Alpine Safety in Winter

The sun glitters magically on the white blanket of snow, with every breath you suck the cold, clear mountain air into your lungs and feel all the stress and hustle of everyday life slowly fall off you. A whole vacation is ahead of you and you can hardly wait to dive into your winter adventure. Despite this idyllic view, there's one thing you shouldn't forget: safety first! In order to enjoy your stay in the Kaiserwinkl region to the fullest, we have put together the most important tips for safe behavior on the mountain for you.

Whether you're planning a hike with snowshoes, a skiing tour or a winter hike – it's important to realistically assess your own condition and fitness right from the start. In the heat of the moment, it can quickly happen that you expect too much from yourself right at the beginning. You'll get more out of it if you're honest with yourself and leave room for improvement during your first winter sports activities.

For all activities in the snow, it is important to assess the weather and snow conditions correctly and, above all, with foresight. This requires a certain amount of experience. Fortunately, the staff of our tourist offices and the hosts of your accommodations have years of experience in these areas and will be happy to provide you with detailed information! In doing so, you can often pick up one or two insider tips that will lead you off the beaten track to the favorite places of the locals. So: Just ask!

Before you set off for a day on the slopes, on the cross-country ski trail or on the mountain, you should carefully inform yourself about the degree of difficulty, current weather conditions and possible avalanche danger. Current avalanche warnings can be found, for example, on the avalanche report page of the province of Tyrol or you can ask at the tourist office.
For hikes, it also makes sense to get an overview of the expected duration of individual stages in advance and to make a note of it. This way you can check during your excursion if you can keep to the estimated schedule or if you have to adjust the length of your tour. Turning back in time to avoid being surprised by darkness in the middle of the slope is not a sign of weakness, but of common sense!
For the indecisive among you, we also offer a number of guided hikes where you can let our experienced guides lead you through our beautiful Kaiserwinkl.

A good principle for your equipment is: as little as possible, but as much as necessary! In any case, you should make sure that you have everything with you to ensure your safety even in unforeseen situations. Here are our recommendations:

Whether you are traveling alone or in a group, someone should always know your whereabouts and when you will be back. It is best to tell this person how to reach you if you are not back at the agreed time and when help should be called. If you unexpectedly change your hiking route during your tour, it is important to inform your contact person.

Remember to pace yourself well. At the beginning of an excursion, it makes sense to set a comfortable pace in order to have reserves for the probably more strenuous, steeper sections of the route. On any outing, take your cue from the weakest member of your group! If you are one of the more experienced participants on your tour, always keep an eye on weaker people and consider their state of exhaustion when planning rest breaks.

Regular rest stops will give you the opportunity to recharge your reserves and recharge your batteries for the next stage of the trail. A midday rest in a hut will also give you the opportunity to replenish your water supply and warm up.

Pay attention to the signs during your hike and always have an up-to-date hiking map with you in addition to your GPS device or cell phone in case of emergency. Electronic devices are unfortunately never 100 % reliable and you should always have an alternative available for your safety. The snow also makes it difficult to keep your bearings. If you notice that you have lost your path, follow your tracks back to the last place you were sure of and move on carefully from there. If you can't find the right way, it makes more sense to turn back than to hike cross-country on the off chance!
Also, before you start your hike, please make sure that all members of your group are able to orient themselves with GPS and a map and know which way they are coming back home.

Every person who travels in the mountains in winter should be familiar with the use of an avalanche transceiver as well as a shovel and probe. Before embarking on your trip, you will have thoroughly researched the weather and avalanche danger and made sure that your plans are safe under the current conditions. Nevertheless, you should also keep an eye on weather changes during your activity, because the weather is decisive for the development of an avalanche. Sources of danger include:

- Fresh snow
- rain
- temperature fluctuations
- wind

In addition, there is the condition of the slope: the steeper the slope, the greater the avalanche danger. Even a slope inclination of 30 degrees must be classified as fundamentally "unsafe" and requires additional caution. Slopes that are rarely used also pose an additional risk.
Therefore, you should always stick to designated ski slopes and stay on marked trails when (snowshoeing). Here the avalanche situation is regularly monitored by experts and you can relax accordingly. Nevertheless, a responsible and foresighted attitude is a prerequisite for any winter sports activity!

No matter how exactly you take it with the safety on the mountain, accidents can never be excluded one hundred percent. That's why it's essential to know in advance how best to behave in an emergency. Forewarned is forearmed! The first step in the right direction is to pack a complete emergency first-aid kit. This should definitely include disposable gloves, disinfectant, band-aids and dressings, and a space blanket. Also useful are painkillers, wound ointment and possibly additional bandages for fixation and stabilization.

To put it simply, everything you take with you on your excursions goes home with you. This applies to packaging materials such as plastic bags, cereal bar wrappers and beverage cans, as well as organic waste such as food scraps, banana peels or apple cores. This may sound exaggerated at first glance, but it is an important rule for treating our environment with respect. After all, if every hiker who stops at a rest area simply throws their trash behind them into the forest, it quickly adds up to quite a bit. And even leftovers buried in the snow do not simply disappear, but reappear at the latest when the next snow melts. We therefore ask you to pack your snack in reusable lunch boxes and make sure to collect all the leftovers after the break. This way, even the hundredth visitor can still enjoy the beautiful nature undisturbed.

When you encounter wildlife on your hike in the mountains, it is of course a very special experience. However, there are a few simple rules you should follow to ensure that the encounter is safe and positive for everyone:

Hiking with your four-legged friend is a wonderful experience for many. Nevertheless, it is important to be considerate of other hikers as well as wildlife. In winter, when wild animals are drawing on their reserves and have to manage their strength, disturbances caused by dogs are particularly dangerous.That's why it's better to keep your four-legged friend on a leash during this time and make sure that he doesn't stray too far from the marked trails when rummaging.
As with other garbage, the same applies to your dog's droppings – covering them up with snow is not proper disposal! Even in winter, please always carry poop bags and pick up the dog feces. Our nature will thank you!