PowderGuide

The morning wind is fresh, the leaves are becoming more colorful, the peaks whiter: Winter is just around the corner and the season is slowly getting underway again at PowderGuide. The PG core team takes the opportunity to indulge in the anticipation and discuss their individual ski destinations and weather wishes for the coming season.

From October 10, 2019, Europe's largest OutDoor Film Festival will once again be touring through the fall. With 120 minutes of concentrated outdoor fascination, the 19th edition of the European Outdoor Film Tour will once again present an exciting outdoor film program in several short films.

After some of the more experimental works of recent years (think Ruin and Rose, for example), the trend for major productions in 2019 is once again moving in the direction of: "Story - what's that?" In the semi-professional home video sector, the focus is increasingly on sustainability and most films - in contrast to the previous year - no longer consist of 90% drone footage. Time- and roadless it's off to winterland!

As the author writes these lines, late summer temperatures have long since returned, but the mountains have recently seen the first signs of fall with the first snowflakes of the season. This naturally raises the question: when do the ski resorts open? We have done a bit of research and compiled a list of resorts that open before the end of November - without guarantee and with the note that ski resort websites are notoriously unreliable when it comes to such things...

The "Alliance for the Soul of the Alps", consisting of the ÖAV, Friends of Nature and WWF, and the DAV want to prevent the planned merger of the Ötztal and Pitztal glacier ski areas. The lift operators as well as the SPÖ and FPÖ hope that the so-called "glacier marriage" will boost the region's economy.

With the current temperatures, a bit of cooling would be very welcome. On the one hand, you can cool off in a swimming lake or ice cream parlor, but on the other hand, snow is also cold and one or two lifts are still running or will be running again soon. If we have overlooked a ski area with summer operation, please add it in the comments. If you don't need lift assistance, there are of course many more opportunities for a few summer turns.

The PowderGuide weather service is taking a summer break with tomorrow's forecast for May 16, 2019. After the winter has stepped on the gas again in late spring (last PowderAlert on May 3rd!), we are slowly but surely heading into summer. The PG team is taking a breather and is secretly already looking forward to the first snowflakes in the fall when things get going again.

All customers who are in possession of a Generation 3.0 avalanche airbag (neon-colored release handle) from the Winter 16/17, Winter 17/18 or Winter 18/19 seasons are requested to check the fixation of the balloon using the following instructions or to contact Mammut Customer Service. Avalanche airbags from earlier seasons (red release handle) are not affected.

The big PowderGuide photo competition with the photos of the week has been over for a while and now the PowderGuide editorial team has also managed to vote on the overall winners!

PowderGuide reinvents itself once again and keeps its finger on the pulse. Text and its linearity are passé. Moving images are the future. But PowderGuide is not just making a vlog, we are becoming the largest extreme sports video portal in Europe.

The SLF is making key data on accidents from the current season more easily accessible in a new online tool. All avalanche accidents in which one or more people were swept away are displayed on a zoomable map.

After a season of absence, the big photo competition is back on PowderGuide. This time it will take place on Instagram and will once again select the photo of the week and the overall winners.