High Avalanche Danger in Southern Alps After 60cm Snowfalls

The avalanche danger has jumped from level 2 ('moderate') to a ‘high’ level 4 on the scale to 5 at ski areas across the region after several reported over two-feet (60 cm) of snowfall in about 24 hours on Tuesday-Wednesday this week.

Isola 2000, Serre Chevalier and Risoul-Vars in the southern French Alps were among the areas posting 60cm (24”) accumulations on their higher slopes, with Les 2 Alpes also noting that the avalanche danger there had jumped to level 4. 

It’s the southwestern Alps that are seeing the heaviest falls at present, thanks to the Foehn climate effect, after ski areas in the Northeastern Alps, particularly in Austria, got a decent dump at the weekend.

Glacier 3000 in Switzerland was closed on Wednesday, and remained so on Thursday morning,  due to the conditions with management saying they’d had huge snowfalls but that it was unsafe for workers to access the site and make it safe until the most extreme weather passed through. 

Ski areas in the Pyrenees and Dolomites are also benefiting from the current conditions with, so far, lighter snowfall further north.