Écrin-Massiv

The Doors sang about it, the Avengers made a movie about it - and only the sausage has two. The end. However, Ullr and the PowderAlert are not about something existential like the end of our own existence, the end of the world or the last relationship, but only about the end of our west or northwest situation, which is now rolling inexorably on. People in Valais and France are probably quite happy about this and even the oracle whistled through his teeth this morning when he saw that the avalanche danger had been upgraded to level 5. The little cousin of February 1999 is showing his teeth. (And who else but the Oracle finds a downgrade at level 5 a bit odd? "That's like getting an F+ at school," was the best comment in the chat today). Before the westerly thaw is over this weekend after almost two weeks, some more alarm-worthy snow is coming.

Powder is like food. You want to enjoy it and preferably the best quality, of course. But that's where the parallels end, because you can never get enough of powder, whereas with food, if you don't indulge in decadence, as in ancient Rome, you will be full at some point.

An alert appears, but the outlook is rather mediocre. Of course, an alert is always better than no alert, but with this one, the snow line is a bit of a bitch and the outlook after the weekend is also rather poor.

It's snowing again in the west and a little in the north too, but that's not quite part of this alert. Or half of it. And it's getting warm too, but not everywhere. As you can see, it's not easy to get Ullr's gifts out to the people this time, because Alert 16 is a little moodier than the great Alerts 14 and 15.

For many freeriders, Grenoble is still a blank spot on the map. Despite its high alpine backdrop, the capital of the Isère region with its 160,000 inhabitants is usually simply ignored and left by the highway. As part of Erasmus, I was able to put the freeride and ski touring opportunities through their paces alongside student life.

The mythical mountain peak of la Meije lends itself to a lift-supported and varied tour in late winter. In the heart of the Western Alps, the 2-day tour leads through steep gullies and a rugged glacier landscape. The route requires frequent changes from ski to carrying passages and, depending on the snow conditions, also offers some technical passages. However, due to its sensational descents over the Glacier de l'Homme, it has more than earned the title of TouringTip.

It's getting warmer and everyone fears the worst, but Ullr comes back on stage with verve and roars: ARE YOU READY? If you don't know the allusion from the metal mockumentary "This is Spinal Tap", you're in luck:

After Episode VII, "Ullr's Awakening with Power" in the West, now comes the sequel to the box office hit "PowderAlert" in almost the same regions. It continues the pattern of this winter, the "weekend trough". All weekend warriors will be particularly pleased and no one else will be complaining about a weekly supply of powder in the meter range. It will be a colorful action firework like the new Star Wars movie! (For anyone who is still wondering what I'm talking about here...)

There's finally an alarm again. And even if it's hard to believe here in Ticino, it's winter. Something is happening that can once again be described as a onset of winter in this prolonged late fall. And it doesn't even seem to be a flash in the pan, but more on that at the end in the medium-term outlook.

After Ullr has already brought a nice winter constellation in the north and west, it's now the south's turn. There's also enough for alerts in the west, but they'll be rather short-lived. This alert is valid until Sunday morning before new precipitation sets in again on Sunday evening.

There has been concern about the legendary ski resort in the Hautes-Alpes for some time: since the closure of the Chambon Tunnel last year, visitor numbers in La Grave have fallen sharply. In addition, the lease for the gondola and ski area expires in June 2017. Many locals fear for the future of their local mountain if large investors from the neighboring mega resorts get involved.

While the Col du Lautaret pass is mainly frequented by snow kiters, the surrounding terrain offers a variety of interesting ski tours, which are favored by their relatively high starting point.