at Glacier 3000 in Le Diablerets in canton Vaud, the snow cover was between 110 and 115 cm.

In central and eastern Switzerland, there was snow at 145 cm in Grindelwald, in canton Bern, 125 cm at Sedrun-Oberalp-Andermatt and 140 cm at Elm, in canton Glarus. Another metre of snow was measured at Alt-St-Johann in the Toggenburg region of St Gallen.

Avalanche danger

The Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (WSL) warns that the avalanche danger is very high due to these heavy snowfalls. It is considered “high” (degree 4 out of 5) throughout the Valais, central Switzerland and parts of Graubünden, and “considerable” (degree 3 out of 5) in the rest of the Alpine arc and parts of the Jura.

Conditions for snowsports outside of secured pistes are critical, adds the WSL, pointing out that avalanches can be triggered by “a single snowsports enthusiast”.

Snowfall decreased on Monday afternoon. Only a few snow showers were still expected, with occasional fresh snow, Meteoswiss told news agency Keystone-ATS. Along the Alps and in the Jura, snowfall was expected to continue until Tuesday morning.

Crumpled sheet metal

However, the abundance of white gold was not all good news. The Oberalp railway line between Andermatt and Dieni was interrupted until the end of service due to the bad weather, announced the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn. Piggyback transport was also interrupted in the Furka tunnel due to the risk of avalanches.

Numerous accidents were also reported in the morning. The Bernese cantonal police counted several dozen, which caused only minor material damage. No injuries were reported.

Translated from French by DeepL/jdp

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