International (Europe/Japan/Southern Hemisphere) 2023-2024 Europe Resorts/Conditions/Meetups

[Cheizz]

Here we are. Not much happening in terms of snowfall though...

 

[Cheizz]

Important: Switzerland's Gotthard Tunnel (one of the main North-South routes towards Italy) is closed until further notice. There's a crack in the concrete, spotted last weekend. No-one knows how long it will take to repair it. But this may impact next winter's use of the tunnel as well.

Road closure adds to Gotthard transport woes - SWI swissinfo.ch

The Gotthard road tunnel has been closed in both directions since Sunday afternoon due to a crack in the tunnel ceiling.

www.swissinfo.ch

 

[Nobody]

New season, new thread...
Yall are welcome to come and participate.

 

[Nobody]

Frejus tunnel (important for Heavy commercial transports and High Speed train communications) between Italy and France was closed for two weeks as well due to a landslide on the French side.
All traffic was routed to the Mont-Blanc Tunnel (itself due to be closed last week for a period of four month each year for the next 18 years or so), further clogging it, or through the Gothard tunnel or via the coast (Nice). At the moment I've heard that the Frejus has been partially re-opened (but not in time for me and my family to catch the High Speed to Paris, instead, we had to drive by car from Italy to Paris and back, through the Gothard - before the crack was discovered...interesting drive but...tiiiring)
I read that the Gothard tunnel is scheduled to be reopened tonight at 20:00 CEST.
Let's hope that , coming winter, the situation might stabilize, even though I do not advocate driving the Gothard pass in winter, rather, I'd take the St. Bernardiner pass/tunnel road (another main artery through Switzerland to reach Italy), or the Brenner - between Italy and Austria...

 

[Nobody]

Here's a link to a map clearly showing the main acces roads (e.g. motorways) likely to stay open all year round despite adverse weather.
From West to East, clockwise :
Nice, Frejus, Mont Blanc (tunnel has toll) , Simplon/Sempione, St. Gothard and St. Bernardin (both converging at Bellinzona level in the Italian speaking Swiss Canton of Tessin/Ticino), Brenner ("Europa" bridge subject to toll as well), Tarvisio and Trieste.

Main roads throught Alps to/from Italy

A word of warning, all are subjected to tolls of some sorts. The swiss motorways have a "vignette" system (valid for 14 months, from beginning of December of the year N-1 to end of January of year N+1), it can be, from this August, purchased also via a website. The cost is about 40 CHF.
The Austrian ones as well, but give the option of 10 days (9,90 €) , two months (29,00 €) and one year (96,40 €). The Slovenian one 117,50€ for the whole year, 32€ for one month and 16€ for a week...
Italy and France are "pay-per-drive"...paying when exiting at the toll station, the more km one drives through a motorway the higher the toll...

 

[Swiss Toni]

The Gotthard road tunnel has now reopened https://www.gotthard-traffic.ch/?lan=en A section of the false ceiling developed a crack so they demolished the section concerned and replaced it with a steel ceiling. There is a ventilation system above the false ceiling that is used to extract smoke in case of fire.

The Gotthard base rail tunnel was badly damaged by the derailment of a goods train in August and is currently closed to passenger traffic. Passenger traffic is being diverted via the panoramic route which takes about an hour longer. It is expected that it will take several months to repair the damage https://news.sbb.ch/artikel/124161/...-alles-was-sie-fuer-ihre-reise-wissen-muessen unfortunately the information is only available in German, French and Italian.

The Gotthard Pass, the Great St. Bernard Pass and many other alpine passes are closed during winter, usually from November to May. The passes that are kept open also close if the weather is very bad. The Touring Club Suisse website shows the status of the Swiss passes https://www.tcs.ch/de/tools/verkehrsinfo-verkehrslage/paesse-in-der-schweiz.php

The Simplon pass is kept open during the winter and is not subject to a toll, there is a map of Switzerland’s toll roads https://www.astra.admin.ch/astra/de...nnetz/neue-vignettenpflichtigen-strassen.html the electronic “Vignette” can be purchased from: https://via.admin.ch/shop/dashboard If the Simplon pass is closed due to bad weather or you don’t fancy driving over it, there is a car train that runs from Iselle di Trasquera to Brig https://www.bls.ch/en/fahren/autoverlad/brig-iselle

When the Great St Bernard Pass closes you have to use the tunnel http://www.letunnel.com/homepage.asp?l=3 for which there is a charge.

 

[Itinerant skier]

I'll be in Ski Amade (St Johann/Alpendorf), Austria area 17-24 Feb with a likely day trip to Zell am See if anyone is in the neighborhood.

 

[Cheizz]

The first real snow of the season is expected in the Alps next Friday and Saturday. Snow from 2500 m altitude and up, so mainly for the glacier ski areas.

 

[Nobody]

Pray for snow. Temperatures have begun to drop only yesterday...Today a small drizzle is falling from a gray sky here on the plains at the foot of the Alps...
Untill day before yesterday it was still Summer (temperature-wise and Sun-wise)...

 

[Primoz]

At least around here it was minus degrees during night even down here in valley (400m above sea level), and we got some 10cm snow in mountains last weekend, but they are promising back to +20 and more from Friday on, so I guess no snow just yet.

 

[Cheizz]

The Tiefenbach Glacier in Sölden, Austria is nice! Here for the Winter Opening ski test event.

 

[James]

You going to try the Peak 78?

 

[Cheizz]

No Peak here. The event is organized by the Dutch Federation of Sports Retailers. Peak isnot for the Dutch market. You're lucky if people know who Bode Miller is...

 

[Rod MacDonald]

Snow at village level in Saas Fee today.

 

[Petrus]

In Italy we seem to be off to a good start, somebody might open on Nov 18th.
Let's hope this will not be the only snow for the rest of the season

Webcam & Livecam Dolomiti di Brenta

Webcams & Livecams trentino dolomiti: the Skiarea Dolomiti di Brenta turns into an outdoor summer paradise.

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Live Webcams | Livigno

Watch Livigno's live webcams and discover the weather and snow conditions with real-time views.

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Webcams Dolomiten | Livecams Dolomiti Superski, Italien | Dolomiti Superski

Alle Webcams des Dolomiti Superski auf einem Blick. Entdecken Sie Dolomiti Superski und informieren Sie sich über das aktuelle Wetter in den Dolomiten.

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www.cervinia.it

 

[Cheizz]

Sölden announced yesterday they will open some of the higher slopes of their non-glacier ski area on November 10th, a week before the planned opening. The glacier ski area is already in operation.

Things are looking good in the Alps for this time of year.

 

[Nobody]

Looking good (live webcams, so, depending on your ToD...you might see a black screen):
Webcams

Initially the Mountain was scheduled to open Nov 25th...now the announcement has been made that the Glacier will open on Nov 18th!!!
What is sad is that pre-covid era (so not so long ago, and I mention covid just to give a timeframe idea), the "glacier" was opening Nov 1st with plenty of fresh snow...

 

[Itinerant skier]

Just back from my week in Ski Amade. I have a timeshare there, but usually use it for hiking in the fall. It was Dutch Vacation week, which I will avoid in the future. No snow in the valleys at all on our arrival. High 50's F. Heavy and wet up high, with the rampaging hordes of kids turning every run into gloppy mogul fields within minutes of the day starting. As usual for the Alps, the black runs were uncrowded compared to everywhere else. Last two days of the trip though we scored with about 10" of fresh all the way down to the valleys with some serious boot top pow up high. As usual, food and drink were amazing!!

 

[RodneyBD]

Mid-atlantic thread contributor here... getting on a plane and headed to Tigne/Val D'Isere in a couple weeks. Whoo hoo! Staying at Le Lac/2100.

Any insight or advice from anyone would be appreciated. One thing I'm interested in is doing a day with a guide to learn the inbounds and/or side country...

Merci!

 

[neonorchid]

...typical VT resort day after the Nor'easter snowstorm