Lawinensicherheit

The Safety Academy Lab Snow has been revamped by our partner Ortovox and offers multimedia, high-quality avalanche instruction for all skill levels. We spent a weekend gaining an insight into the digital realisation of avalanche training and learning about the latest findings in person from mountain guide and co-developer of the Lab Snow, Chris Semmel.

In this rummage, we take a closer look at the so-called Arlberg effect and its impact on avalanche danger. As this effect does not only occur on the Arlberg, we refer to it more generally as the "effect of off-piste descents".

The avalanche transceiver has been at the heart of the French brand ARVA, which has specialised in winter safety equipment for over 30 years. The NEO BT PRO is the new high-performance avalanche transceiver and boasts a wealth of functions and a very large search strip width for successful and fast avalanche rescue.

Once again, a small, innovative company becomes a brand within a larger one: EDELRID takes over ABS; the inventor of avalanche airbag backpacks that has become synonymous with the brand. Here we present all the background and information on the new developments in an interview with ABS Managing Director Andreas Balk.

Skis, boots, clothing, emergency equipment: the sharing economy has arrived in winter sports. But how do the services work and when does renting make sense? And can it be a sustainable alternative to buying?

Due to the turbulent weather, the thin snow cover and fluctuating temperatures, we are moving from one avalanche problem to the next. Starting with an early winter old snow problem, we have recently been dealing with wild snow as a weak layer through to a very disruptive drift snow problem.

Innsbruck can be seen as the freeride capital of Europe. Where, if not here, should children and young people have the opportunity to explore the terrain together with professional instructors and experience freeriding in a safe environment? The Freeride Academy Innsbruck pursues precisely these goals. The vision is: "to ski or snowboard well, have lots of fun and be out and about with maximum safety away from the secured pistes".

As every year, the SLF Winter Report provides a comprehensive review of the past snow and avalanche season in the Swiss Alps. The weather conditions and the development of the snow cover are presented in detail. Avalanche accidents in the 21/22 season are listed in tabular form, and some selected accidents are analysed in more detail.

The Snow Safety Sessions organised by our long-standing partner Mammut have kicked off this season and we were there, live in the Allgäu! The event focussed on safety on the mountain - whether for ski touring or freeriding. Avalanche awareness is refreshed directly in the terrain! During a joint ski tour with state-certified mountain guides and Mammut safety experts, search scenarios are discussed, tried out and emergency equipment is tested.

At the beginning of February, from 03.02.2023 to 05.02.2023, Silvretta Montafon will be hosting the freeride event with the illustrious name "Powderfest" for the third time. The freeride station offers a comprehensive and varied program from Friday to Sunday: As part of various workshops, ski tests and guided tours, everyone goes in search of the best lines and the most beautiful powder in the Silvretta Montafon!

Johan Gaume is a professor at ETH Zurich and the new group leader of snow and avalanche research at the SLF in Davos. He is also a pretty gifted snowboarder! Gaume combines his hobby and profession with avalanche research. His research plays a major role in the development of 3D snowboard simulations and is of great interest to ski tourers and freeriders.

This year, winter is taking a while to arrive, but as the saying goes, "good things take time". In any case, patience is still required for casual off-piste tours, as the limited amount and consistency of snow means that not much is possible yet. The danger of avalanches is already very present. We are worried about an early winter problem with old snow coupled with very susceptible drift snow packs. Let's hope it doesn't stay with us for the whole winter!