Arlberg

Until a few years ago, the White Ring ski race was a "family race" on the ski circuit of the same name through the Arlberg ski resorts of Lech, Zürs and Zug. And just like back then, the race starts at the Rüfikopf. Staggered into starter groups, the 2014 edition of the White Ring also featured a challenging route with a few directional gates through the Arlberg ski area.

The southern winter won't be really boring for Ullr, but he's turning the screws so that snow is also coming to the north and especially the west.

There is fresh snow in the north. After all. Unfortunately, the whole thing has been canceled out in the last two days, but there should still be enough for an alert in the northwestern Alpine arc by Monday evening. The snow line fits everywhere. Only the amounts are not at all euphoria-inducing.

Counter-current system? What is that? Without poaching too much into WeatherBlog territory, I'll say this: the countercurrent system is Ullr's way of bringing his faithful powder in exciting quantities without much wind (at least in the center) by letting two air masses make love over the Alps.

PG-Conditions reporter KarlNickel asks: "I assume (the forecasting uncertainty) is mainly due to the large amount of data and parameters that are difficult to calculate? I would be interested to know ... whether it will be possible to make reliable 7-day forecasts in about 10 years' time."

"The triumph of the snowboard began 30 years ago. It brought back the fun of winter sports and, fortunately, it later spread to skiing. It is precisely this light-heartedness, the meeting of like-minded people and legends who enjoy riding with friends from all over the world, that we have been celebrating at the LBC for 14 years now. The Woodstock of Snowboarding a family reunion of a global community". So says Paul Gruber, LBC organizer and snowsurfer since 1980.

Will all my hours of training in the gym, in the forest and on the meadow since the beginning of January pay off? With these thoughts and a good dose of respect but also a lot of anticipation for the coming week, I get into the car with Thomas, who, like me, was a participant in the risk'n'fun training session in Sölden. In a good mood, we make our way to the Klostertal valley to the Sonnenkopf on the Arlberg, where we continue with Level 2, the next level.

After the dump bog of the last few days, there is now a full northern congestion.

Finally there's a decent amount of powder again until Sunday. And things are looking good further afield too.

Somewhat belatedly, the oracle looks into his crystal ball and sees fresh snow for the northern slopes of the Alps. Ullr has finally finished his Christmas vacation and pushes this annoying warm high into the orcus. It has already started to snow from the northwest and won't stop until Saturday morning.

The westerly drift is still alive and kicking and is once again providing us with a usable gliding surface!

The only winter via ferrata in Tyrol is highly recommended for sure-footed freeriders. After a relatively short, but airy and beautiful via ferrata, there are various long downhill options all the way down to the valley.