For three and a half weeks, the Timmelsjoch High Alpine Road has been freed from the masses of snow. Bad weather and large amounts of fresh snow make the milling work difficult. “In the last week alone, around two meters of fresh snow fell. It didn't do that much all at once all winter, ”says road master Robert Pixner. "The 'breakthrough' to the South Tyrolean colleagues should be able to take place next week."
Clearing the street is hard and dangerous work. “The danger of avalanches and falling rocks is very high in Timmelstal and a winter with little snow like this means for us that we have to cut away around 250,000 cubic meters of snow layer by layer on the North Tyrolean side alone. If we had to take the snow away by truck, that would be more than 30,000 loads, ”says Timmelsjoch managing director Manfred Tschopfer.
Two 300 HP rotary milling machines from Schmidt are available for clearing snow.
As long as there is no longer any coarser amounts of fresh snow and the weather plays along with the snow removal, Timmelsjoch Hochalpenstraße AG plans to open the season in two weeks on May 24th, in time for Ascension Day with the extended weekend. “But we still need a couple of consistently nice days so that the fresh snow can settle and the danger of avalanches is averted, especially on the steep South Tyrolean side,” explains Tschopfer and adds: “In any case, the visitors will be in the course of their Timmelsjoch crossing can still experience walls of snow up to five meters high. "