Vision
The Austrian Association for Snow and Avalanches lives the combination of theory and practice in the avalanche community in Austria in such a way that the Austrian public has a maximum of trust in the work we do, promote and follow.
Professional Network
Point of Contact
Platform
Think tank
Professional Network
Platform
Point of Contact
Think tank
The independent association, whose activities are not for profit, pursues non-profit goals and aims at the interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge and the promotion of teaching, development as well as training and application in the field of applied snow and avalanche research and related areas. The work of the association extends to the Austrian federal territory.
Mission
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To facilitate the exchange of standards and technical information within the Austrian snow and avalanche community.
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Support and source of resources and information for raising public awareness on snow and avalanches in Austria.
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Promotion and support of research and development in the field of snow and avalanches
The Board of Directors
Our team
Christoph Mitterer
President
Christoph is a snow and avalanche researcher and the technical coordinator in the ALBINA project. He is a staff member of the Avalanche Warning Service Tyrol. He loves powder, firn and wet snow. But above all he likes to philosophize about avalanche forecasts and their dangers. For him, ÖGSL is the place where science and practice can meet unchecked.
Jan-Thomas Fischer
Vice President
JT works as an professional in avalanche dynamics in there field of applied avalanche research and university education. For him, the questions start where snow begins to move - in avalanches. In laboratory, field and computer experiments he tries to fathom the physics and processes behind the snow masses. For him, ÖGSL brings together what fits together: Snow, mountains and people and their fascination with them!
Sascha Bellaire
Cashier
Sascha is fascinated by the mountains and what you can do there, especially in winter! That's why he has turned his passion into his profession and has been working in the field of applied snow and avalanche research for 15 years now, with stopovers in Switzerland and Canada. The snowpack is a fascinating but complex object whose development we try to predict. Sascha is working on exactly these 'forecasting tools'. Bringing scientists and practitioners together is often not easy, but ÖGSL tries anyway!
Matthias Walcher
Deputy Cashier
Following his position as General Manager, Matthias was newly elected to the ÖGSL Board in 2023. After his studies at the BOKU in Vienna and the SFU in Vancouver, several stops at various warning services and projects at home and abroad, Matthias now works as an avalanche forecaster in the LWD Tyrol team.For her, ÖGSL offers the opportunity to bring together practice and science in Austria and to make them visible as a unity on an international level.
Paul Dobesberger
Secretary
Since he was little, he has been on the move in the mountains, whether on skis, snowboard or shovel - he feels at home in the snow. That's why he made his passion the subject of his studies and has been working in the field of snow and avalanches with a focus on avalanche risk management since 2006. For several years now he has not only been allowed to work on the phenomenon of avalanches scientifically, but also to trigger them in a controlled manner with the help of avalanche blasting systems. For him, the ÖGSL offers a roof for the entire snow and avalanche community, also beyond the Austrian borders.
The Team of AASA
Our Staff
Susanna Mitterer
Christoph Hesselbach
General Manager
“The realization that a dreamlike white slope can turn into a deadly danger within a few seconds fills me with respect and awe, but also with curiosity. For this reason, it always motivates me to delve deeply into the underlying processes, to understand them and to communicate them. For me, the ÖGSL embodies exactly that: a platform for knowledge transfer and the connection between practice and research.”
Christoph Hesselbach works as a research assistant at the Federal Research Center for Forests (BFW) in the snow and avalanche department. He also contributes his commitment and passion for snow as General Manager of the ÖGSL.
