Press
The clearance of the Timmelsjoch High Alpine Road on the border of Tyrol and South Tyrol is in full swing. An avalanche has now buried the exposed road again at night.
Sölden/Meran – Austria’s highest road border crossing is located at Timmelsjoch at 2,474 meters above sea level. The pass road leads from Obergurgl in the Ötztal in the Austrian Tyrol via St. Leonhard in Passeier to Meran in South Tyrol (Italy).
Because of the high altitude, the only passable crossing on the main Alpine ridge between Reschenpass and Brenner, which was only opened in 1968, is always closed in winter for several months; last year it closed on October 30th. The road usually doesn’t open until the end of May. Clearing the snow began again on April 22nd.
Austria’s most complex snow clearing work
Two snow blowers are working their way up through the snow masses over a length of eight kilometers on the North Tyrolean side. Snow depths of up to ten meters sometimes have to be overcome. “The complex work will take six to eight weeks – provided that the weather conditions remain constant during the clearance work and the terrain conditions are stable, especially on the South Tyrolean side,” it says on the Timmelsjoch Hochalpenstrasse AG homepage.
On Tuesday, the snow blower drivers were surprised by an unexpected barrier on their next mission: a slab of snow had covered the already cleared road again. The avalanche had released on the slope above. If it had come off at the moment the snow blower passed the spot, it could have ended tragically.
By lucky coincidence, the avalanche in Austria didn’t hit anyone
The operators posted photos of the dangerous event on social networks and commented: “Snow clearing on Timmelsjoch is not only a task, but also a risk.” Due to the risk of avalanches and falling rocks, this is very dangerous work. “A big THANK YOU to the brave people who face this challenge every day!” the post ends.
The fans of the street thank Facebook & Co. for the use of the snow clearers: “You’re doing a great job, but take care of yourself!”, you can read there. But also something like this: “Staying healthy is the most important thing. Better to open a little later than misfortune and suffering.”
Many users can hardly wait for the reopening, but it is difficult to make a forecast: “We hope that we can do it on Pentecost, but there is a lot of snow on the mountain, so it could take a little longer,” answers the social media website. Team appropriate inquiries. However, the road will only be reopened when the avalanche warning service and geologists give the green light.
Enormous snow depths and thaws are making the mountains very dangerous right now
There is currently an acute risk of avalanches in the high altitudes of the Alps due to the enormous snowfall of the past few weeks and the resulting rise in temperature, as was recently demonstrated by an accident with three deaths in Sölden. On the Stelvio Pass in South Tyrol, over which the Giro d’Italia is scheduled to pass on May 21st, avalanches are triggered in a controlled manner using explosive charges.
The Großglockner High Alpine Road was reopened last week, but there is trouble because of a special discount for holidaymakers that is supposed to be there this year because of the construction site on the Tauern Motorway.
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