PG: You've been part of the avalanche warning service team at the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF since 2025. Why don't you start by telling us how you came to be an avalanche forecaster?
I found the work of the avalanche warning service exciting while I was studying meteorology in Innsbruck and on my first independent ski tours. After my studies, I was drawn to the Snow and Avalanche Research Institute SLF in Davos. I did my doctorate in the field of permafrost, but the topic of avalanches never left me alone.
After my time at the SLF, I was able to gain a lot of experience in natural hazard management in the private sector, particularly in the field of avalanches, which also benefits me as an avalanche forecaster.
When the position at the SLF was advertised, it was a rare opportunity to fulfill a long-cherished wish. The avalanche forecaster position combines my passion for snow, avalanches and weather. What is special about my position is that I share it with another colleague. The SLF has given us the opportunity to combine family and job.
PG: Have you always been interested in snow? What fascinates you about the subject?
Even as a child, I dreamed of living and working in the mountains. From the age of 11, I went to ski camp at least once in winter and when I was 13, I persuaded my mother to climb the Suldenspitze in the Vinschgau Valley with a mountain guide. So I discovered my passion for mountains and snow at an early age.
PG: One of the SLF's best-known services is the avalanche bulletin. What tasks do you have apart from publishing the avalanche bulletin? How can we imagine your day-to-day work?
As I've only been with the team since January 2025, I'm still in the familiarization phase. My working day currently looks like this: I work on my daily avalanche risk assessment from around 10 am. I also write the "Snow cover and weather" section of the bulletin. The assessment is based on various parameters such as weather models, webcams, reports from observers in the field, avalanche events and computer models. My assessment has to be ready by 3 p.m., as a briefing takes place every day between 3 and 3:45 p.m., where the avalanche bulletin for the next day is discussed and then produced by 5 p.m.. The team on duty, which consists of three people, meets at the briefing: the beginner (who is new to a period of duty), the main avalanche forecaster and a person who ensures the reserve. Before the briefing, each of the three forecasters on duty independently enters their assessment of the avalanche danger (areas of the same danger level, avalanche problem, exposure and altitude) into a system. The various assessments are discussed at the briefing. The decision in favor of the assessment is then made by majority vote. The area-specific hazard description is then written - we work with text modules from a sentence catalog. The advantage here is that the text is translated automatically and without delay into French, Italian and English. The avalanche bulletin is then published daily at 5 pm. In the current familiarization phase, the morning update of the avalanche bulletin, which is published at 8 am, only takes place in exciting situations with me (e.g. lots of fresh snow) - and my assessment doesn't always count yet either, but this will change from April.
In addition to publishing the bulletin, we are also the point of contact for the media. For example, we give daily interviews on the avalanche situation the following day on Swiss radio SRF 1. I have to get used to these interviews, I'm still very nervous before every interview, but I'm slowly getting into a routine.
PG: Somehow, people assume that the avalanche warning service is still male-dominated. How did you find your way into the team as a woman? Did you have to prove yourself first?
In general, the snow and avalanche business tends to be male-dominated. However, the SLF has been quite well positioned in this respect for a few years now: with me, there are now three women in the team (four from June) and six men. So far, I haven't had the feeling that being a woman is a disadvantage or that I have to prove myself. We all complement each other very well.
PG: Is climate change also an issue in the avalanche warning service?
When preparing the bulletin, the weather is particularly important to us and the climate is rather secondary. But of course climate change is making itself felt in that the warmth means there is less snow at medium and low altitudes. Wet snow avalanches, for example, also occur more frequently in mid-winter and not just in spring.
