Berner Oberland

In this alarm you can almost finally ski like in a normal season! Joy! The only downside: unfortunately only in Lower Valais and France.

This freeride year is starting like the old one ended. Tough and with little snow. And Christmas brings little relief, because true to the motto "champagne or seltzer", seltzer or a shower is the order of the day for most of us. It rains all the way up and the almost non-existent snow cover continues to thaw. In the high mountains, the converted scrap is covered with drift snow. Fantastic views.... not!

In a small factory in the centre of beautiful Freiburg im Breisgau, Frederic Andes produces fine skis and snowboards in small series by hand and with great attention to detail. Valhalla Ski's core business is lightweight, wide powder skis. These are available in different widths with three lengths each and in different core options, from super light to light. What all boards have in common is the demand for the most sustainable production possible and the greatest possible durability.

Ullr wants to give it another go before most ski resorts slowly but surely close after Easter. And with the best 80s synthesizer fanfares, he bravely boxes on like Rocky in the big showdown, knowing full well that his time has actually come.

Ullr takes heart in best politician style and promises everything to everyone! At least in the German-speaking Alpine region, things should be going quite well from Monday. (German-speaking regions south of the main Alpine ridge may forgive me this simplification...)

Ullr says: McFly, anyone home? And he's not sending us back to the future, but back to the past, because now we're finally arriving where we were in mid-December: Winter.

It's not quite so clear with the drought, but you should take advantage of the weekend and, if possible, the coming week, because the medium term currently seems to be rather unclear. More on this below.

Last week, Ullr made a brief appearance from early retirement, only to be washed away again by tropical masses of rain. This week is better, because first of all it's snowing everywhere in the northern congestion, and then it's staying dry so that you can use the snow for longer.

The last of its kind. Confucius says: "Powder in May, passes quickly." For all those who want to read the last official PowderGuide Alarm with pathos, pining and kitsch and think back to a pretty good season (or want to take themselves back to the Christmas TV program of the late 80s), here is the soundtrack to the Alarm. PowderGuide goes multimedia!

There is still hope! There is snow up to 1000m on the north side and April is not yet as bad as 2018, so a dump comes just in time. The countercurrent system is intense and also quite cool for April, but the core is limited to the south except for central Switzerland. Elsewhere, it's only enough for a minor alarm. Unfortunately, there is very little carpet pad to the south - Ticino is at forest fire level 4 and the rest of the Southern Alps also looks rather barren.

The fifth northern storm in a row and the ZAMG is talking about 30 to 100-year events in the east without this alarm. And once again, huge amounts will arrive by Tuesday. But thanks to Ullr, this time the core is further west.

"There ain't no party like a Nordstau party because a Nordstau party don't stop!" Unfortunately, the party part is long gone in the east and people are more likely to be hungover about the recent large amounts of fresh snow. Only in Switzerland can you still look forward to it, although there too the danger of avalanches will cloud the fun from Wednesday.