Skitouren

The book presented here dates back to 2001 (!), written by three veterans of ski guide literature, the Innsbruck couple Rudolf and Siegrun Weiss and the Viennese mountain author and publishing director Kurt Schall. The fact that such an old book with a title that seems to have fallen out of time is being reviewed here either speaks in favour of the book or against the reviewer.

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.

Ski touring? Where? In St. Anton? No, St. Antönien is located in Prättigau, canton Graubünden or south of Montafon/Rätikon. St Antönien has been a mountaineering village of the Alpine Club since summer 2021. The characteristics of the mountaineering villages are living traditions and Alpine expertise, the location in the Alpine region, tranquillity and a harmonious townscape. You won't find the hustle and bustle of the pistes here, but you will find countless ski touring opportunities!

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!

The "Intersport Snow Days" will take place on the Stubai Glacier from November 10-13. A total of 36 exhibitors will be presenting their equipment. Tickets for the test festival cost €20/day, offering interested parties a relatively inexpensive opportunity to test a wide range of different equipment in the snow.

Planet Earth keeps on spinning and the freeride scene and its filmmakers keep on making their films! And the protagonists, they also keep on turning and turning and turning! We are pleased to note that all kinds of new films have been created and that individualisation is progressing. Modern motifs are carefully handled by some productions and completely ignored by others, as in the more or less good old days.

The 21st PowderGuide season was rather mixed in many respects: the pandemic is still giving us a hard time and more snow would have been nice. But as always, there were also good sides: Lots of sunshine for extended tours, the odd powder day in between, and of course the exchange with the PG community!

There are many famous ski tours around Chamonix, although the Brèche Puiseux is not necessarily one of the best known in this country. However, the scenery is extremely impressive and the skiing is also very rewarding.

What do you do when winter doesn't really want to start, there is little fresh snow and the temperatures are actually too warm? Exactly, you take various Alpine Club maps, two good friends and other literature (e.g. Panico Ski Touring Guide Ötztal Alps) to start planning for spring at the end of December. Seeing something new again and experiencing nature in a different way was the aim of our short Ötztal ski crossing, which we undertook from 10. April to 13. April 2022.

I hadn't actually planned to go to this summit border (Switzerland-Italy), or even knew that it existed. But the name "Urtirolaspitz" alone left me no other choice.

You come home after a ski tour, your clothes are damp, you're shivering and you jump into the shower. The question then quickly arises: What are we going to eat?

It's the end of February and I'm sitting in the south of Germany. When I look out of the window, all I see is green. At least the sun is shining. Unfortunately, when I look at the World Wide Web, I don't see any forecasts that could stir my emotions. In my home mountains, the High Tatras (Poland), the pictures on social media only show beautiful slopes reflecting in the sun, but hardly any snow, which is also frozen hard.