Lukas Ruetz

For a change, we immerse ourselves in theoretical thought processes relating to people, the psyche and snow. A fundamental assumption: the distinction between experience and knowledge.

In order to counteract the "I-only-understand-the-station" mentality when viewing snow profiles - whether in a snowflurry or on various avalanche warning service portals - we turn back to explanatory examples. As an introductory explanation, we recommend How to read and interpret a snow profile.

It is early winter 2017 and the Eastern Alps are once again experiencing a pronounced old snow problem in some areas. You can't put enough energy into preventing old snow problems, as avalanche accidents show. So we are taking prophylactic measures.

Some people may ask themselves: "Why wasn't it dangerous before the change in the weather in terms of the old snow problem? The weak layers were already pronounced before." The answer lies in the tension.

In order to avoid overlapping or merely restating the current situation - which has already been analyzed in detail in the WeatherBlog, in PowderAlert and by the avalanche warning services - we turn to other topics.

The Hochalterrunde in Kühtai offers a steep northern descent with lift support and only 150 meters of ascent. A second car is an advantage - a perfect avalanche situation is obligatory.

The assessment of the avalanche situation on a large scale is carried out for us by the situation report. We have to use this basis to assess the local hazard potential ourselves. This can be very easy today, very difficult tomorrow and hardly possible the day after tomorrow.

There are many online aids for tour planning and risk assessment that go beyond the classic tools such as maps, guides, avalanche bulletins and conditions reports. They are particularly relevant at the start of the season or when half of your friends are already spending their free time at the outdoor pool and there is hardly any information available from the warning services.

The Alpine region is still under the influence of an Omega high. The snow cover continues to build up at higher altitudes and on the shaded side, while there is something similar to firn on steep, lower southern slopes. Surface frost can also be found, but only rarely due to the low humidity in relation to the amount of radiant nights.

Have you ever helplessly scraped ice out from under the spring bar on the toe piece of a Tech binding? Do other bindings make hairpin turns look much easier? No idea what the difference between brittle and non-brittle drift snow, which may be vital for survival, actually means? SnowFlurry helps.

The Black Diamond First Light Hoody is a lightweight insulating layer with high mobility and is primarily intended as an outer layer. In addition to the Primaloft fabric, the Schoeller outer material helps it achieve this.

Periods of fine weather with wintry temperatures trigger massive build-up transformation processes in early winter, or when the snow cover is not very thick. This is usually not a problem during the fine weather phase, but is definitely problematic when the weather changes.