#PA1: Start your engines

It's October 14th in the year 2015. The day that the first PowderAlert of this winter is announced! The Diavolezza is about to open, the glaciers in Austria are getting ready for a great week and it already looks like winter in Saas Fee. This is a memorable start of a new winter.

And what about Davos or Gargellen in the Montafon valley. Not exactly high altitude resorts, but check out what it's like over there today.

Around 10-30 centimeters of freshies came down last night above 2000 meters altitude and the snow line locally even dropped to 1500 meters.

And there's more to come. Our snow maps show you exactly where to expect the most snow the next couple of days. When you have a look on the list of resorts you might think it's winter already. The snow line will be between 1000 and 1700 meters altitude the next couple of days and it will snow intense today and tomorrow.

This is Hurricane Powder
I've announced it last week already and I just love it when a plan comes together. Ex-hurricane Joaquin took its time to cross the Atlantic, but the results were worth waiting for. Joaquin merged with multiple other storm depressions in the Mediterranean. And he wants to be called Steffan.

Steffan will dominate the weather in the Alps until Saturday. It will snow in the Italian Dolomites and the Austrian main alpine ridge at first, but Steffan will create a 'retour d'est' right after and will push its fronts to the Gotthard region and the Mont Viso. The last snow will come down on Friday and it's time for the sun to come out on Saturday.

A new storm is waiting to come in on Sunday. The snow line can be found at pretty high altitude, but will probably drop rapidly pretty soon. I'm not quite sure of the path of this second storm, so I'll give you my 'where to go' advice tomorrow.

If you have some time, you might get your first powder of the season. But remember, it's still October, so there are the typical early season warnings. Only some high altitude resorts and some glacier resorts have their lifts running. Please ride with your head and don't let stoke take over.

• The rocks (sharks) are not covered by a thick snow layer yet and so the risk of getting injured or damage your gear is high.
• The summer was pretty warm and the crevasses will be right below the surface. If you ride on a glacier, ride on the slopes.
• The winter is still long and injuries, fractures etc. can ruin the rest of your winter. Don't go full throttle.
• You can find a base here and there. This means that the first avalanches of the season are possible.

Please keep those things in mind when you ride down. I'll give you some 'where to go' advice tomorrow!

Stay stoked!
Morris