Why the Austrians don’t have snow problems – but we do

While there is a lack of snow in Switzerland, skiing in Austria is in full swing. “All 270 kilometers of slopes are passable and each of the 70 lifts is in operation,” writes the ski area in Saalbach-Hinterglemm on Blick. Business is going well – and how. “We are currently in the busiest weeks of the year.” Even the fairly high temperatures don’t change that. “They are not a problem for us at the moment. The conditions for skiing in the sun are ideal.”

In Graubünden, on the other hand, things are very different. A few days ago, the ski area in Tschiertschen had to close due to a lack of snow. Although the highest point of the Graubünden ski area (2440 m above sea level) is more than 400 meters higher than that in Saalbach. This begs the question: why is there more snow in Austria than in Switzerland? The blame for this glaring difference: the snow roller that swept over our neighbors in early February.

Klaus Marquardt from Meteo News explains: “When a large snow mass was announced at the end of January, Switzerland was closer to the weather-determining height than Austria. That is why significantly more snow fell near our eastern neighbours.” Then he adds: “Only small parts of this country have benefited from this weather situation. For example, the Glarner Alps, which are close to the Austrian border. Areas further away, such as Central Switzerland and especially the Bernese Oberland received practically nothing.”

«We can offer our ski guests everything»

The position of the jet stream is also crucial. The band-shaped westerly wind current in the northern hemisphere can reach wind speeds of up to 500 km/h. The position can significantly affect the weather. As a result, the air mass limit, influenced by the jet stream, was further east than initially believed. The blizzard scraped eastern Switzerland and the moist Atlantic air, which is carried to the Alps by the northwestern jet stream, accumulated on the northern slope of the Austrian Alps, including in the Dachstein Mountains. The result: lots of fresh snow in our neighboring country.

There is not only a lot of snow in the Austrian ski area of ​​Saalbach-Hinterglemm, a large part of the slopes are also open in Serfaus, Fiss and Ladis. According to the website, 200 of the 214 kilometers of slopes are accessible. All ski lifts and movers for the younger guests are in operation. Even below 2000 meters above sea level, the piste shines white. “The snow situation does not worry us,” says farm manager Stefan Mangott.

The same picture in the winter sports resort of Ischgl. «We can offer our ski guests almost everything. In concrete terms, that is today 224 of the 239 kilometers of slopes,” says CEO Günther pliers. And makes you sit up and take notice with the following sentence: “All in all, we are heading towards a very pleasant result this winter, which will probably be the best in our more than 60-year company history.” In contrast to Tschiertschen there are also ski slopes around 2000 meters passable.

Source: Blick