Too little snow in the ski area: Instead of winter sports, there are hikes with animal companions
Geneva – A lot of rain and temperatures around ten degrees: In many low-lying ski areas of the Switzerland things are looking bad for winter sports at the moment.
At temperatures around ten degrees, the production of artificial snow is no longer possible.
The regions are therefore becoming inventive.
“We have switched back to summer operations since Christmas Eve,” said an employee in the Sattel-Hochstuckli ski area in central Switzerland between Lake Lucerne and Lake Zurich on Friday.
Employees who are otherwise responsible for making snow on the slopes now snow the 600-metre-long summer toboggan run, which is in operation when it’s not raining. It is at 1200 meters. “Everything is green upstairs,” said the employee.
In the higher-altitude winter sports resort of Flumserberg in eastern Switzerland, only a good third of the 65 kilometers of pistes are open.
The region offers yoga and Pilates at an altitude of more than 2000 meters and a bouncy castle in the ski area – all included with the lift day ticket for the equivalent of around 70 euros. The tourism managers offer family hikes accompanied by alpacas and goats a.
In the higher ski areas, there is more on the slopes. In the Davos-Klosters ski area, with ski areas up to around 2800 meters above sea level, around three quarters of the systems are in operation.
But there is only 15 centimeters of snow in the valley. In what is claimed to be the highest ski area in Europe near Zermatt with a view of the Matterhorn, there are lifts to more than 3,000 meters. Around 100 of the more than 200 kilometers of ski slopes are open, half of the facilities are in operation. There is only ten centimeters of snow in the village itself.