Europe Weekly Roundup #258

• Severe Flooding and Landslips Hit the Western Alps
• Zermatt Leads in Consistent Glacier Operations Amid Severe Weather
• Fresh Snowfall Dusts High Slopes Across the Alps
• Scandinavian Ski Areas Prepare for October Reopenings
• Significant Temperature Drop and Snowfall Forecasted for the Alps

THE ALPS REPORT

There has been more severe weather in the Alps this past week, with severe flooding reported in parts of the Western Alps following heavy rainfall. Val Cenis, Val d’Isere, and Bonneval were among the resorts posting images of mountain streams and rivers in full spate. Saas Fee has been cut off by a landslip for much of the past week, with the only access being ‘helicopter taxi’ each way.

However, there was an upside to the rain as some centres saw a dusting of fresh snowfall on Thursday afternoon last week, above about 3,000m. For most, this was the first turning white of their mountain tops of meteorological autumn/fall.

In terms of what’s open, there remain four centres that aim to be, but review each day given the combination of summer heat and the periods of severe weather. Zermatt (0/150cm / 0/60”) seems to be managing to operate most consistently and has been open most days, reporting about 11km (7 miles) of glacier runs, Europe’s highest, still open. However, the idea of year-round access to the glacier from Cervinia on the Italian side, announced a year ago, appears to have been abandoned, with lifts closed until late October.

Now, the less local skiers estimated that the snowstorm at last week's end deposited 20-30cm (8-12”) of fresh snowfall. Since reopening, Passo Stelvio (0/100cm / 0/40”) in Italy has remained open most days, too. There is less good news for Austria’s only summer ski centre, formerly year-round Hintertux (0/35cm / 0/14”), which is coming up to a month now of being unable to operate due to the snow conditions and thin cover on its glacier. Saas Fee (0/75cm / 0/30”) is also a bit hit and miss on its summer ski operations and seems to be closed more days than it’s open, with access the most recent problem.

Elsewhere, another Swiss resort, Andermatt, announced that it was removing the summer protective covers on its glacier ready for the first snowfalls. Snow has been falling this week, with high slopes at ski areas across The Alps reporting snowfall since Monday, the Pitztal, Kaunertal, Dachstein, and Molltal glaciers among them, and resorts like Verbier.

THE ALPS FORECAST

The forecast is promising for a continuing significant drop in temperatures in the Alps over the latter half of this week. Temperatures will get well below freezing above 2,000m, and the possibility of the most significant snowfall of the autumn yet on high slopes.

SCANDINAVIA REPORT

There’s nowhere open in Scandinavia although Galdhopiggen, the region's highest area, is officially on hold, waiting for colder weather, and plans to reopen in October and November. It's just over three weeks now until the start of the season in Finland, with Levi and Ruka expected to start removing covers from their stockpiled mountains of snow from last year and begin spreading it back out on a few kilometres of slopes each in the next week or so ready for opening on October 4th. So far, temperatures are staying quite warm, mostly in the +8 to +16C range, with lots of sunshine.

SCANDINAVIA FORECAST

It’s not yet really dipping down to the temperatures we need for the Galdhopiggen glacier to reopen, but it is set to get cooler with temperatures in the north in the +5 to +15C range. The sunny weather of recent days should switch to increasingly cloudy weather with some rain in the latter half of the week.