MILAN (AP) — About 75 tourists and hotel workers were being evacuated from a four-star mountainside hotel in northern Italy near the Austrian border after an avalanche overnight, the hotel manager said Tuesday as heavy snow caused disruption across the Alps.

Martina Doene, manager of the Lantauferer Hof hotel, said that 65 guests and 10 workers along with an unknown number of local residents were being evacuated by helicopter in an operation that started midmorning. She said roads to the Venosta Valley were blocked "but everything is still good" and there was no damage to the hotel. The evacuees remained calm, she said.

The hotel, located at 1,870 meters (6,135 feet) above sea level and some 100 kilometers (about 60 kilometers) northwest of Bolzano, boasts a view of a 3,700-meter summit and advertises itself as being ideal for skiers, who can start their runs right outside the hotel door.

In the Venosta Valley, authorities have declared the danger of avalanches at a 5 on a scale of 1 to 5. The news agency ANSA said some 10,000 tourists were isolated Monday in the nearby town of Tirolo, above Merano.

Heavy snow has created dangerous conditions and disrupted transport across the Alps. In France, the Chamonix ski area at the foot of Mont Blanc was closed due to what officials said was the highest avalanche risk, while several major roads and tunnels in the area were shut down.

In Switzerland, a highway leading to the Gotthard tunnel toward Italy was shut. Swiss public broadcaster SRF reported that the A2 highway near Gurtnellen was hit by an avalanche and was temporarily closed in both directions.

The Swiss ski resorts of Zermatt, Andermatt and Saas-Fee are cut off from the outside world due to the risk of avalanches.

Heavy snowfall has also hampered the arrival of participants at the annual World Economic Forum in the Swiss town of Davos.

Schools in some cut-off villages in Austria's western state of Tyrol remained closed Tuesday, according to Austrian broadcaster ORF.

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