Tirol

The Tyrolean Avalanche Warning Service has polished up some of its additional services and optimized them for use with mobile devices. The situation report is now also available via WhatsApp.

The weather in Central Europe is currently divided into two parts. A sharp air mass boundary separates the north and east from the much milder south and west. The differences are particularly evident in Germany, where, for example, temperature differences of up to 20° were measured on Monday. In Werl (NRW), on the warm side, the daily maximum temperature was 5.5°C, while in Diepholz, 120 km away on the cold side, it was only -4.7°C. The Alps are on the warm side of the air mass boundary in a humid westerly current.

Lukas Ruetz, born in 1993, from St. Sigmund in the Tyrolean Sellraintal, collects a good 200,000 meters of ascent altitude per season, almost exclusively in his immediate home mountains. On his blog, Lukas reports eloquently and informatively about his tours, be it typical Sellrain standard routes or steep first ascents, to the delight of his considerable readership. The young and tradition-conscious ski tourer is an active member of the mountain rescue service and an observer for the Tyrolean avalanche warning service. He is usually only accompanied on tour by his dog.

In addition to the avalanche app from the Tyrolean LWD, there is now a quiz app from the same company with which you can playfully improve your knowledge on the subject of avalanches and snowpack structure.

The WeatherBlog is back from its summer break, although summer is doing the same.

The snow and weather conditions are not making it easy for the organizing team of the Open Faces Freeride Series this season. Instead of holding the contest as planned on the Freeride World Tour-proven, beautiful Quellspitze, a replacement face had to be found at short notice due to the snow conditions. In addition, it was even necessary to change the zoning and the start of FWQ** and FJT** on the day of the contest. The visibility conditions were not the best either ...

The Joel (or Joelspitze) may not even be 2,000 m high, but it is still a popular tour (especially from the valley). And not for nothing, as it offers many downhill variants with manageable difficulty. What's more, the ascent from the lifts is only a short hop ...

It has already started today, the northern congestion. Unfortunately for everyone west of the Kitzbühel Alps, there won't be much of it until Tuesday. All of Ullr's disciples who looked enviously to the west from the Salzkammergut and further east last week can now rejoice: because here there is northern congestion with amounts worthy of northern congestion. Nothing is coming in the south and west.

First of all: Ullr's demonstration of power and the model snow apocalypse from a few days ago will probably not happen at the end of this week, so you can use your bunkers as party cellars again, mothball the shotguns and turn your Madmax cars with armor back into the KIA combos they once were.

After the last real north jam, the powder slats are in and everyone is keen for a repeat, but before everyone goes "all in" like a poker game and pushes their powder chips into the Alps, it should be said that some will lose: The sticking point is the snow line, as it varies greatly from west to east.

Ski touring guides are now almost a dime a dozen. But the relatively new guide "Freeski Alpin" by Reini Scherer is a very special one. Initially, it is dedicated to a single mountain range, the Mieminger Kette, but aims to document all possible downhill variants there. As a result, significantly more difficult and dangerous routes are described than in almost all other guides from German-speaking countries.

The Serfaus, Fiss, Ladis bike park only opened in August 2013. But even in its first full season, the bike park is no longer an insider tip. Together with the guys from the WS crew, we went to see for ourselves and can tell you why.