Wasatch Weather Weenies

Reinhold Messner, the first person to climb all 14 8,000 meter peaks, has built six mountain museum in the South Tyrol.  We had the opportunity to visit one, known as Firmian, in the Sigmundskron Castle south of Bolzano on Sunday.  The first historical reference to the castle dates back to 945 AD, so its been around for a while.  The castle and its fortification sprawl across a hill that rises above the Adige River.  It provided a great setting a mountain museum. One does quite a bit of walking and stair climbing through the castle to explore the exhibits.  Fitting for a mountain museum, but difficult for anyone with mobility challenges. Reinhold Messner was born in Brixen (Bressanone), Italy, and grew up in the South Tyrol.  His influence is apparent throughout the museum. The museum, however, is not focused on Reinhold, but explores mountain art and culture, with some mountaineering thrown in.  One might call it scattered, but ...

The Nordkette (Northern Chain) rises abruptly 1700+ meters above Innsbruck.  Numerous avalanche paths dive deeply into the lowlands and toward populated areas just above the Inn Valley floor.  I was reminded of this frequently this past winter as I heard the sound of avalanche control work many mornings at my office, despite the fact that it is on the Inn River and not near the Nordkette summit. Today, my son and I hiked across the runout zones for many of these avalanches, beginning in Hungerberg and traveling past two mountain huts at Arzler Alm and Rumer Alm, as pictured below (locations guesswork). The photo was taken by me on February 7th on the Patscherkofel.  About a month prior, on January 13th, a colleague from the University of Innsbruck sent me the e-mail below about how dire the avalanche situation was after the huge snows of early January. Indeed we have lots of snow in most parts of Austria north of the Alpine   crest.  Actually too much ...

With a fat snowpack, photos I'm seeing from Utah suggest the spring skiing there continues to be good. Similarly, the skiing here in Austria remains quite good.  My son arrived this week from the states and "suffered" through a few days sightseeing in Innsbruck while I was dealing with teaching commitments (yes, I have those).  Friday, however, with weather coming in for the weekend, we got up to Stubai Glacier for his first turns in the Alps. In general, I've been trying to resort ski here on sunny days and this is especially true for skiing at high elevations resorts like Stubai where the terrain is entirely above treeline.  That, however, is not possible during his visit as he's not here for long and Mother Nature is not cooperating with the timing of weather breaks and my work schedule.  She did, however, provide half meter of snowfall  on the upper mountain several days ago. I've been immersing the kid in Austrian culture since he arrived and ski...

My cool-season precipitation class at the University of Innsbruck. After a few months in Innsbruck, I'm slowly but surely getting a handle on the similarities and differences between higher education in Austria and the United States.  I should note that these are based on the orientation I received as part of my Fulbright award, interactions with faculty and students at the University of Innsbruck, and discussions with Austrian and American Fulbright students last weekend in Strobl.  While this yields more informed impressions than I could receive in the US, my education is still incomplete and based on a small sample size, which you should keep in mind as you read further.  Perhaps the most significant difference between higher education in Austria and the US is cost.  Austrian Universities are tuition free through the master's level (within a reasonable time period).  Not all Austrians can go to University, but those who can and do face much lower financ...

It's a little known fact that I am doing work (if you want to call it that) while in Austria.  The past three days I attended the Fulbright-Austria Seminar in American Studies in Strobl.  Strobl sits on a lovely Alpine lake and, like everywhere in Austria, the setting was beautiful. The meeting offered the opportunity for me to interact with American students who have been in Austria the past several months, Austrian students who are going to the United States this summer, and other Fulbright scholars.  The subject areas were generally well outside my discipline, covering all sorts of topics regarding everything from terrorism and tourism to American culture and LGBTQ issues.  The attendees, especially the students, were extremely bright and engaging and it made for stimulating discussion during organized discussion periods, but also meals.  I was asked to give a talk on climate change and its impacts on Austria, which turned out to be a great assignment ...

One of the benefits of working in Austria is that there is no shortage of holidays. May 1st is International Worker's Day and the University was close (sigh).  The sun come out for the first time in days, so I did the schlep to Ishgl for its closing day. I was hoping attendance at the resort would be light so late in the season, so when an army of people loaded onto the ski bus, I got concerned. However, we found the resort to be uncrowded.  After surviving the Austrian high season, being able to ski open slopes like the one below was greatly appreciated! Snow conditions could best be described as rock hard and loud first thing in the morning.  In fact, the skiing was at times terrifying and I found myself wishing for a whippet pole at times.  However, the views were spectacular.  Below are a couple of panos. After lunch conditions were supreme.  Not too hard, not too soft, but just right.  Very carveable and enjoyable. During m...