Corona

The second corona winter brought many uncertainties, especially in the early season: Will there even be a season? What about the lifts and the borders? Over time, the "new normality" has become part of everyday life and we have come to terms with the circumstances.

The annual PowderGuide final meeting took place last week, for the first time as a digital event. The initial skepticism about the virtual format was quickly dispelled, especially thanks to the lively participation of the participants. We were delighted to see so many familiar faces!

Do you remember the old normal? Concerts, parties, days at the outdoor pool or standing in line for the elevator? Crowds of people? Crowds on the bus? The world before March 2020, when everything was suddenly closed. Everything was closed. Nothing worked anymore and we were at home? For a brief moment, we thought that it would only be like that in 2020. That everything would be fine again in the fall. That we would go on vacation again and go skiing at the weekends as usual.

The omniscient algorithm also keeps offering me Jan Böhmermann. In his latest piece of satirical investigative journalism, he exposes the ignorance and corruption of the Tyrolean cable car industry, elegantly drawing analogies of failure in the event of a disaster, from the gondola fire in Kaprun to the Corona Cluster (I & II) in Ischgl.

This winter - and half of the last one - has been very special. But who am I telling? That's probably how the majority of our articles started. And yet I want to emphasize this once again. For whom has this strange situation not led to change? I can't imagine that there are many people around the world who haven't had to adapt at all as a result of the outbreak of this Covid-19 pandemic.

At a press conference via Zoom yesterday, the planned path of the FWT 2021 for the challenging Covid19 season was presented. There are hopes of being able to hold at least three events - five in the best-case scenario. The countries of Andorra, Switzerland and Austria have agreed to regard the FWT as a professional/elite sport and thus enable it to be held even during a potentially extended lockdown.

The currently unclear situation and the question of how the pandemic will develop in the coming weeks and months also poses major challenges for the organization of freeride contests. Will there be a shortened tour for the elite? Will qualifier events be held and how will they be scored? Answers to these and other questions still need to be found.

Now that there is no longer a printed Downdays magazine, Downdays published the first "Ski Stories" book last season. The next one will follow for the 2020/2021 season! The new edition also comes as a high-quality hardback book with 160 pages and once again has an unusual concept.

The new year is young and many hopes are still pinned on 2021. May it be better than 2020, more normal, less characterized by uncertainty. Twitter memes and feature articles look back with disgust and forward with optimism and cynicism in equal measure, spurred on by the turn of the year, which may only be one night among many, but is nevertheless highly symbolic if you are looking for a reason to leave the past behind.

When the summer of 2020 was really in full swing, the days were still scorching hot, the lakes were at a pleasant temperature and people were hanging on rock faces outside or busily writing poems for summit books, the request came for an essay on the subject of "Ski touring and what effects Corona will have on ski touring".

The Tyrolean clinics have informed the ORF that heart-lung machines are in short supply. These are also repeatedly used to treat avalanche victims. At present, the clinics cannot guarantee that they will have enough equipment in the event of a serious avalanche accident with one or even several buried victims.

"The summer was good, even better than in previous years." Petra Zwölfer from Hotel Lamm in the mountaineering village of St. Jodok, Schmirn- & Valsertal. She confirms a trend that was also noticeable in other regions: Corona has increased the population's need for fresh air and exercise. And rightly so, considering that the risk of infection is significantly higher indoors than outdoors.