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WEATHER

‘We’ve got the slopes to ourselves’: locals are happy to be stuck in Zermatt

Zermatt remained cut off from the outside world on Wednesday, with a rockfall on the railway line between Visp and the village only hindering the clear-up operation, which is expected to take until at least Wednesday evening.

Published: 24 January 2018 10:09 CET
Updated: 24 January 2018 18:27 CET
‘We’ve got the slopes to ourselves’: locals are happy to be stuck in Zermatt
Zermatt on Wednesday Jan 24th. Photo: Rowena Phillips
With no road or rail access to Zermatt and Swiss media reporting supermarkets running low on supplies, it would be easy to assume villagers and tourists feel under siege. 
 
But in fact that’s not the case, at least for some. 
 
“To be honest it really doesn’t feel like we are cut off,” Rowena Phillips, director of Matterhorn Diamonds ski school in Zermatt, told The Local on Wednesday morning.
 
“The majority of the slopes are open, the weather’s amazing this morning, so everyone’s skiing, everyone’s acting as though it’s completely normal. I think the tourists here in Zermatt quite like the fact we’re cut off, it means no one else can come and enjoy the slopes! We’ve got them to ourselves.”
 
The car-free ski village has been inaccessible since the weekend after two metres of heavy snow fell in the area – the second time this month it has been cut off.
 
The railway from Täsch to Zermatt was closed due to the sheer quantity of snow and the severe risk of avalanches.
 
Most occurred on Tuesday and the avalanche risk has now been lowered to three, according to the Institute for snow and avalanche research.
 
“The big job now for the train companies and the people clearing the roads is to get rid of the majority of the avalanches that hit the roads and train line. But because there was so much it’s going to take all afternoon,” said Phillips.
 
The authorities say the Zermatt-Täsch stretch of railway line will remain closed until at least noon, and the lower part to/from Visp for longer, though a bus replacement service will run there.
 
 
Currently the only access to Zermatt is via a helicopter air bridge, which transported 812 people out and 500 in on Tuesday, according to the village website. Up to 2,000 people will use it today. 
 
In typical Swiss style, it’s all very organized, according to Phillips. 
 
“They are keeping people very much in the loop online, telling people who have tickets when they can start queuing up to get the helicopter so they aren’t having to queue unduly for hours.”
 
 
Neither is the food situation as bad as the media is making out. 
 
“There was a point yesterday afternoon where some of the fresh fruit and veg were starting to run low, but Coop I know had a huge delivery in and were able to replenish everything,” said Phillips, saying she thought the supermarket used a helicopter for its deliveries. 
 
Supermarket Denner was cut off for a time because it is located in the avalanche zone, but has now reopened, she added.
 
All the locals can do is stay calm, wait for the authorities to clear the access routes and enjoy the amazing skiing. 
 
“I’m just heading up now to check it out.”
 

WEATHER

Will Switzerland be visited by ‘Ice Saints’ this year?

Ascension is not the only annual happening in the country in May, as Switzerland also ‘celebrates’ another 'chilling' event this month.

Published: 8 May 2024 14:20 CEST
Will Switzerland be visited by 'Ice Saints' this year?

From May 11th to the 15th, a meteorological event takes place each year in Switzerland.

It “observes”, though admittedly not on scientific basis, a centuries-old weather phenomenon called “Ice Saints”.

What exactly is it?

As its name suggests, it is related to saints, as well as ice and frost.

The saints in question are St Mamertus, St Pancras, St Servatius and St Boniface.

According to a weather lore, once these Ice Saints have passed through Switzerland in the middle of May, frost will no longer pose a threat to farmers and their land.

As the official government meteorological service MeteoSwiss explains it, “spring frosts have been a regular occurrence for centuries, giving rise to the traditional belief that a blast of cold air often arrives in the middle of May. Over time, this piece of weather lore became known as the Ice Saints.”

Fact versus myth

You may be wondering whether the Ice Saints lore actually has basis in reality.

Records, which date back to 1965 and originate from the Geneva-Cointrin, Payerne, and Zurich-Kloten weather stations, “clearly show that, over the long-term average, frost directly above the soil is only a regular occurrence up until the middle of April”, MeteoSwiss says. “After that, the frequency with which ground frost occurs progressively declines to almost zero by the end of May.”

“We can conclude, therefore, that there is no evidence in Switzerland to confirm the Ice Saints as a period in May when ground frost is more common.”

However, MeteoSwiss does concede that “ground frost is nevertheless a regular occurrence throughout May as a whole…having occurred at least once or twice in May every year, and in around 40 percent of the years there were more than two days in May with ground frost.”

What about this year?

MeteoSwiss weather forecast for the next seven days indicates that, this year too, no frost will be present on the ground in mid-May.

In fact, temperatures through much of Switzerland will be in double digits, reaching between 18C and 25C, depending on the region.

You can see what to expect in your area, here. 

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