The PowderAlert from the PG oracle was not too high. Gale-force winds and heavy snowfall in the westerly accumulations. As there is not much fresh snow to be had with the Innsbruck base in such a westerly storm, the motto is: "Go West! The first storm chasing day on the Arlberg has already more than fulfilled expectations.
The day gets off to an uncomfortable start. After an enduring sprint through Innsbruck's city center, I just manage to get my foot in the door of the almost departing train at 6.40 am. Lucky me, the first gondola at 9 a.m. is secured. The heavy ski bag with all kinds of utensils from second skis to a change of clothes is full to bursting and is difficult to pull through the snow-covered walkway. But the anticipation is huge. In St. Anton, which is the closest real Weststau area, there is already around 30 cm of fresh snow in the valley. It is very unusual to get ready to ski in heavy snowfall. Even before you've made a turn, the snowflakes are trickling through every little crevice around the edges of your ski clothing. Your neck, face and wrists are quickly soaked and your backpack, which has only been off for a few seconds, has an impressive layer of snow and sugar on it. It's blowing hard at the top of the mountain and all the lifts are closed at the pass towards St. Cristoph. So I hide in the protective forest with my ski partner. And that's a good thing! I measure around 60-70 cm of fresh snow here in the sheltered areas, and towards the end of the day we even reach the magical 100 cm mark. Wow! We didn't expect that. Our grins are so wide on the gondola rides that we almost don't fit through the gondola door. First out of the gondola at the top, drop our skis into the fresh snow, push off and go full throttle into the forest and try not to get out of breath despite the overhead face shots. One high-five chases the next and we are already back in the gondola on the way up. If you limit yourself to the areas protected from the wind, you will find perfect fresh snow. It's really thick and almost completely untracked. We fly down the countless pillow slopes and don't even notice that the lift closing time is approaching. The only small drawback: it gets dark quite early at the moment, the day goes by far too quickly and the snowfall was so heavy at times that it was almost impossible to take photos without exposing your equipment to a full bath! The first day of storm chasing was a great success and earned a special mention in the file: 9 out of 10 powder points! It can go on like this...
