Lea Hartl

Last weekend was probably an absolute early winter highlight for many freeriders. Saturday (4.12.) was sunny and cold across the board – and a bit of fresh snow on a soft base made for excellent conditions. At around 2000 m near Innsbruck, it was minus 16° C on Saturday and even during the extra speedy ascent, fingers and toes didn't really want to thaw out. The descent was of course more than worth the effort, which is why we were back in the same area on Sunday. But in completely different conditions: A few layers of clothing already fell off during the first short ascent in the morning. The thermometer confirmed our sweating, at -4° it was a whole 12° warmer in the same place than the day before.

The season is still young, but a lot has already happened in terms of weather and, above all, snow in the not-yet-quite-winter. Motivated powder fans opened many a valley run at the end of October after a friendly combination of low pressure areas north and south of the Alps left up to half a meter of fresh snow in places. Subsequently, a low pressure system in Italy caused südstau and a slowly growing base on the main ridge, while in the north almost everything was swallowed up again by the voracious Föhn.

At the beginning of my trip to South America, the situation is bleak. The north is drying out and the south is sinking into the mud. At least the base in Bariloche is usable and it's not the first time I've had to sit out bad weather here. I'm good at waiting and drinking tea and otherwise all I need is a little faith in God that it will eventually get the necessary few degrees colder and one day you wake up and there's a meter of snow on your doorstep.

Find out more about Chile's volcanoes here...

Sometimes, when I see the weather,
I get violent fantasies, and the weather fairy
would be the first victim of my aggression,
although I know: what's the point,
if you take her at her word and force her
that she jumps into the North Sea in a bikini.
- Wise Guys, Now it's summer

The world of winter sports fans is notoriously divided into two camps: season ticket holders and road trippers. The former usually live in relative proximity to this or that ski resort and are happy to indulge in the occasional boredom of a fixed commitment, while the latter are flighty and faithless – always on the lookout for the perfect spot with the perfect conditions.

There is a lot of complaining at the moment in the illustrious circles of powder fans. Almost no snowflakes in sight; sun, sun and more sun. Is the umbrella bar and frustrating flirtations with bored housewives from the Ruhr really the only thing left to do between the years?

In meteorology, weather conditions that occur with above-average probability on a certain date are called singularities or weather regularities. One such singularity is the much-hated Christmas thaw. While everything is often still frosty and Christmasy white just before the holidays, it starts to thaw when the presents arrive, it gets warm, it rains and not even an array of colorful fairy lights can alleviate the dreariness of muddy front gardens?

There are quite a few people who claim they can smell snow. Whether it really is the Arctic cold air that they can smell or whether Father Frost has lit a scented candle - who knows. What is certain is that something is brewing in the north and when it reaches the Alps, we will all be drowning in snow chaos. At least that's what the weather warnings in all the media want.

The tourist center of Patagonia is San Carlos de Bariloche, both in summer and winter. Argentinian school groups and Brazilian package tourists are impressively present: they always appear in packs everywhere, recognizable by their uniform look in borrowed winter clothing.

For us, the South American skiing experience usually begins at an airport far away from South America. This is followed by a 15-hour flight, a bus ride (or two) that is at least as long, dusty, foreign cities and people who talk far too fast for you to understand them in meagre tourist Spanish...