Avalanche fencing protects Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn track.

16 December 2008

Partial Relaxation in the Swiss Mountains

Zermatt Switzerland - The Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn has added early morning traffic to the previously blocked path between Lower and Upper forest again. At 8 clock the trains were rolling on the track from Herbriggen to Randa. Zermatt was thus again reached by train and the entire route network of the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn is open again.
 
Record Amounts of Snow
 
According to Meteo Switzerland around half a metre of snow fell in the last 24 hours in the Simplon region, as well as in the Obergoms the Matterhorn region. So, for example, Simplon-Dorf is covered with 240 inches of snow. According to Christoph Marty of the WSL-Research Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) in Davos this breaks the record for December. Three to four times as much snow as usual lies in the Swiss mountains in mid-December.
 
More Snow Expected
 
Until Tuesday afternoon a further increase of 10 to 20 centimeters is expected in the affected regions. There is also snow expected on Wednesday. For the Upper Valais, Simplon, Obergoms, Matterhorn, Upper Aargau, and the lowlands of central and eastern Switzerland to Lake Constance, another 10 to 20 inches of new snow is expected.
 
On Tuesday evening in parts of the Swiss mountains the avalanche danger was slightly back from the highest to the second highest level of "large". The danger is great, according to SLF currently in the upper valleys of Visp and southern Simplon area.