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Eternal winter or spring at last?

12.4.2017

Translation: machine translated

Today I want to show you that spring can still be fun on the mountain. True to the motto: ride until the last centimetre of snow has melted.

There are two types of people. Those who rejoice with all their heart when the last snow has disappeared, when spring arrives and the warm air puts an end to winter. Then there are the winter fans, the snow freaks, who are out on the mountain until the last day of the season. Like me. The biggest advantage is definitely that there are only a few people still out and about in the ski resorts, so you have enough space to make really wide and long turns.

The clear, cold nights freeze the snow cover, creating the ideal conditions for a perfectly groomed piste. In the morning, motivated skiers and snowboarders can look forward to picture-perfect piste conditions. The rising warmth causes the snow surface to thaw slightly, making the slopes super grippy without icing up, as is now the norm in high winter due to the extremely cold temperatures in combination with artificial snow.

Carving is a lot of fun now, the edges dig perfectly into the grippy piste. On days like this, you can feel the centrifugal force and find out why carving skis were invented.

My equipment tips for skiing in spring

I'm a fan of equipment that can be used in a variety of ways. Especially with changing visibility conditions between light and shade and extreme temperature differences within a short period of time, the material used must cover a wide range of applications. In spring, it is still cold in the morning, but it quickly becomes much warmer during the day. The sunlight also falls relatively flat in the morning and then burns steeply and intensely from the sky from midday onwards.

I have been testing a helmet and goggles combination from Alpina for the last few weeks. This combination covers a very wide range of uses and I would like to introduce it to you here.

Ski helmets

ALPINA SPORTS Snow Tour

55 - 59 cm

With the Snow Tour ski touring helmet, Alpina presents an interesting concept: The helmet fulfils both the standard for ski helmets and the mountaineering helmet standard. This means that the Alpina Snow Tour can be used in the mountains in both summer and winter. I think such a wide range of uses is great, especially as the boundaries between the seasons are fluid for me. The Alpina Snow Tour is a lightweight and very well ventilated helmet. It comes with a cap, which provides additional insulation on cold days. This can also be used separately from the helmet for the ascent. When it gets warmer, simply leave the cap off under the helmet. This transforms the helmet from a warm ski helmet into a well-ventilated climbing helmet. The earmuffs can also be removed and the helmet can still be worn comfortably in summer during sweaty activities.

Ski goggles

ALPINA SPORTS Granby Qvmm

On the piste, I wear the Alpina Granby QVMM ski goggles. The goggles are state-of-the-art and offer numerous useful features. The Varioflex lens is outstanding. Varioflex means that the goggles automatically adapt to changing light conditions. If the sun shines directly on the goggles, they darken in a matter of seconds. They then lighten again just as quickly in the shade. At first I thought I wouldn't really need this feature, but once you get used to it, it's really great. Especially when you move from full sun to shade very quickly (when you're riding through the forest, for example), you always have the problem with darker glasses that you're almost blind for a short time until you get used to the darkness. The Alpina changes the tint immediately, which is simply great. Thanks to the excellent ventilation and Fogstop coating on the inside, fogging is no longer a topic. Even if you work up a sweat, the lens remains clear and does not tarnish.

Fun off the piste

The sun is now higher, the slopes are slowly becoming slushy and demand ever better skiing technique. One option now would be to enjoy the sun on the terrace, treat yourself to a delicious lunch and a cool drink. Tempting idea, but the mountain is still calling us.

Away from the piste, the frozen, icy snow slowly turns to firn. So it's time to leave the ski area. Today we have chosen a special approach into the backcountry: a winter via ferrata. More specifically, the "Burg" winter via ferrata in Montafon in Vorarlberg, Austria.

I stow the warm beanie that I've been wearing under my helmet in my bag and swap my ski goggles for sunglasses. Here I have the Alpina S-Way VLM+ in use. Like the Alpina Granby, these also have a Varioflex lens. The Alpina S-Way covers all protection levels that sunglasses can offer: from S1 (for overcast days) to S4 (strongest sunlight, high mountains and glaciers). The lens adjusts automatically and quickly to the available sunlight.
The glasses can also be adapted very well to your own face shape, the temple tips can be moulded in any direction and the nose pads can be adjusted to your own nose.

Directly from the castle lift, we head up to the start of the via ferrata. Partly we trudge through the snow, partly we climb up the rocks. The sweat is pouring, but my sunglasses don't fog up thanks to the Fogstop coating. A clear recommendation!

Karabiners

Petzl Spirit

Climbing harnesses

Salewa Skirt

M, L

At the top of the ridge begins the via ferrata, which leads us through bouldery terrain. The via ferrata is rated difficulty level B, i.e. moderately difficult or level 2 out of 5 on the difficulty scale, which ranges from A to E. The via ferrata is therefore relatively easy, but today we are glad of this as we have to carry our snowboards and avalanche emergency equipment on our backs. This gives us time to enjoy the panorama.

Climbing ropes

Beal Karma

60 m

Gloves

Odlo Warm

Beautiful firn descent and yet still onto the sun terrace

At the end of the via ferrata, we take a short break and then enter a beautiful firn slope. The sun has already done its job and the snow is sensationally good. This is what makes spring on the mountain fun!

While we put off the subsequent drawl, we get to the important topics: Wheat or iced coffee? In any case, we have now earned a rest on the sun terrace before heading back down into the valley towards summer.

While we're still making our tracks through the snow up here, it's already bathing weather further down. I'm already looking forward to summer, but I'm still going to savour the winter season until the last day.

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Background information
5 tips for a relaxed bivouac in the mountains
by Martin Stiegler

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Martin Stiegler

martin@outcozo.com

Already as a child I spent every free day in nature and roamed through the woods. In the meantime I have grown up, but the love for nature has remained. On my blog OUTCOZO I write about everything that has to do with outdoors and I want to share my adventures with the readers. From glacier tours to freeride descents, from mountain bivouacs to equipment testing, everything is included. The main thing is "Outside the couch zone". <br><br>
More of me under:
<a href="http://www.outcozo.com/" target="_blank">outcozo.com</a>

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Eternal winter or spring at last?

My equipment tips for skiing in spring

Fun off the piste

Beautiful firn descent and yet still onto the sun terrace

You might also be interested in:

5 tips for a relaxed bivouac in the mountains

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5 tips for a relaxed bivouac in the mountains

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