Switzerland Just Had Its Best Snow Year In Three Decades [Report + Photo Tour]

*Zermatt, CH | Photo: Zermatt Matterhorn | Cover: St Moritz*

The month of January actually saw the highest snow total recorded in a single month for Zermatt/Saas-Fee region in 70 years!
Avalanches claim 26 lives during 17/18 season

Ask any resident living in the Swiss Alps and they’ll tell you, the past 10 winters have been abnormally warm and dry. Thanks be to Ullr, that was not the case this past year as the Swiss Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research is reporting that the 17/18 winter will go down in the history books as one of the best ever.

What was especially remarkable about this particular season was winter’s early arrival, which saw the biggest snowfalls coming in the period between November and February. That snowfall ultimately provided a big boost for mountain economies through the holidays as well as plenty of fresh lines for powder hungry skiers throughout Switzerland

“During the period of heavy snowfall in January, the SLF issued the highest possible avalanche danger level (5: very high) for widespread areas of the Swiss Alps. Although the numerous large and very large avalanches that occurred in this period caused some property damage, no injuries or deaths were reported. In the course of the winter, avalanches claimed the lives of 26 winter sport participants.” – Swiss Insititute for Snow and Avalanche Research

While warm temps turned a lot of the January snowfall into rain at lower elevations, the peaks above 5k feet saw massive snowfalls and subsequent avalanches. Those big, warm snow events plastered the upper mountain snotel sites and were a large slice of the record breaking season.

Find the entire WSL/SLF report here: Extraordinary snowfall and very high avalanche danger

Im Winter 2017/18 gab es aussergewöhnlich viel #Schnee und sehr grosse #Lawinen-gefahr. #SLF-Winterrückblick: https://t.co/2bz2USuOI9 pic.twitter.com/4D2YYFvMBb

— WSL Umweltforschung (@WSL_research) May 3, 2018