The weather is going crazy and leeward cyclone Anett has caused chaos in many regions with large amounts of precipitation (a more detailed analysis in weather blog #1 2024/25). It brought an early onset of winter to the Alps at higher altitudes and even below 1500 metres. Even if the beloved snow is just melting again, the start of winter cannot be stopped. Here is an overview of the ski resorts that are the first to open.

A group of young women are standing on the glacier. One of the women is carefully lowered into a crevasse. She practises crevasse rescue with her rope team and climbs out of the crevasse with ice axes and crampons. The glacier is then surveyed with scientific equipment before returning to the expedition camp. So many women on a glacier? Even in times of legal equality, this is a rather rare sight. However, the idea of Girls* on Ice Austria (GOI) is not to be intimidated by this, but to go on an all-female expedition for this very reason.

A WeatherBlog sparked by the circumsrtances; the first snow is falling in the Alps, and it's falling a lot. We take a closer look. Is that enough to go powder skiing already? Or does it at least provide a stable base for future snowfalls? We also clarify the status of our current weather service and give an outlook on new developments for the winter.

It feels like we've only blinked once and the season is already over. But so much has happened and it's been great. The start in December was brilliant, hopes were high for an exceptional season - but the weather and winter had its own plans. From Christmas onwards, the Alps were hit by unusually mild temperatures, which continued throughout the winter. It was a season full of highs and lows - literally. Because while we were looking forward to the powder days, the snow cover retreated regrettably early to well over 1500 m altitude, and the touring options were massively restricted, especially at lower altitudes. But spring was kind to us, bringing back the winter for a good ten days in April and providing good conditions for the alpine touring season.

The news of Sylvain Sauda's death at the age of 87 from a heart attack is a loss for the entire skiing and mountaineering scene. Saudan's pioneering spirit and his courageous descents set standards and inspired many generations of skiers and mountaineers.