Aostatal

This winter is a bit of a rollercoaster: nothing happens for a long time and then things get crazy. A bit like the Italian westerns that shaped our youth.

A few days ago, there were reports on social media (not from us!) that a new, large südstau was coming. But as is the case with Ullr, Italian lows and precipitation forecasts beyond 72 hours, that was probably symbolic for social media. More hype than substance.

Yay! another alert, but it's probably getting too warm. The last alert was perfect, but this one is just glop©* *the © is silent and is only important because PowderGuide owns all registered naming rights to this water-saturated fresh snow.

This alert is not an alert, at least not in the alert period, because it is too warm to use it until Tuesday. But more on that below.

As in the age-old internet meme, Ullr asked someone how many Südstau he should send and everyone just shouted YES! And so it comes as it must. There's another Südstau and then another one or two during the weekend. Is that good? Yes and no. This one is great. Nice amounts and a good snow line. The one at the weekend will be tropically warm with 25 degrees in the north and rain above 2000 metres in the lift. And you'll hardly be able to enjoy this one, as it'll only clear up briefly and then it'll get really warm.

While freeriders in the south are literally in the green and sitting on the black branch, the north is getting the literal foehn again.

"You better watch out what you wish for" - this or something similar came to the mind of the oracle when it wished that the southern congestion would please continue on the perfect weekend.

You can describe snow and avalanches using physics. In order to understand a snowpack, thermodynamics is required above all, which describes the partial pressures and transformation processes of the crystals. The triggering of an avalanche requires a description of the mechanical properties of the snowpack and fluid dynamics are used for its propagation. However, science can sometimes be quite dry. That's why today we are presenting videos that make the subject matter more digestible.

It's a strange winter. The fear of Covid 19 seems to have the whole of Europe in its grip. France is no exception. Apart from the training slopes for young skiers, all lifts are at a standstill. The otherwise lively and bustling centre of Chamonix, where alpinists, ski bums and high society from all over the world gather, seems strangely quiet and completely atypical for this time of the year.

The PG Weather Service is taking a summer break on 1 May to recover from the positive stress of the numerous PowderAlerts in the 2017/18 season and to gather strength for many colorful new snow maps in winter 2018/19.

As announced, the time has come. We're in the middle of the rollercoaster and heading for the megaloop. The Ullr is sending squadron after squadron of damp, mild and cool air from the west towards the Alps and it's rattling around. There is a ray of hope in terms of the snow line, because this time it should look better in the Alps than last time. So maybe less puking and more fun on our wild ride!

After a somewhat surprising interim alert in the north, which also brought alarms, we're now off to Ullr Leisure Land and on a wild rollercoaster ride of alarms in the north-west, which will probably last until the end of the first week of January. And as is the way with rollercoasters, we'll all be wavering between cheering and throwing up. When it goes down, we cheer and when the snow line goes up, we feel bad...