Reuters, Zurich :
Switzerland went on avalanche alert on Monday as fresh snow smothered much of the Alps a day before the World Economic Forum in Davos gets under way.
A bulletin from the SLF Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research in Davos showed a broad band of the mountainous country under Level 5 avalanche danger, the highest on a 1-5 scale.
“Fresh snow and snow drift accumulations are prone to triggering (avalanches). Until late in the night a large number of natural avalanches are to be expected,” it said.
Snow slides could be deep and large, it added, posing danger to exposed settlements and transit routes.
The accumulation of snow was the highest since 1999.
In Davos, where authorities have evacuated two dozen people from homes most at risk, access roads were still open as crews used controlled explosions to reduce the chance of slides. The sun was due to come back out on Tuesday.
Zermatt in southwestern Switzerland remained cut off by road and rail. A helicopter air bridge that had been ferrying people in and out of the popular ski resort was out of action because of bad weather, a town spokeswoman said.
A helicopter rescue team had to fly a pregnant woman out of the town on Elm in Glarus canton where snow drifts had cut off roads as she went into labour.
Some pre-summit meetings were cancelled or delayed as the first waves of delegates waded through snow-blanketed streets with luggage, looking for their hotels, or had to wait for road crews to dig their limousines out of drifts.
Businessmen slipped over on icy patches as snow ploughs roamed the streets, with the snow returning as fast as the machines could clear it.
World Economic Forum communications chief Adrian Monck said it appeared to be the heaviest snowfall for the four-decades-old summit since 1999-2000, though he described it as more of an inconvenience than a real threat to attendance.
“We know the snow causes inconvenience and it puts a lot of pressure on the city of Davos as a host but so far we have not seen any drop-off in registrations,” Monck said.
