Saisonstart

As the author writes these lines, late summer temperatures have long since returned, but the mountains have recently seen the first signs of fall with the first snowflakes of the season. This naturally raises the question: when do the ski resorts open? We have done a bit of research and compiled a list of resorts that open before the end of November - without guarantee and with the note that ski resort websites are notoriously unreliable when it comes to such things...

The PowderGuide weather service has finished its summer break, so winter must now follow suit! From now on you will find the snow and sunshine forecast maps, weather report and SNOWGRID in the usual place.

The days are getting shorter, the glaciers are opening ice slopes, autumnal cold fronts bring anticipation and chaos in equal measure and we are "officially" back from our summer slumber.

We no longer believed it, but the summer heatwave has come to an end and the last cold front has brought the first signs of fall, at least in the mountains. This naturally raises the question: when will the ski resorts open? We have done a bit of research and compiled a list of resorts that will open before the end of November - without guarantee and with the note that ski resort websites are notoriously unreliable when it comes to such things...

If you haven't done it yet, you should definitely do it: get the shovel from the construction site, the probe from the flower bed (if it was used as a climbing aid, as it was for me in summer) and the avalanche transceiver from the basket for a mushroom search. It's winter!

For those of us who would rather make their first turns in the snow yesterday than today, the ski pass is almost a must.

Snow & Safety has established itself as an event to get the season off to a good start in Lech-Zürs. On December 1st and 2nd, there is an extensive range of courses and training sessions that can be attended for a fee. The varied lecture program in the evening is free of charge and open to everyone, even without registration.

Hype! #EightMeterSnow! Um...or maybe not. At least it's starting to snow. If you only read the first line of the teaser: Sorry Internet 3.0. No, not eight meters of snow, just the first sign of winter coming our way.

What has been going on at PowderGuide.com over the summer? Do the PGers do anything at all in the summer? What happened to the user survey from last spring? Questions upon questions that we now want to answer!

Our long-time Japan correspondent Patrick reports back with a brief report on the conditions. At the PowderGuide Headquarters, we are now considering whether we should start a competition on the topic 'Where is the worst snow situation' under the motto 'Worse is always possible'. Who would like to throw more title candidates into the ring?

The fog hangs in the valley, the days are getting shorter, the nights cooler, the drinks warmer. Industry magazines report either enthusiastically or critically on the events that take place on every glacier every weekend. It's the most beautiful time of the year. It's fall. But especially for skiers who are more (i.e. exclusively) off-piste, the time before the real start of winter and the first heavy snowfalls harbors a considerable number of dangers that should be taken into account.

Proper preparation for a ski vacation is quite complex. Various exercises, a progression in training and the correct mobilization of passive structures are just some of the elements of perfect preparation. For all those who don't want to spend money on ski gymnastics courses or want to get to grips with the subject first, we recommend four key exercises: