Arktis

For 40 days in April and May 2023, I lived on the glaciers of Spitsbergen. My team and I covered 700 kilometers - once on skis from south to north across the Arctic island. In parts 1 and 2 of this series, I talked about the mental challenges that accompanied me during this expedition. But what would I have liked to have known beforehand that would have made my life easier during these 40 days? If you are about to embark on such a journey or simply want an insight into my thoughts: This one's for you. Here are ten things I learned directly or indirectly from our expedition through Spitsbergen.

PART I and PART II of this series of articles dealt with the mental challenges of a 40-day Arctic expedition, i.e.: What goes through the mind of someone who is traveling "off the grid" for such a long time for the first time, isolated from everything familiar and in the middle of an extreme situation for 1.5 months? In order to create a complete documentary film during such an expedition, however, there is a much more specific question - one that cost me sleepless nights before the trip: How do you even film in the eternal cold?

In the first week, it was not even clear whether the team would reach the southern tip at all. While storms raged outside, the battle against their own motivation began inside the tent. But the apparent routine that followed was a fallacy. In the second part of his article series, Moritz takes us further into the psychological depths of a 40-day expedition. He gives an unembellished account of the enormous pressure to meet the sponsors' expectations and deliver a documentary film without a script, when all you really want to do is lie in a warm sleeping bag. How do you turn doubt into routine? Why are sunsets a torture? And how do you prepare your mind for such extremes? Moritz shares his personal learnings and gives tangible tips for mental training - so that fear eventually turns into strength.

For his film project 'End to End Svalbard', Moritz spent 40 days on an expedition through Spitsbergen. Over the coming months, he will be reporting on his personal experiences and insights from this border crossing in a four-part series of articles and sharing his emotional life with us. One of the reasons for this is that he found hardly any reports at the time that provided open and honest information about the obstacles. The first part is about the mental challenges that such an expedition entails.

The cool, sunny spring weather will increasingly turn into summer temperatures with the onset of the Föhn wind. A late onset of winter is not in sight, but at least some precipitation is possible in the south after the long sunny spell.

Fresh snow, storms, high avalanche risk in places - winter was barely declared dead before it was back, at least for a few days. Thanks to the fresh snow of the last few days, the snow depth on the main Swiss ridge is approaching the average again, but without replenishment and with settling, it won't stay that way for long. If you can, you should enjoy the snow with due caution while winter is still within reach.

The series of southerly storms seems to be over for the time being and the medium term looks like (south)westerly weather. Otherwise, we have various "Miscellaneous" blog items this time.

March is turning into another wintery month and one PowderAlert follows another. So we're giving winter one last chance, hoping for more snowfall and keeping you motivated with some great footage!

The EOFT is going on a major cinema tour through Europe, with more than 100 stops in German-speaking countries. The program offers 8 films, packed with speed flying, whitewater canoeing, mountain biking, climbing, ultrarunning and two ski films are also included. Treat yourself to the action on the big screen exclusively in the cinema and don't miss the chance to win 2 tickets here in the competition!

Permafrost - permanently and continuously frozen ground. Direct associations: the vast expanses of tundra in Siberia, where houses stand on "stilts" because of this, the northern Canadian wilderness or the freezing cold Arctic - all really far away. But what the Kitzsteinhorn, Zugspitze, Gemsstock or Aiguille du Midi have to do with it and why a 40° steep north-facing slope is not just about tour planning and avalanche conditions, you can find out in this issue of "Snow of Tomorrow".

Last week, the WeatherBlog received the following user question: "How are weather patterns and global warming connected? Does the frequency of warm weather increase in times of global warming? Or has the frequency of different weather conditions remained the same, but they have all become warmer?"

The signs are still pointing to winter. A northerly current is carrying polar air masses towards the Alps. It's snowing and it's staying cold or getting colder, at least in Europe. If anyone is interested in the weather at the North Pole: it's getting warm there.