Bad news from Switzerland. In the Glacier 3000 ski area near Gstaad, one of the world's steepest black slopes has been closed. The reason is a large crack in the track caused by large fluctuations in temperature recently. The track is now closed for repairs.
You can't cross the black wall off your wish list just yet. This was closed by a massive crack caused by the rapid rise in temperature, which made the underlying snow cover unstable. This has caused part of the snow cover to move and you can even see the surface (see below). Ski area management says they've never experienced this in 30 years.
Blackwall
Since the winter of 2022/2023, the Glacier 3000 ski area in the Swiss canton of Vaud has a new feature: the black wall. This black run is not for the faint of heart. The three-kilometer descent from the central station of Cabanes to the Col du Bellon requires great courage and skill from anyone who wants to overcome it. With a maximum slope of 46 degrees – or in other words: 104 percent – it is currently the steepest slope in Switzerland. It is even one of the three steepest slopes in the world.
Temperatures
The ski area hopes temperatures and significant snow will drop soon so the crack can be repaired and the slopes reopened. But right now, it doesn't look like it will snow enough to repair the large gash. See the strange photos below.
Sometimes cracks occur in a ski area quite often, as happened recently in St. Anton am Arlberg, Imst and Kirchberg. According to experts, this is due to the sharp rise in temperatures in addition to a large amount of snowfall.
Main image: For illustration, Edwin Hagenau
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