Lea Hartl

Over the past few days, the Alps have been under the influence of an elongated low-pressure trough that has extended as far as North Africa. Most recently, a small low developed over the Iberian Peninsula, which resulted in a not overly pronounced southerly flow.

Anyone who lives in the mountains is unlikely to be complaining about the lack of winter feeling at the moment - the villages at higher altitudes are covered in deep snow and the enormous snowfalls of the last few weeks, including the resulting road closures and avalanche damage, are still very much in evidence. However, as January has been very mild, the picture is very different in the lowlands.

In contrast to many large manufacturers of skis, ski boots and bindings, the avalanche transceiver and airbag manufacturers were all represented at ISPO. When it comes to avalanche transceivers, there are small to medium improvements rather than huge innovations, and with the exception of Scott/Alpride, hardly anything significant has changed in terms of airbags.

Over the last few days, the much overused term "snow chaos" has been quite appropriate in large parts of the Alps. Now the snow-related state of emergency is easing and the cut-off valleys and villages are getting a weather window to dig themselves out in the sunshine.

The past weekend up to and including Monday was characterized by sunshine and high fog throughout the Alps. We count Monday as a weekend because the WeatherBlog suspects that some people took Monday "Finally the conditions are right for that steep tour I've always wanted to do". And anyway, every beginning of the week is also the beginning of the previous weekend.

It's not often that international weather reports dominate the evening news. If it does, there is usually not much else happening, or the weather has a massive impact on many people's everyday lives, for example in the form of extreme temperatures, as recently seen in the eastern USA and Australia, or masses of snow, as is currently the case in the Western Alps.

One winter morning a good three years ago, I made friends with fear. Since then, it has become a cherished companion.

Today and tomorrow will be extremely turbulent in the Alps with gale-force winds and heavy precipitation in the west and north. Also changeable at the weekend, with the current turning to the south. Also: spectacular lake-effect snowfall over the holidays in the USA!

The film Numinous by Dendrite Studios, which was recently named Movie of the Year at the Powder Awards, is a silent movie. The athletes, above all Kye Petersen, who played a key role in the production, delight the viewer with their silence and appealing skiing action.

An Italian low causes strong südstau. This is followed by a cold front in the north and then mild westerly weather. Cold air masses in north-eastern Canada are responsible for the latter, favoring the development of low pressure in the Atlantic.

A pre-Christmas snow streak in the east at the end of the week is followed by a milder phase over the holidays. Plus: 2017 was pretty warm overall, little ice in the polar regions and continued trouble with the weather on the internet.

Around 60 people are sitting in the seminar room of a Davos hotel. They include mountain guides, safety officers from municipalities and cantons, natural hazard experts from the Swiss Federal Railways and blasting experts and slope maintenance staff from various ski resorts. Lukas Duerr, avalanche warning officer at the SLF, asks the group: "What does serious danger actually mean?"