Tourists relieved as access to snowbound Swiss town returns

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(Dominic Steinmann/Keystone via AP). A digger at work where an avalanche has blocked the road between Taesch and Zermatt, Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018. Swiss authorities have closed ski slopes, hiking trails, cable cars, roads into the town of Zermatt amid ... (Dominic Steinmann/Keystone via AP). A digger at work where an avalanche has blocked the road between Taesch and Zermatt, Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018. Swiss authorities have closed ski slopes, hiking trails, cable cars, roads into the town of Zermatt amid ...
(Dominic Steinmann/Keystone via AP). The first passenger train is leaving the train station towards Taesch, in Zermatt, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018. Due to heavy snowfall and rain showers, Zermatt was only reachable by air. In the meantime th... (Dominic Steinmann/Keystone via AP). The first passenger train is leaving the train station towards Taesch, in Zermatt, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018. Due to heavy snowfall and rain showers, Zermatt was only reachable by air. In the meantime th...
(Dominic Steinmann/Keystone via AP). A snow cloud of an artificial avalanche disperses near the town of Zermatt, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018. Town officials near Switzerland's famed Matterhorn were resuming helicopter flights to ferry out str... (Dominic Steinmann/Keystone via AP). A snow cloud of an artificial avalanche disperses near the town of Zermatt, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018. Town officials near Switzerland's famed Matterhorn were resuming helicopter flights to ferry out str...
(Dominic Steinmann/Keystone via AP). A snow blower on a train clears snow from the rail track in Zermatt, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018. Due to heavy snowfall and rain showers, Zermatt can only be reached by air. Swiss authorities have closed r... (Dominic Steinmann/Keystone via AP). A snow blower on a train clears snow from the rail track in Zermatt, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018. Due to heavy snowfall and rain showers, Zermatt can only be reached by air. Swiss authorities have closed r...

ZERMATT, Switzerland (AP) - Access to a Swiss village near the famed Matterhorn peak has reopened after unusually heavy snowfall blanketed roads and railways, stranding thousands of tourists.

Work crews with shovels, plows and helicopters located and bored through the cumbersome snow mass to end a near two-day suspension of train and vehicle traffic to the Alpine resort of Zermatt.

Train service resumed late Wednesday, and road access restarted Thursday.

Some 13,000 tourists had gotten stuck, with sporadic helicopter flights the only way out.

Texan Mike Donovan expressed relief he could make his flight back home: "It wasn't bad to stay here, and the ski conditions were really good."

Switzerland's avalanche research institute said the region has gotten three to four meters (10-13 feet) of snowfall this year.

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