Snow chaos - Zugspitz cable cars stand still, Alpen Plus starts season
The ski season has started with huge amounts of snow. Despite the snow chaos, the Upper Bavarian Alpen-Plus areas of Sudelfeld, Brauneck and Spitzingsee, among others, started the season with the first lifts on Saturday. Skiers were also able to make their turns on the Großer Arber in the Bavarian Forest.
On the Zugspitze, however, the lifts had to be closed one day after the start due to heavy snowfall. "We have closed the Zugspitze completely," said Verena Tanzer, spokeswoman for the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn, on Saturday. Neither the cable car nor the cog railroad could operate.
Among other things, there was a risk of avalanches. There was also snow breakage on the route of the cog railroad, Tanzer said. Trees had fallen and were blocking the tracks. "The employees didn't even make it to the top." The road to the valley station of the Zugspitz cable car at Eibsee was also difficult to drive on; a bus left the road and slid into the ditch. Skiing began on Germany's highest mountain on Friday - with more lifts than usual due to the early snowfall.
In the Alpen-Plus areas of Sudelfeld, Spitzingsee and Brauneck, however, the snowfall did not prevent the planned start of the season on Saturday, with the first lifts running as planned despite the weather. It was mainly locals who came and took advantage of the still empty slopes with perfect fresh snow, as reported by Alpen-Plus spokeswoman Antonia Asenstorfer. Day visitors from Munich tended to stay away - presumably due to the road conditions.
Snow planks had to be blown up on the Brauneck due to the avalanche danger. The avalanche warning center of the Bavarian State Office for the Environment reported considerable avalanche danger above 1600 meters.
On Sunday, the cable cars on the Zugspitze will also be running again, announced Zugspitzbahn spokeswoman Tanzer. Only the cog railroad will not yet be able to resume operations. "The damage will not be repaired by Sunday."
Last but not least, the German Weather Service is predicting bright sunshine on Sunday at a frosty minus 18 degrees - perfect skiing weather.
The Zugspitze started the winter sports season on Friday. Lifts also opened in other ski resorts this week - in some cases earlier than expected due to the snowfall.
German Weather Service
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Source: www.stern.de
