Little snow in the mountains – biking instead of skiing – many mountain railways are rescheduling – News

Lack of snow forces many snow sports resorts to find alternatives. There is still no snow in sight. On the contrary.

Thanks to various bike routes on Chur’s local mountain Brambrüesch, you can even benefit from the little snow this year. The area became an attraction for bikers. In the last few days, those responsible have now opened the downhill paths instead of the ski and toboggan runs – much to the delight of the bikers.

According to the operators, there were fewer people than on the past few days with snow. But that is also related to the bad weather, according to the request of the regional journal of Radio SRF.

The Kronberg near Gonten in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden is also switching to summer operation. If the weather is right, you open the summer toboggan run and the rope park. Marketing chief Michael Schopper says: “The demand is moderate. But that has to do with the fact that people are not used to checking summer operations at this time of year to see if we are open at all. »

Buses to the other ski area

In the meantime, the lower-lying ski areas, which cannot switch to alternative sports, have to come up with something so that the start of the season does not fall completely into the water. In Tschiertschen GR, buses are used to take people to the higher-lying ski area of ​​Arosa/Lenzerheide. Even there, only about half of the slopes are currently open.

In contrast, most facilities are open in the very large winter sports resorts such as St. Moritz, Crans-Montana, Davos or Saas-Fee. Mürren in the Bernese Oberland is 1600 m above sea level. M. The ski area reaches up to 2900 meters and is therefore less affected by the lack of snow than others.

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Legend:

Skiing is possible in the larger ski areas. Even if it’s green in the village, like here in Flims over the Christmas period.

Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller

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Legend:

No winter paradise in Grindelwald, but the ski slope is there.

Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

Nevertheless, those responsible are expanding the leisure area to keep the guests happy in bad weather. A virtual reality facility was opened in the sports center for the winter season. “People can play a virtual snowball fight there,” says Rachel Arkin, Tourism Director Mürren.

People can play a virtual snowball fight.

In smaller, lower-lying areas such as Wildhaus SG, in some places you benefit from artificial snowmaking at the beginning of December. The natural snow is gone, but an offer for skiing can be made available, according to the Toggenburger Bergbahnen.

Snow cats and llama trekking for children

In Meiringen-Hasliberg you can ski on the snow-covered slopes, but the toboggan runs are closed due to the lack of snow. This particularly affects the families who spend the Christmas holidays in the region with their children.

Those responsible have now reacted: children can visit snow groomers or go llama trekking. In addition, the mini golf course was opened spontaneously – actually a summer offer. “People really appreciate the additional offers,” says Simon Schmid, Marketing Manager Bergbahnen Meiringen-Hasliberg.

The paths are diverse, and how the ski areas get through the tough start to the season. The hope for snow is likely to be widespread. But things don’t look good at the turn of the year either – a warm front brings extremely mild air: 17 degrees in Sion or Chur, 14 degrees in Interlaken, 19 degrees in Basel, 16 degrees in St. Gallen and still 6 degrees in St. Moritz, is the forecast of the meteorologists.