In Bavaria, children get snow-free, in Austria there is growing concern about avalanches: The snow situation in the Alpine region is becoming more and more dramatic according to experts.

By Thursday, another meter of snow will be added in the high mountains. At lower altitudes 30 to 80 centimeters are possible in Austria, said a spokesman for the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG). "The danger of trees falling in the face of the snow load and the storm on roads, power lines and railway lines is increasing day by day."

The situation in Bavaria

In Bavaria , too, there were delays and train cancellations in rail traffic. The Bavarian Oberlandbahn could not drive on Monday south of Holzkirchen because of snow on tracks and points. In the districts of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen and Miesbach , lessons will be canceled by Friday at all state schools. The district office Miesbach called out because of the snow disaster event.

"The next severe weather warning for the Alps is imminent," said a spokesman for the German Weather Service. The meteorologists expect heavy snow, especially in the south of Bavaria. In addition, it is expected in the Black Forest , in the Ore Mountains and in the Bavarian Forest .

District Administrator Wolfgang Rzehak (Greens) in the Upper Bavarian district of Miesbach called for a disaster, where all schools will remain closed until the end of the week. In addition, the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen also closed all public schools by the end of the week. In the counties, which are also popular with tourists in the Bavarian Oberland, where the Tegernsee is located as well, a number of roads are now closed.

The situation in Austria

The authorities in Tyrol are preparing for the highest avalanche warning level. There, the snow is in places already three meters high. The country has different scenarios in view and make appropriate provision, said Governor Günther Platter. So were several helicopters in readiness. This also applies to special task forces of the alpine soldiers who specialize in the search for victims. The buildings to protect the places and roads from avalanches are also grown such snow amounts, so the responsible.

Until Thursday, between 50 and 120 centimeters of fresh snow are expected in Tyrol. "This aggravates the avalanche situation immensely," said the head of the avalanche warning service of the state of Tyrol, Rudi Mair.

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Authorities appealed to skiers not to leave the secured slopes. Generally you should do without unnecessary car rides. Even entering the woods was not advisable in view of the danger of falling trees. Homeowners were called to free roofs from the snow load. The arrival and departure to large ski resorts was but despite the weather with winter equipment usually good to handle.

In Austria, a smaller ski resort in the Eastern Alps was completely closed. The eight lifts on Hochkar were closed because the access road was closed due to avalanche danger. In the face of three meters of snow, the lift operators consoled themselves: "The snow will still be there after the road reopens," said Ines Enckl from Hochkar Marketing.

Dead and buried

  • Two snow shoe hikers, missing since Saturday, were found dead on Monday. The 23-year-old huntress and the 28-year-old hunter were discovered under an avalanche cone in Tennengau, Austria. The couple wanted to control turfing facilities and replenish game feed.
  • 40 mountain rescue teams broke off on Monday in Lower Austria the search for two missing Tourengehern for the time being.
  • A 35-year-old Slovene died on Sunday in the Zauchensee ski area when he crashed in the one meter deep snow off the ski slope. He could only be recovered dead.
  • In Miesbach on Sunday in the area of ​​the Blomberg, a 44-year-old man had been killed during ascent with touring skis by a treetop broken off under the snow load. The police said on Monday that the incident was "extremely tragic", the killed was no misconduct to attest.
  • On Sunday, two German skiers died in Vorarlberg, Austria. A 32-year-old was caught in an avalanche off the secured runway in the Damüls ski resort and was only able to be rescued dead despite an immediately dropped emergency call from his companion, APA reported.
  • In nearby Schoppernau, a 26-year-old German, also driving off the slopes, died.
  • Already on Saturday a woman had died in Upper Bavaria when she was hit by an avalanche during a ski tour.
  • On the other hand, a skier who was hit by an avalanche off the slopes on Sunday at the Brauneck was lucky. The 31-year-old man had been buried in a meter depth about 20 minutes, but was still recovered unhurt. The man traveling without avalanche equipment could only be localized because a tip of a ski protruded a little bit from the avalanche.
  • In the Upper Styrian community Pölstal about 20 people are not accessible because of closed roads, according to APA.

Also affected by the huge amounts of snow is singer DJ Ötzi ("Anton aus Tirol"). The 48-year-old had to postpone his tour start. The planned Tuesday for the opening concert of his "summit tour" on a ski lodge in Saalbach-Hinterglemm could not take place because of the avalanche danger and closed access roads, his management said on Monday. "Of course I'm very sad that I have to disappoint my fans, but it would be irresponsible to do the show under these circumstances - safety first," said Gerry Friedle aka DJ Ötzi.

Fresh snow in Switzerland, sunshine in South Tyrol

Even in Switzerland , which until now has been spared by the winter chaos, the situation is likely to be more difficult. The weather service meteonews expected by the end of the week about one meter of fresh snow, especially in eastern and central Switzerland.

South of the main Alpine ridge, on the other hand, winter is rather tame. In South Tyrol , on the Monday after snowfall, avalanche danger level 3 (out of 5) was in the extreme north. In the south of the region, on the other hand, there were hair driers and sunshine.

Meanwhile, many tourists in the snowy areas of the country faced considerable problems with their arrival to their hotel. Travelers are usually dependent on the goodwill of the hotelier or landlord if they can not reach or leave their accommodation due to heavy snowfall. But there are special rules, for example, if the ski holiday was booked with an organizer.