Nordstau

Last week's heavy northerly thaw is long gone, but it was still quite wintry in the northern Alps until after last weekend. In the west, the sun came through a little earlier, while in the east it was rather cloudy up to and including Monday, with snow showers falling again and again, even at low altitudes. Since yesterday, however, there has definitely been a spring feeling everywhere with lots of sunshine and significantly higher temperatures.

Nothing lasts forever and snow certainly doesn't, so enjoy it while it lasts! The northern thaw has done a great job and covered the northern slopes of the Alps in a deep wintery spring coat. It will stay cool and snow intermittently until the end of the week, and high pressure is expected to take over again from Sunday.

All those who have not yet finished with winter after this messed-up corona season and the Spanish February with its firn tours will now be rewarded by Ullr for their loyalty.

The average citizen fears it, the freerider hopes for it: late winter is coming. Ullr uses this alarm to warm up properly after the long break and to test his muscles. Before, hopefully, really getting stuck in next week. More on this in the medium term. After a more or less empty February, it's finally time to get going again!

Now a little less warm, a little less wild and directly after the first big climax of the series. Is that why the episode is bad?

In view of the northern congestion and the associated avalanche situation, we are also watching videos about avalanches here today. We cover a wide spectrum: from scientific-educational to case studies and VLOGs to music and film. The quality of the videos presented starts at educationally valuable, but steadily declines towards the end until it becomes unbearable. But the selection is large and you have been warned. So, despite all the fun in the powder, watch out!

After the labyrinthine social distancing lift queuing system had brought us together by chance and we had taken our seats as far apart from each other as possible in the four-seater chair, my lift colleague mumbled through his FFP2 mask: "A temperature like in winter!"

Everyone rubs their eyes in amazement - what is this? Bright colors on the north side of the Alps? Is it a UFO, is it a Marvel superhero? No, it's a northern traffic jam!

There has still been little change to the large-scale constellation of high and low pressure centers. The Atlantic current is blocked by a strong high and its continental counterpart is located over Russia. The low-pressure complex that has been keeping us busy in the Alps for some time is neither advancing nor can it be replaced by new lows from the west.

Good news for the Northern Alps! The Christmas thaw is still raging at the moment, but from Thursday evening it will get colder from the north with snow down to low altitudes. Presumably, a Christmas alarm will go out in the northern congested areas. We are eagerly awaiting a message from the oracle!

There isn't (much) snow in the north yet, it's warm and there are thin layers of snow everywhere. At least Ullr has seen sense and wants to make the whole thing at least visually appealing on the festive days.

After November and the current April, Ullr is finally no longer switching back and forth between fall and spring, giving us a real west/northwest blast. Even after that, it looks quite wintry, at least for this winter. The oracle sits in the parking lot and waits for the snow. Up to just under 2000m, almost everything is bare on the south side and on the north side there is just enough in the forest to reach the parking lot. This is not winter.