Lawinenlagebericht

One winter morning a good three years ago, I made friends with fear. Since then, it has become a cherished companion.

Avalanche warning is also a joint project for all of us. This week in SnowFlurry, we discuss why it is not only important to report avalanche accidents, but also special observations of snow and its transformation processes.

Winter is here, as is the snow, and the Snow Sturgeon has also returned to the keyboard from his snow profile hole in the Western Alps. With reference to last season's SnowFlurry columns, we are recalling some of the terms that regularly appear there.

Reading material for preparing for the season: The presentations from the Avalanche Symposium of Naturefriends and ZAMG are now available to read in the published conference proceedings.

The tiresome issue of human error with the old snow problem remains - just like human error with the danger levels.

The indication of altitude in conjunction with avalanche problems and danger levels is the backbone of the avalanche warning. In most cases, the delineations are surprisingly accurate.

It is early winter 2017 and the Eastern Alps are once again experiencing a pronounced old snow problem in some areas. You can't put enough energy into preventing old snow problems, as avalanche accidents show. So we are taking prophylactic measures.

We continue with the International Snow Science Workshop 2016 and the studies presented there: Having already dealt with some topics in Part 1 that have more to do with the nature of snow and avalanches, we now turn our attention to people and how they deal with avalanches. Avalanche reports and the authorities that issue them are extremely important for us as winter sports enthusiasts, but their job is not always easy. On the one hand, of course, because the snow doesn't always do what you might expect, and on the other because very complex issues have to be communicated as simply and intuitively as possible. What are the current issues here and how do you approach them?

The assessment of the avalanche situation on a large scale is carried out for us by the situation report. We have to use this basis to assess the local hazard potential ourselves. This can be very easy today, very difficult tomorrow and hardly possible the day after tomorrow.

There are many online aids for tour planning and risk assessment that go beyond the classic tools such as maps, guides, avalanche bulletins and conditions reports. They are particularly relevant at the start of the season or when half of your friends are already spending their free time at the outdoor pool and there is hardly any information available from the warning services.

There are a lot of things in snow and avalanche science that can be classified as wrong or at least need to be put into perspective. Misunderstanding of complex contexts also plays a role in this respect. We clear up some of them and explain what you should memorize instead.

The Tyrolean Avalanche Warning Service has polished up some of its additional services and optimized them for use with mobile devices. The situation report is now also available via WhatsApp.