That has been the question we have been asking for the last 3 months.
This winter, snow has been little and it doesn’t stick around for more than a day at our level (about 500m above sea level). And even in the ski resorts, snow seems to have become a bit of a rare sight.
Check out the photo below of the slopes in Engelberg just before the new year. The slopes, which were snow-covered, were icy and one of them was littered with pebbles, which all made the skiing no fun at all. We gave up after lunch and decided a walk in the little town was better and was rewarded with lovely local produce from the Kloster and that pretty view of the Kloster framed by the mountain behind it.
We waited a number of weeks and tried again in February, during the recent school Sports-holiday. We went to Lenk. We were worried on the way up to the ski place as it did look so green. That first day, we skied through wet, heavy snow, (which turned to rain towards the end of the day) but it was still better than it was in December.
Then overnight the snow arrived, in force! See that lovely snowy view which greeted us just outside our hotel room. It continued snowing through the day quite heavily, which made visibility quite poor, but it also meant skiing on fresh snow, which was quite good.
However, the poor visibility also meant we came across at least 3 accidents on the slopes, which required medical aid, including a heli-lift. i hope those injured are on their way to full recovery.
Then, of course, on the day we leave, we were greeted with perfect ski weather; blue skies, sunshine and slopes covered with freshly fallen snow overnight. Sigh!
But check out the difference between the snow cover in the resort area and the non-existent snow along the highway, on the way home.
Well, we hope that there is more snow now on the slopes, especially since the school is going for ski camp in 2 days!
syc
trippingdifferently 