Klimawandel

February develops a "Febrile" character and brings us a few days of mild, very spring-like weather before it becomes more unsettled and cooler again towards the weekend. Deep winter cold is not in sight, the snow hopes are focused on "mountain winter" due to westerly weather.

In search of new perspectives on the snow of tomorrow, PowderGuide author Lisa spoke to Klemens Weisleitner. He is an ecologist at the University of Innsbruck and studies glaciers all over the world. He talks to Lisa about the special features of the glacier ecosystem and why microplastics are not only found in washing machines, but also under the covers of glacier ice.

While the winter of 2021/2022 somehow doesn't really want to get going, even at the end of January, the new 160-page Downdays book arrives. This time without a year in the title, but simply titled "Volume 3", it is once again a loose collection of interviews and stories that are roughly divided into three sections.

Sometimes it takes a different perspective to come up with new ideas for the future. That's why PowderGuide author Lisa spoke to freeskier Lena Stoffel about her Snow of Tomorrow. And about why we shouldn't demonize ski resorts and why it's worth celebrating the simple things.

John Forrest has been a mountain guide for 35 years. He has also practiced his profession in the Alps for several years in the summer months, but he lives in Canada and has been running a heli-skiing company there for 20 years. Northern Escape Heliskiing (NEH) is based in Terrace, in the very north of British Columbia.

2022 began as 2021 ended, namely too warm. Who would have thought? The extremely warm phase, which brought us various new New Year's Eve temperature records, is now history with today's cold front. Until the weekend, the outlook is also quite good for the time of year. Next week everything is still uncertain, with a "mixed" trend and a west-east divide.

I am a winter sports enthusiast with heart and soul. And that's not surprising, as my parents let me walk through the winter garden on skis waxed with klister when I was just 2 years old.

Today's "Powder" alert is more of an official PowderGuide precipitation bulletin. Greetings, time travelers! You have traveled to the year 2070 and arrived in a normal winter.

The snow of tomorrow has many faces. And as we can't and don't want to imagine the future of winter sports alone, PowderGuide author Lisa spoke to Moritz Nachtschatt, Managing Director of Protect our Winters Austria, about what POW is doing for the future of the sport, why day tours are anything but climate-friendly and what ski resorts will look like in 2050.

Today, we are not so much concerned with the future as with the past when it comes to Snow of Tomorrow. The French oil and gas company Total is the fourth largest player on the market after ExxonMobil, Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell. Total's management was demonstrably aware of the negative effects of burning fossil fuels on the climate over 50 years ago.

On the glacier in October, to South America in summer: skiing is always possible. Especially where there is snow. Or only where there is snow. But what do we need to do to still be able to go skiing tomorrow? For our author, the key lies in the snow of tomorrow - and in less self-optimization but much more mindfulness.

A subjective selection of current studies in the field of snow and avalanches, this time with a focus on the connection between avalanche frequency and climate change. For those who want to read further, the scientific publications are linked in the text.