The snow triangle of the Alps
I had someone asking for more information on Stuben am Arlberg after saying in the last blog post that it was the part of the snow capital of Europe. I explained with a sketch of the map below that there is one region of the Alps that gets more snow than any other statistically. There are higher places in the Alps (the Arlberg has a top lift height of 2811m) but as Bregenzerwald proves snow accumulation has less to do with height, more to do with location. Bregenzerwald and the Arlberg in the far north west of Austria are ideally located to snag weather systems that are rolling in from the west (Switzerland and Germany) and the peaks of this regional get unbeatable amounts of snow. The Bregenzerwald resort of Damuls is statistically reckoned to be the snowiest ski resort in the world, whilst just down the valley Warth is rated as being the snowiest ski area in the Alps. Heading south past Lech am Arlberg, Zurs am Arlberg is rated as the second snowiest ski area in the Alps. And on the corner of this snow triangle there is Stuben am Arlberg - clearly snow doesn’t obey strict borders of the triangle and Stuben gets incredible amounts of snow. Stuben is also the ski holiday resort serving the Albona off-piste Mecca, the area I rate in terms of terrain and snow as the best off-piste skiing in the Alps. Sure others will have different favourites but the Albona for me is number one and the snow record certainly backs up my case.
The snow triangle of the Alps including Damuls, Warth and Zurs, Austria
could we extend this triangle a bit?
funny though that Bregenzerwald is not that well known as the Arlberg, but as far as I know they don’t want to be a mega-resort.
Yes the Bregenzerwald people are very protective of their area and are happy for a little less exposure to keep their identity. As you have seen the snow doesn’t stop with the triangle but essentially this is the main snow catchement area of the entire Alps - the snow capital so to speak.
Do you have historic snowfall data for the resorts in this triangle? Drop me an email if so - I’d love to compare them with the data I have for North America. At the moment there isn’t a single European resort in most top 20 lists because data for European resorts isn’t available…
Hi Glenn
Many thanks for taking the time to write. I don’t have the data to hand but I will see if I can dig it out. I became aware of this information when I visited Bregenzerwald in the far west of Austria a few of seasons ago. The buses in Damuls are daubed with the accolade of Damuls being the snowiest ski resort in the world - so not just hearsay, something that is acknowledged by the local authorities. I talked with some of the tourism people in the region and they confirmed that studies had shown this to be the case and furthermore Warth, just down the valley from Damuls had the greatest snowfall accumulation of any ski area in the Alps. To be honest when I was there the snow pack was nothing out of the ordinary, I visited in January after several barren weeks. But I have been to the ‘snow triangle’ many times and seen incredible levels of snow throughout the season and one area, Stuben am Arlberg gets mind blowing levels of snow. So much so that the K2 team head out there each winter to test their new range of off-piste gear. In terms of a comparison to North America then yes you would need the stats. I lived in Whistler-Blackcomb in 1998-99 in that freak winter, as far as I remember it had the biggest snowfall in 20 or so years. After being shown the VD chutes by a local friend I skied them on my own and the snow was so deep at one point I was buried up to neck. Scary stuff - it took me over an hour to dig myself out in fading light / darkness to release the bindings and get back on the surface. Incredible amounts of snow! If you are ever heading over to the Alps then please drop us a line on the blog and I will see what free ski passes we can get for your ‘research’. I will post a picture from within the snow triangle taken in April a couple of seasons ago so you can an idea of the snowfall there.
Glenn you can find some of the information you requested here: http://www.skiingaustria.co.uk/blog/the-snowiest-village-on-earth/