Due to the almost summer temperatures at the beginning of the year, the little snow that is still there keeps melting away. Splügen-Tambo has now announced as the first larger ski area to stop until further notice. Only the restaurant in the valley remains open, news website ’20min.ch’ reports.
“Unfortunately, due to a lack of snow, heavy rainfall and high temperatures, we have to close our ski area from January 2, 2023 until further notice,” reports Bergbahnen Splügen-Tambo AG. “It is no longer possible for us to prepare the slopes because there is too much water on them and the snow no longer freezes at night,” it sounds. As soon as temperatures allow it to make artificial snow again or fresh snow finally falls again, work will resume and the slopes will open as soon as possible.
Affected winter sports enthusiasts who have already purchased ski passes can count on a refund in almost all cases, including amounts already paid for the ski school. Half of the slopes are also closed in the French, Austrian and Italian mountains.
hairdryer
According to MeteoSchweiz, the exceptionally warm weather is caused by a mild south-westerly wind combined with a so-called hairdryer, a warm dry wind on the north side of the Alps that arises because wind from the south warms up under certain conditions when it blows over the mountains.
Just north of the Swiss Alps, a new heat record for the month of January was set on Sunday. In the town of Delémont, located in the canton of Jura on the north side of the Swiss Alps, 20.2 degrees were measured.