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Newsletter 2020 #1

By 8. May 2020Newsletter

D ear snow and avalanche geek, dear ÖGSL member,
first of all: We hope you and your loved ones are healthy and you are doing well! We wish you all the best for the time to come, lots of energy and above all health. We are aware that difficult times are coming, especially for the self-employed and small businesses among you. If you have any ideas how to use synergies through the ÖGSL, if working together could help you, or if you have any ideas how to profit from the ÖGSL network, please write us an email and we will try to put you in touch!

We all face unprecedented challenges this year!
Nevertheless, we have to make sure that we leave room for normality in our lives as much as possible. Therefore we send you the newsletter #1 of the year 2020.
The ÖGSL was already very active in the first months of 2020. Therefore it is time to inform you about what has happened and will happen.

UNSAFE!!!!
Pre-announcement
2nd Annual Spring Meeting (ASM) & General Assembly

on May 9th, 2020

MEETING WILL PROBABLY HAVE TO BE POSTPONED!!!

Due to given reasons it is currently very uncertain whether we can and want to keep this date. As things stand at the moment, it is more likely that we will simply postpone this date further back in the year. Nevertheless we would like to ask you to reserve this date.
The plan was: We will meet again in spring to review the ÖGSL year, to report on progress and successes, to further focus on our main topics and to hold the General Assembly. Suggestions and ideas to be discussed on this day can be sent to us at any time, at the latest and for the time being until April 14, 2020. Contact: info@oegsl.at
Website: So far it has been nice and informative, the website of the ÖGSL (www.oegsl.at). However, our demands have grown and therefore we are currently in the process of modernising and professionalising the homepage. After the facelift there will also be an online registration form, a blog area and soon a digital wiki, documenting agreed standards for snow-related work and processes in Austria. The calendar area will be kept up-to-date with the schnee.semmelnar dates and relevant conference dates.  If you want to share an important event (in times after COVID-19) with the community, send us an e-mail and we can add it to the calendar.
The second ÖGSL Public Event: The “schnÖGSLn” took place on January 7th, 2020 at the Treibhaus in Innsbruck and was a great success.  The ‘tower’ was full, 250 people in the audience, 2 talks and a raffle with a Mammut Barryvox as the grand prize. A lot of snow and avalanche knowledge was shared with the audience in a relaxed atmosphere and with the right pinch of humour. Many thanks again to the honorary speakers Peter Plattner, Walter Würtl, Jan-Thomas Fischer and Christoph Mitterer. We were able to collect 1000 Euro donations, which naturally serve a good cause, because they will be used for the YSP (Young Snow Professional) Travel Grant 2020 to Fernie.

YSP Travel Grant 2020:

Five applicants submitted their abstracts for the YSP by the beginning of January. According to a point system (1-10) in five categories, three finalists were selected who presented their work to an audience at schnee.semmelnar on February 3, 2020. The presentations were also evaluated according to this system by four reviewers. Veronika Hatvan (ZAMG Graz) achieved the most points in total and can be happy about the ÖGSL YSP Travel Grant to Fernie in the amount of 1500 Euro.

We thank all submissions and speakers. You all did a great job and the choice was not easy for the reviewers. Congratulations to Veronika! We hope that in two years we will have the opportunity again to announce a YSP Travel Grant and hear exciting topics again.

The first ÖGSL workshop on snow cover took place on Saturday
February 15, 2020 at the BfW in Innsbruck and the Nordkette ski resort.

Together they put their noses into the snow in theory and practice and discussed the latest techniques in snow profile recording and stability testing. In a pleasant group size the exchange between the participants could take place very well and everybody could take something new with them.

Last but not least:

since 3.2.2020 we have an employee who will take care of the organisation of the association, the administration, the communication, the financial, grants, new project ideas and project management of the ÖGSL in the near future. Thanks to two grants, this is financially feasible for the ÖGSL for the next few months and we are looking forward to this opportunity to take it much further.

Many of you will already know her – she has been the handwriting behind the ÖGSL emails and responsible for the organisation for quite some time.
Mag. Susanna Mitterer
She studied geography, studied glaciers and permafrost, worked at the SLF in Davos, the University of Innsbruck, the alpS Center in and at the Austrian Board of Trustees for Alpine Safety in Innsbruck. Now she is responsible for the ÖGSL.

CANCELLED!!! The next schnee.semmelnar on Monday, 30.3.2020 will not take place.

Last but not least:
Stay healthy, be careful, take the matter seriously and stick to the official safety measures! Please also do not undertake any ski tours or mountain hikes. Every accident is an unnecessary burden on the rescue and health system.