eva_magazin_2018_19_rz_WEB_ENG

Geißstein 2.363m
STAR GUEST SNOW.
If you go downhill and have tears of joy in your eyes,
it is usually the same uphill. And – as an exception
– in this case, uphill means without a gondola. The
Pinzgauer Grasberge (grass mountains) are the gentle
and southernmost foothills of the Kitzbüheler Alps
and they are part of the Greywacke zone. The hills are
tame yet strong in character, with differences in altitude
of up to 1,100 m. The Geißstein, with a height
of 2,363 m, is the highest mountain in the Glemmtal
valley. As the final ascent on the Seven Summits hike
in the summer, the summit is reserved for experienced
alpinists only in the winter months. But let’s go
back to the gentle side. The special topography, largely
without high alpine climbing passages, secures
Saalbach's reputation in winter as an absolute insider
tip for ski tourers and free riding fans.
But the mountains aren’t always gentle. Further up,
above the forest line, snow masses often pile up and
are usually directed down to the valley in a controlled
manner. Avalanches.
LO.LA * GAZEX ®
The correct assessment of the avalanche danger is extremely
complex and there are experts needed for this.
That is the reason why LO.LA exists. No, not a beautiful
girl from the alpine pastures, no! LO.LA ... Lokale Lawinenlage
(local avalanche situation)
In the free riding paradise Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang
Fieberbrunn, the system of LO.LA* has been used
for several years. The passionate deep powder snow
lover can easily find out about the avalanche situation
on the official Saalbach website. In addition to the
ground-breaking and easy-to-understand key figures, an
avalanche expert provides additional information and
possible sources of danger.
THE BLASTERS IN THE SNOW.
In the skiing area, you may hear an explosion from
time to time. The avalanche blasters are doing their
job. Their task is to defuse dangerous avalanche slopes
by targeted "blasting".
This is done with various methods. The precipitation
of the previous night is measured daily at the
measuring stations. If this value shows precipitation
amounts of 20–30 cm, then a gas/oxygen mixture is
blown up via fixed GAZEX® cannons.
Basically with air pressure. If there is more precipitation,
the blasters go around the neuralgic areas in a
helicopter and drop the emulsion explosive (lawinit)
in blocks of 2.5 or 5 kg. This special, harmless for nature,
explosive is used to push the snow slabs downhill
in a controlled way.
A partly adventurous endeavour by specially trained
experts who can assess the snow situation from a
distance as well as the blasting technique.
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