With a sunny Easter weekend and good visitor numbers, the winter season comes to an end for many ski resorts in Switzerland. A first assessment is mixed: “The high-altitude ski areas in the Rhone Valley have had an incredible season, but those at medium and low altitudes have had a catastrophic season,” said Sébastien Travelletti, vice-president of the Magic Pass network, which gives access to more than 60 ski areas granted.
The situation was good in regions over 1800 meters. “The ski resorts that are at the top are even setting new records in terms of visitor numbers and sales. The others are in a much more complicated situation,” said Travelletti on Sunday evening on RTS television in western Switzerland.
He did not give exact numbers. The balance of the Association of cable cars is still pending. Switzerland Tourism took stock a good two weeks ago. “Despite the meteorological adversities, more overnight stays are likely to be booked than last winter,” said the association. However, sudden heat and lack of snow would have resulted in fewer day and weekend trippers in numerous alpine destinations.
The winter had started cautiously in the Swiss Alps. In the high season around Christmas, there was rain and temperatures of ten degrees in some lower-lying ski areas and the lifts were idle. In the Sattel-Hochstuckli ski area between Lake Lucerne and Lake Zurich, those responsible activated the summer toboggan run instead, and in Flumserberg in eastern Switzerland goat trekking was offered instead of skiing. Larger and higher ski resorts benefited from artificial snowmaking and were satisfied with the season in February surveys.
