Val d'Isere in France was the winner for snowfalls this week!
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Winter has definitely arrived, and if you are up for skiing, the slopes are ready for you!
We are kicking off GenevaLunch’s winter season weekly snow and sports reports, a Friday morning roundup from Swiss and some French resorts with weather forecasts, snow conditions, avalanche reports , travel news, competition results and more.
Shirley Curran once again reports every weekend from the Jura and Ellen Wallace from the Alps, with others occasionally contributing videos or special reports from the slopes.
Weather forecast
Wednesday and Thursday the Alps had very strong winds, adding some instability to snow on the slopes: MeteoSwiss measured 149.8 km/h at Chasseral, 148 km/h at the Titlis and 130 km/h at Diablerets. Chasseral was particularly affected with the average speed of the wind over 10 minutes more than 100 km/h for more than three hours.
For the weekend: temperatures hovering between 2 and 8-9C throughout the region this weekend, with some rain in the Jura and generally dry in the Alps, but temperatures below zero at altitude will allow the fresh snow to remain. More snow is expected Tuesday, but then the snow line should rise to 2000 m before falling next Friday to 1,000m, as schools break up for the holidays.
Snow conditions
This slope in the centre of Val d'Isere was technically closed Thursday, but skiers decided otherwise
Variable is the best word, with the snow that fell at the start of the week falling heavily in some resorts, less so in others.
Valais police are warning caution, with the snow base unstable. A six-year-old child caught by an avalanche Wednesday died during the night after being hospitalized.
Snow levels in Alpine stations Thursday: see the SLF snow depth map for Friday, showing all of Switzerland. Crans-Montana opens this weekend, with powder, but the base is still only 20-50cm. Verbier, Les Ruinettes has 44cm. Central Valais had more snow early in the week than lower Valais, closer to Lake Geneva, and Zermatt has snow down to the village, with virtually all lifts operating. Vaud Alps also received heavier snowfalls, so Gstaad has 20-65cm.
Switzerland’s most reliable and richest source of information on snow conditions is the daily Avalanche Bulletin published in English and other languages by SLF, the Swiss Snow and Avalanche Research Institute.
Jura report
by Shirley Curran
Things are looking very promising for our Jura resorts – better than last year when we had a magnificent dump of snow at the start of December that was all washed away during the second week. There is already snow on our summits and the official opening of Crozet-Lélex, and La Faucille-Mijoux and, of course Menthières and Le
Vattey is 17 December. The higher resorts will, exceptionally, be running this weekend if they deem that there is sufficient snow. You can see the state of snow coverage for yourself if you visit the official website and click on ‘Webcams’.
The plan at the momentis to run the Telecombi at the Col de la Faucille and two other lifts during the weekend. Of course, that depends on the weather.
France Voisine, Val d’Isère
If you want to remind yourself what glorious winter snow is like, head for the French resort, just under three hours from Geneva Airport by car or shuttle bus. The peaks had 1.7 metres in just three days at the start of the week and the village itself, at 1,850 metres, is heavily covered and charmingly wintry. Temperatures are hovering around zero on the slopes, so the snow is in good condition.
Bolshoi dancers
More than a facelift: 6 years of restoration have brought back the Bolshoi Theatre
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – More than six years of renovations were needed to restore the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia to its former glory. The theatre has been home to the renowned Bolshoi Ballet company but the 1776 building has also seen a number of historic events, including the official founding of the creation of the Soviet Union.
The Bolshoi Ballet will be performing one of the pieces for which it has long been known, “The Nutcracker”, on the main stage for the Christmas holiday season.
Wednesday 2 November the world will once again see the beautiful main stage, with the first performance open to the public since renovations began in 2006. The opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila”, by Mikhail Glinka, will be showing. Two earlier performances were put on in October, one for workers, another for VIPs 28 October that featured a host of stars, including Placido Domingo.
The project was riddled with delays, cost overruns and suspected corruption, and not everyone agrees that the end result reflects the theatre’s former glory. The trial of an earlier contractor for embezzlement is still running, according to Bloomberg. Summa, a Russian holding company with interests in a number of heavy industries, stepped in, in 2009, to back the floundering $680 million project. The news agency notes that “the Bolshoi’s most comprehensive makeover in 150 years involved more than 3,600 artists, designers, builders and engineers in the last two years alone.”
Links to other sites: BBC, New York Times
Bolshoi, restored and ready for the public in November 2011
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The road leading to Italy via the St Bernard pass and tunnel was opened again Tuesday afternoon, 6 September.
The road was closed following to a major mudslide over the weekend. Cleanup crews removed tons of rock, rubble and mud.
Trucks and other vehicles can now use the road, say Valais police.
Italian side of the Simplon pass, March 2011
Updae 19:00 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Police in canton Valais re-opened the Simplon road pass between Italy and Switzerland Friday morning after closing it for more than 24 hours following a fire in the Simplon rail tunnel. The fire broke out in a freight train early Thursday shortly after the train left Iselle, in Italy, heading for Switzerland. There were no injuries, but as of Friday afternoon smoke was still a problem in the tunnel and trains are being rerouted until at least Saturday noon.
The CFF rail companies has announced the following changes, until further notice:
Passengers from Basel, Geneva and Lausanne heading for Milan: take another route
Passengers travelling from Geneva / Lausanne to Milan’s Central station should take the EuroCity trains (EC) Genève – Lausanne – Milano Centrale and change in Brig + Domodossola. The CFF asks passengers to allow for a longer travelling time.
Passengers travelling from Basel SBB / Olten / Bern to Milano Centrale or vice versa should travel via Luzern / Zürich HB – Chiasso and allow for a longer travelling time.
Hotline
The CFF rail company hotline for updates, from inside Switzerland: 0800 99 66 33.
Snow hit the region Thursday night; by 09:00 Friday blue skies appeared at the north end of Lake Geneva
"You can go in, maman, but I'm staying outside to play (09:00 Friday, lakeside village of Saint Prex)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Geneva airport was closed early Friday morning 17 December due to snow, but is re-opening at 09:30, with some delayed flights.
French schools in Ain are open (note correction) but there is a ban on school buses on the road, with up to 30cm of snow in some areas and slippery roads in general. School holidays begin in France later today and authorities are warning drivers leaving on vacation to use caution.
The snow settled down to some serious blanketing work about 22:00 Thursday evening, and kept at it most of the night. Lausanne in particular had traffic problems due to icy roads on hillsides.
For information about the airport, check the Geneva Cointrin flights page, but it is quickly overloaded when the airport is closed, so an option is to register for mobile phone news alerts, available in English as well as French and German. Contact your airline (list, with phone numbers) for specific flight information.
The snow is expected to continue this morning, slowing by early afternoon throughout the Lake Geneva region, but continuing in Valais. Temperatures will hover around 0C in Geneva and Lausanne, but highs in mountain resorts will be -8C.
Police patrol roads near schools in Valais, Switzerland
Valais, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Parents and children in canton Valais are getting ready for school. Students in Haut Valais began classes Monday 16 August while children in the French-speaking part of the canton start school Monday 23 August. School opens in Vaud as well 23 August while canton Geneva prepares for a 30 August back-to-school Monday. Several of the international schools open their doors 1 September.
Road safety around schools is increasingly high on parents’ and authorities’ list of concerns.
Cantonal and municipal police in Valais, home to many of Switzerland’s resorts, are urging motorists to slow down and be prepared to break in school zones, especially around school crosswalks and public bus stops. They will be out in force to remind drivers, as a preventive action initially, but speed checks will soon be stepped up to ensure motorists remember school safety.
Police in several cantons are advising parents:
- Do not wait for your child on the other side of the street, walk with your child holding her/his hand
- Do not take the shortest road to school but the safest
- Do not park the car in front of the school, blocking the view or the entry to other students
- Remember that in canton Valais, all children age 7 and under must be in an appropriate child seat.
A1, Morges, at dusk Monday 18 January
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The first week of the A1 autoroute’s new six-lane stretch being open has gone smoothly, with no incidents or accidents, reports the Swiss highway department. Signals opening a third lane in each direction between Morges and Lausanne light up automatically once there are more than 36 cars per kilometre. The system became operational Monday 18 January, but only in the afternoon. It will be used around the clock starting Monday 25 January.
