SLF

In the avalanche bulletin, the typical avalanche problems are also indicated in the hazard description. While the avalanche danger answers the question "How high is the danger?", the avalanche problem gives an indication of "What is the problem?".

Célia Lucas, 29, has been an avalanche forecaster at the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF in Davos since last winter. In this interview, she tells us how she ended up in Switzerland from Luxembourg, about her day-to-day work at the SLF and how her profession also accompanies her on private ski tours.

The SLF's weekly report serves as an important source of information for winter sports enthusiasts outside the geographical borders of Switzerland. We present this regular contribution to you today.

Every two years, the International Snow Science Workshop (ISSW) brings together scientists and practitioners from a wide range of different, but always snow-related, subject areas. New findings and research results are presented in various thematic blocks - so-called sessions. We break the whole thing down into more or less digestible morsels and summarize the sessions of ISSW2018 for you every two weeks. This time: Snow and Avalanche Dynamics (Session 1).

With yesterday's cold front, winter has returned, at least at higher altitudes, and the Sahara-dusty Föhn period has come to an end. Today's Saturday will start relatively friendly but cool, at least in the east, and the next front will approach from the northwest towards the evening, bringing the next wave of precipitation on Sunday night.

White Risk, the SLF's comprehensive learning/knowledge tool for avalanche prevention, has been around for several years now. While version 1.0 was still distributed via DVDs, White Risk has been web-based and interactive since 2013. The White Risk app for IOS and Android is also available so that you can use the planned tours on your smartphone. I tried out how well the whole thing actually works for you using a tour to the Seekarspitze as an example

The SLF is making key data on accidents from the current season more easily accessible in a new online tool. All avalanche accidents in which one or more people were swept away are displayed on a zoomable map.

Anyone who spends any time in the snowy mountains and therefore in potentially dangerous terrain should regularly deal with the topic of rescue and recovery. I myself pack my backpack before the start of winter, check the equipment for wear/function and fit the avalanche transceiver with new batteries (lithium ions). Then I meet up with friends to practise, exchange ideas and learn new things.

Stephan Harvey, a natural scientist and mountain guide, has been working at the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research, SLF, in Davos for over 20 years. In addition to publishing several books on avalanche awareness, he is the man behind the well-known avalanche prevention platform, White Risk. In this interview, the avalanche expert talks to us about innovations at White Risk.

While the weekend was still characterized by mild westerly weather (which is not bad for higher altitudes), low pressure system Marilou took over from the north at the beginning of the week and gave the entire northern slope of the Alps a pretty white dress.

"Is this usable for me or too technical?" - These were exactly the thoughts I had when I received an invitation from the SLF to give a presentation on skitourenguru.ch and the quantitative reduction method (QRM). I had had no previous contact with the QRM and the Skitourenguru platform was also largely unknown to me.

Just like in Terminator 2, Ullr is not letting his hair down and is finally spreading powder with a coarse trowel in the Northern Alps. As in the movie, the number of explosions is likely to be quite high in this alert due to the avalanche blasts: the SLF expects "very large avalanches", which should of course keep the fun to a minimum for a few days. More on this in the alert.