#how to build a snowpark
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I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
I remember a time when the end of a year was a magical time. It began with me being anxious for Halloween to finally come, so I could wear that beautiful princess dress my mother had sewn by hand for me. When the day came at the tail end of October, I would cry if my parents made me wear my winter coat over my dress– I wanted everyone to see how beautiful it was and how amazing my mom was for making it by hand. And yes, where I live, we got snow well before Halloween even came around– some years, we’d have snowfall in late September or early October, and other years, the snow came late. One thing was sure, however, and that was that we would have snow by Halloween.
Hence why my parents would make me wear my winter coat to go trick-or-treating, most Halloweens.
To me, Halloween meant pillowcases full of candy to eat throughout the coming year, until the next Halloween came around and I’d go trick-or-treating with my family once again, and haul two to three more pillowcases full of candy back home. It meant that the best neighbourhood to go trick-or-treating in was the one where the family on the corner street turned their yard into a giant haunted house, complete with people dressed as Hellraiser and Freddie Krueger to scare the kids and parents daring to venture in. It meant meeting up with friends who were just as dressed up for the occasion as I was. It meant teachers and students alike would come to school in costume on the day before the holiday –or during the day of Halloween itself if it was in the middle of a school week–, and it made that school day that much more fun.
And then, when Halloween came to an end, the spooky decorations would be taken down and stored away for another year. Things would be quiet for a week or two.
And then, Christmas would begin.
Yes, Christmas began two weeks after Halloween for me and my family.
I remember that, back then around mid-November, my house’s yard would be covered in snow 1 to 2 feet thick. Yes, you read that right. My dad would wake up early in the morning, take the snowblower out the shed, and he would clear out as much snow as he could from the driveway, so that he and my mom could go to work, and so my brother and I wouldn’t have to trudge through the snow to get to the school bus on time. I remember my dad building my brother and I a wooden ramp on which snow would land during snowstorms, and that we’d pack down and drench in water to create an icy slide we could play on during the winter months. I remember going skiing in powdery snow, the type of snow that acted as a cushion and made falls practically painless. I remember skating on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, I remember going to the Village Valcartier snowpark at least once every two or three years.
I remember the beginning of winter being a sign of good days to come, because I loved winter.
And to me, the entire season felt like Christmas.
Because, by mid-November, my house was alight with decorations for the coming holidays.
I remember being overjoyed whenever I saw my parents taking out these big plastic bins from the closet downstairs, in which all of our Christmas decorations were stored throughout the year. I remember the bright red duffel bag in which our artificial Christmas tree was stored, and how there were always fake pine needles everywhere as soon as we’d open it. I remember having to unfurl every single little branch on this monster of a tree, and then wrapping it in garlands of lights, adorning it with ribbons and all sorts of ornaments and knick-knacks.
There’s this one place in the entire province of Québec that we loved to visit– it was a Christmas shop located in Saint-Sauveur, in a region called the Laurentides. Every year, we’d go there and look around excitedly. I remember my parents bought my brother and I an ornament each, almost every time we’d go– once, I chose a little dressage rider on her chestnut horse, because I was convinced that I would one day have a horse of my own and I would become a top tier rider. Another year, they got me a huge trebble clef covered in gold holo glitter, because of my love for music. And another year, they bought me a fragile little ornament representing a ballerina frozen mid-arabesque, for my love of ballet.
And then, during the car ride home, I'd look out my window at the perfect winter scenery as we drove past.
At home, we’d decorate the tree, and then hang these little doorknob snowmen that my mother had handcrafted years ago. Then, we’d wrap a pine garland around the ramps on the stairs. And when that was done, we’d head outside and cover the house in Christmas lights.
And then it would be Christmas until late January the next year.
Everywhere we’d go, stores and houses alike were all adorned in their finest Christmas gear, and were a sight to behold. Some had inflatable santas and reindeer, others had Nativity scenes, others had a Northern Star light perched on their roof. And in the car, or in stores, the radio would blast Christmas music into your ears.
I remember listening to all these Christmas songs and thinking they were all so magical. That I could never get tired of them, because the singers all sang about how wonderful the holidays are, how their hearts were full of cheer, how cozy it was to sit next to chestnuts roasting on an open fire. They would sing about how we should just let it snow, about how Santa knew when you were sleeping or awake, about how they had a dream of a beautiful, white Christmas. My mother had a collection of Christmas CDs that she’d keep with her in her car, and whenever we’d go somewhere, we’d listen to them.
“White Christmas” was my favourite, because it made me think about how excited I was throughout the rest of the year for winter to come around, and for Christmas to bring joy and cheer to us once again. My mom would often tell me how it was my late grandpa's favourite Christmas song, too. I never learned its true meaning until recently– to me, it simply was about how the singer dreamt of having a Christmas just like he used to know, like when he was a kid.
A bit like the feeling I got this year, during the holidays.
Ten years ago, when I was sixteen, I started to see changes in the seasons, especially during winter. I noticed that it wouldn’t come as early as it used to. By Halloween, the best we could hope for was a day or night without rain. There was no snow in sight. Mid-November at the earliest would be when snowfall would begin.
And then, with the beginning of winter regressing well into the tail-end of November, so did the beginning of Christmas, in mine and my family’s eyes.
We wouldn’t decorate as much, or as early as we used to. We’d just leave the Christmas lights on the house for the next year, but not light them before the next time the holidays came around. One year, we tried getting a real Christmas tree, and though it was amazing to have the house smell like fresh pine until we had to take the tree out after the holidays, it just didn’t feel as magical.
It almost felt like the excitement I got from Christmas was directly related to how much snow we had that year.
So you can imagine how exciting Christmas was for me, these past few years where December was nearly as green as a golf course green in the middle of summer.
As I write this, there are literally barely two inches of snow covering the ground in my backyard.
Two. Inches.
That’s literally nothing.
I saw a post that one of my mutuals reblogged that mentioned this, about how Christmas songs nowadays are mostly reprises of the classics. And these classics reference a time that people these days can only remember. Children and future generations will never know the kind of winter we had back in the day. The ones where we’d play King of the Mountain with the other kids in the school yard because the administration had the snow cleared out, but the workers packed it in one spot in the entire yard instead of shoving it somewhere else. They’ll never know what it’s like to watch the news in the morning and see that their school is closed because of recent snowstorms causing trouble on the roads. They’ll never know the excitement of waking up one day in early November, and seeing a thick sheet of snow covering the ground outside.
They'll never know what a true snow day is like.
Nowadays, if I wanted to experience a winter like this again, I’d have to travel far up north.
I’d. Have. To. Travel.
When in previous years, I wouldn’t have had to, because these winters happened here, where I live.
And I wish I didn’t have to travel in order to have such an experience again.
Nowadays, winter is just another word for rainfall. Because that’s all we get– rainstorm after rainstorm. We barely get to see the snowflakes falling from the cloudy skies anymore. There’s no feeling of joy at witnessing the first of many snowfalls of the year, because I know that it’s only temporary. That there won’t be more snow piling up on top of it. I will likely never again wake up and feel joy at the sight of a fresh, untouched blanket of snow waiting for me outside, because there are no thick blankets of freshly fallen snow where I live anymore. The season’s become too warm for those to last.
I hate what winter has become.
I hate that it’s cold, but not cold enough to keep the snow around like it did before.
I hate that it’s wet, but not wet because the snow melted into my supposedly waterproof snowsuit– it's wet because of the rain.
I hate that the sky is almost always gray with rainclouds and not snowclouds.
I. Hate. It.
But what can one person do to change it?
Not much, I’m afraid.
The shift in seasons and climate change has killed what used to be the most amazing time of year for me.
It killed my love for winter. It killed my love for Christmas.
And it has tainted what little memories I retain from past Christmasses with a nostalgia and a sadness that I can only describe as painful, because I know I may never experience it again in my lifetime. And I'll only be 26 years old this year.
So these days, I don’t decorate anymore. I don’t listen to Christmas songs unless they’re blasted at work, on repeat, until I’m so fed up with them that I get angry when I come back the next day and hear them playing still. I don’t feel joy at seeing the slightest amount of snow on the ground, because I know that soon enough, rain will wash it away.
All I do is dream of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know.
–––
Hey everyone!
I'm sorry this post is so long. I just saw something on my timeline and had a lot of Big Feelings(tm) about it that I thought of sharing. The holidays this year have been a big disappointment on my end, for many reasons which I won't mention here. But the main reason is explained throughout this post.
If you've read through this entire thing, I am very grateful that you took the time to do so!
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SNOWFLAKE DOCKER
Snowflake and Docker: Streamlining Data Workflows
Snowflake is a prominent cloud-based data warehouse solution valued for its scalability, ease of use, and performance. Docker is a containerization platform that revolutionizes how applications are packaged, deployed, and managed. While these technologies serve distinct purposes, they can be used in synergy to achieve streamlined data workflows.
Why Use Snowflake with Docker?
Enhanced Development Environments: Docker encapsulates dependencies and configurations for Snowflake development tools like SnowSQL (CLI) and connectors. This fosters consistent, portable development environments, minimizing environment-related issues.
Simplified Testing: Test new data pipelines, transformations, or Snowpark functions in isolated, reproducible Docker environments before deploying them to production.
Dependency Management: Docker neatly packages all the libraries and components required for your Snowflake interactions, ensuring compatibility and avoiding version conflicts.
Streamlined CI/CD: Integrate Docker into your CI/CD (continuous integration/continuous delivery) pipelines for automated testing, building, and deployment of processes involving Snowflake.
How to Use Snowflake with Docker
Let’s look at two everyday use cases:
1. Using the SnowSQL CLI within a Docker Container
Dockerfile
Dockerfile
FROM python:3.8
WORKDIR /app
COPY requirements.txt ./
RUN pip install –no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
COPY . .
CMD [“snowsql”]
Use code with caution.
content_copy
Build the image:
Bash
docker build -t my-snowsql-image.
Use code with caution.
content_copy
Run and connect to Snowflake:
Bash
docker run -it –rm my-snowsql-image -a -u
Use code with caution.
content_copy
2. Snowpark for Python with Docker
Dockerfile
Dockerfile
FROM python:3.8
WORKDIR /app
COPY requirements.txt ./
RUN pip install –no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
COPY . .
Use code with caution.
content_copy
Python Code (with Snowpark interactions)
Build, Run, and Execute your Snowpark code within the container.
Important Considerations
Snowflake Connectivity: Ensure your Docker container has network access to your Snowflake instance. Adjust firewall configurations if needed.
Secure Credentials: Avoid storing sensitive Snowflake credentials directly within the Dockerfile. Use environment variables or secrets management.
Image Optimization: Keep your Docker images compact using multi-stage builds and optimizing the base image selection.
Beyond the Basics
The possibilities with Snowflake and Docker extend further. You can:
Create custom data connectors: Package and containerize custom connectors for specific data sources.
Develop Data Applications: Build web applications that interact with Snowflake and package them into Docker images.
Complex Workflows: Orchestrate Docker containers with tools like Kubernetes to manage complex data workflows involving Snowflake.
In Conclusion
Integrating Snowflake with Docker opens doors to improved developer productivity, testing robustness, environment consistency, and streamlined deployment. As you explore further, you’ll discover even more ways to leverage the power of this combination within your data operations.
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You can find more information about Snowflake in this Snowflake
Conclusion:
Unogeeks is the No.1 IT Training Institute for SAP Training. Anyone Disagree? Please drop in a comment
You can check out our other latest blogs on Snowflake here – Snowflake Blogs
You can check out our Best In Class Snowflake Details here – Snowflake Training
Follow & Connect with us:
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Call/Whatsapp: +91 73960 33555
Mail us at: [email protected]
Our Website ➜ https://unogeeks.com
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Snowflake Services
Unlocking the Power of Snowflake Services: A Guide to the Data Cloud
In the era of big data, businesses grapple with the challenges of efficiently managing vast volumes of information. Enter Snowflake, a cloud-based data platform that has revolutionized data warehousing, analytics, and collaboration. This blog explores the critical Snowflake services that transform how companies handle and derive insights from their data.
What is Snowflake?
Snowflake is a fully managed, cloud-native data platform built from the ground up for the cloud. It delivers a unique blend of critical features:
Separation of Storage and Compute: Snowflake stores data independently of its compute resources. This means you can scale your storage and compute needs separately, optimizing costs and performance.
Near-Zero Maintenance: Snowflake handles administrative tasks like infrastructure management, software upgrades, and tuning, allowing you to focus on data analysis rather than operational overhead.
Support for Structured and Semi-Structured Data: Snowflake seamlessly manages both structured (tabular) data and semi-structured data (JSON, Avro, Parquet, etc.), expanding your analytic possibilities.
Pay-Per-Use Pricing: You pay only for the storage and compute resources you use, making it a cost-effective solution.
Key Snowflake Services
Let’s delve into the core services that make Snowflake an incredibly versatile platform:
Data Warehousing
Snowflake’s modern data warehouse architecture offers exceptional performance, concurrency, and scalability. It enables you to consolidate data from disparate sources into a centralized repository for streamlined analysis and reporting.
Data Lakes
Snowflake lets you build robust data lakes to store all your data, regardless of structure. This opens the door to analyzing raw data, gaining deeper insights, and fueling machine learning models.
Data Engineering
Snowflake supports robust data pipelines with its powerful SQL engine and capabilities for transforming, cleansing, and enriching data. The platform allows you to quickly build complex ETL/ELT processes.
Data Science
With Snowpark, Snowflake allows data scientists to work directly within the platform using familiar languages like Python, Scala, and Java. This streamlines model development, deployment, and collaboration.
Data Sharing and Collaboration
Snowflake facilitates secure, seamless data sharing across internal teams, partners, and customers. This fosters collaboration, unlocks new business models, and enables data-driven decision-making throughout your ecosystem.
Why Choose Snowflake
Speed and Performance: Snowflake is known for its blazing-fast query performance, even with complex datasets and high concurrency.
Elastic Scalability: You can scale storage and compute resources independently and on demand, handling workload fluctuations without disruption.
Cross-Cloud Compatibility: Snowflake works across major cloud providers (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform), offering flexibility and avoiding vendor lock-in.
Simplified Management: Snowflake’s cloud-native approach significantly reduces administrative overhead, freeing up your IT resources.
Get Started with Snowflake
If you want to streamline your data management, accelerate insights, and foster collaboration, Snowflake is an excellent choice. Start exploring its capabilities and see how it can benefit your organization.
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You can find more information about Snowflake in this Snowflake
Conclusion:
Unogeeks is the No.1 IT Training Institute for SAP Training. Anyone Disagree? Please drop in a comment
You can check out our other latest blogs on Snowflake here – Snowflake Blogs
You can check out our Best In Class Snowflake Details here – Snowflake Training
Follow & Connect with us:
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For Training inquiries:
Call/Whatsapp: +91 73960 33555
Mail us at: [email protected]
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Powerful Programming Abstractions
Asynchronous tasks are powerful programming abstractions that can improve the performance of parallel programs. These tasks reflect independent, asynchronous threads of events in the problem environment. In addition to providing flexibility and expressivity, they are the foundation of parallel programming. Many different approaches exist to implement tasking constructs. However, the most important aspect of tasking is the implementation.
By implementing these Snowpark Performance abstractions, programmers can make their software more flexible and reusable. Rather than defining every method and variable directly, they can define each component's scope and provide a more abstract interface to its data. This pattern applies to all levels of a system, whether it's an individual body of code or a package of code.
Bundles are another powerful programming abstraction that allows developers to build applications that involve many different CPSs. Bundles are a step above previous abstractions, which focused on wireless sensor networks and did not take into account key CPS aspects. Bundles provide a logical grouping of sensors and actuators for more powerful programming. They also provide a conflict resolution mechanism and fine-grained access rights control.
As with any abstraction, the level of detail varies. Higher levels of abstraction require less detailed code while lower levels require more detailed code. The highest level of abstraction relates to a system's entire functionality, while lower levels are the smallest components. Further, higher levels of abstraction are used for more complex applications. Learn here on how to Optimize Snowpipe data loads.
As well as providing powerful programming abstractions, streams are also ideal for complex media applications. For example, streams are suitable for video and audio streaming. This dissertation focuses on designing, implementing, and analyzing a computer graphics pipeline that utilizes the stream architecture. This approach provides high performance and programmability while maintaining a context-aware programming style.
You can get more enlightened on this topic by reading here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_database.
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Skiing in Alpbachtal – The Alpine Trails of Champions and Gingerbread Villages of Austria
Skiing in Alpbachtal and exploring the Ski Juwel resort was a part of my ‘Year in Austria’ project, as the UK ambassador for the Austrian National Tourist Office. I will be travelling all around the country (from my home base of Vienna) over the next 12 months and showcasing a variety of destinations and activities. Follow #YearInAustria for all stories.
After brushing up on my ski skills in the Salzburg mountain ranges, it was time to head a little further east into the valleys of Alpbachtal and Wildschönau in neighbouring Tirol to edge closer to ski pro status on the slopes.
The winter wonder of the ski area known as ‘Ski Juwel’ is as dazzling as the name suggests, where I stayed in Austria’s ‘Most Beautiful Village’ while skiing in one of Tirol’s Top 10 Ski Resorts. It was exactly what I came to expect from a mountainous playground in Tirol – the region of Austria I call ‘the Narnia of Europe’.
Staying in Alpbach – Austria’s Most Beautiful Village
There are nine villages to choose from in the region, but Alpbach – rated the most beautiful in all of Austria – is the most popular. When I wasn’t inside the cosy confines of my spa hotel, Alpbacherhof for post-sporting revival and the seven-course meal re-fuelling, I could see how this historical town got its accolade.
It’s relatively unchanged, having once been so isolated before a road connected it in 1926. Boutique hotels, restaurants and stores, to the more delicate farmhouses on the hillside, retain the tiny decorative frame details. All the buildings proudly wear their alpine timber architectural style. Former Mayor Alfons Moser declared a law in 1953 that it was mandatory for all buildings to be built using only wood from second floor up in order to retain the original and traditional look. This homogenous style creates a beautiful gingerbread house effect when looking down over the valley from the forest pathways and mountain slopes.
For a better view of the sugar-dusted rooftops, I went on a private snowshoeing tour, testing one of the four tracks around the valley after a morning of ski. From Alpbach there are 19 winter ‘round hike’ panoramic walking routes, circling the village with 250km of trails for multi-hour adventures, in addition to 14 cross-country trails.
The rest stop at the Alpine farmhouse perfectly summed Austrian alpine life – the wooden house, the stillness of nature and the front-seat row to the mountain panorama. I had circled up the valley slopes to watch the candy floss coloured sunset, knowing I had already spent a blue-skied morning up on the very peaks I was looking at.
Staying in Alpbach is not to discard the other villages though, all of which are filled with long-standing traditions of local life. The medieval village of Rattenberg in particular is known for its class blowing craft, while craft beer lovers can head to the one-man brewery in Inneralpbach and try the unique beers brewed by local, Jos Moser.
Tirol is known for its food in particular, from the potato fry up of Tiroler Gröstl to the many knödel (dumping) dishes and even ravioli made with local cheeses, which I tried. In Alpbachtal, over 100 farms still operate in the area, and culinary enthusiasts can choose dishes made with locally sourced produce by looking out for the green Tiroler Wiktshaus stamp in the menu.
Skiing in Alpbachtal – Practice to Pro in Ski Juwel
Of course, I was also back in Tirol to ski, and with Alpbachtal Wildschönau’s playground of 46 cable lifts that take you up to 109km of piste, I had a lot of choice. If there is one thing I always remember about Tirol or define it by, it’s the spectacular mountain views. From the high peaks of Ski Juwel you can hit the powder of the 26km of blue runs, 54km of red or 13km of black while surveying the dream-like Kitzbühel Alps, Rofen Range and Brandenberg Alps from all angles.
My third ever ski session, it was here that I began to pick up pace. The turns were sharper and more frequent, my confidence to hit slightly steeper slopes increased and I ventured on a blue trail within two hours of hard practice.
In Austria you will learn how to ski quickly.
A huge part of this was finally finding an instructor where everything from personality to precise technique training methods was a perfect fit. My instructor, Harald was like a cool father figure who would laugh when you were slightly naughty losing control and getting off the ski-lift three seconds too late (by accident), feed you chocolate in bad moments and let you race him a little when you were on an adrenalin high.
On the first morning we took various blue trails that curved gently around mountain ledges and tackled short sections of blue slopes with an incline that challenged you. I remember getting to the start of a blue-signed trail marked with the number 61 and asking Harald if we were actually going on it.
He had previously mentioned that this track known as Frosty’s World was a ‘kid’s trail’, to ease any nerves. You will never forget the first time you complete a trail – it’s euphoric and incredibly addictive. So much so that I kept putting off lunch until we had completed another blue run, and another…
By the second day, Harald took me on my first red slope.
I had to finally face a fear. The one where I would always pass a red sign, and have a little peek down, reassured by Harald each time that we hadn’t taken a wrong turn and that this was the only way down.
After one blue warm-up on the next morning of ski, Harald stopped in front of a red sign again and I asked my usual question: “We are not going down there are we?” This time he said yes, and he absolutely meant it.
It felt as if the incline had almost doubled and I freaked out, having to stop repeatedly to catch my breath, which was only eased by the panoramic views of compete serenity.
Harald kept apologising, assuring me that he was confident I was ready for this, telling me he also wanted nothing more than to also show me some of the best views of all the land, accessed only by such journeys.
Skiing gives you exclusive access to nature’s best views.
Alas, adrenalin can be overkill, but I wasn’t upset or deflated. I had finally found an instructor who pushed me out of my comfort zone, and knew how to take my enthusiasm for ski and plough that energy into action. The Austrian ski team train in Alpbachtal Wildschönau regularly, and you’ll see it’s quite the winter canvas to polish your skills on the powder.
“Harald, we have absolutely no choice but to get down this mountain!” I would keep saying, my stubbornness reigning. Once you have started there is, of course, only one direction to take.
In what was quite possibly the longest adrenalin fuelled journey I’ve ever taken – down the longest red slope of the resort in small bursts, with a little hand-holding, tumbles and instructor-assisted side-sliding here and there. I was determined to achieve the status of having completed a red, even if it took hours.
Mountain Activities Aside from Traditional Ski in Ski Juwel Alpbachtal Wildschönau
The highest peaks in Ski Juwel, like Großer Galtenberg, are not just playing grounds for traditional ski. The Wiedersbergerhorn lift gets you to 2,025m and Schatzberg is the next high peak lift at 1,903m. At both you can dine in a mountain huts, play in the obstacle filled snowparks or take a tandem paraglide right off the snowy mountain ledges. In Schatzberg, you can also take the 5km toboggan track down to the village of Auffach. It’s one of seven in the region.
I couldn’t indulge in a winter paraglide flight due to weather conditions and nor did I find the time to ride in a piste basher and be a snow plough pilot. 85% of all slopes here have snow making facilities, and this is one way to be one of the first on the fluffy, fresh snow.
The Reither Kogel is the place for long hikes. The 2.5km circular mountain walk being a popular route, accessed from the top of the cable car in either direction, with the lift routes leading you back to the village of Reith im Alpbachtal. This is also the mountain for speed enthusiasts. I’m keen to test the permanent Giant Slalom racetrack on the upper slopes when I am more confident with my technique and head to The Lanerköpfl chair lift in Niederau for the ‘Race ‘n’ Boarder Arena’ and its dedicated carving zone.
The Ski Juwel resort of Alpbachtal Wildschönau combines all the elements of Austrian alpine goodness – incredible valley views, challenging ski, alternative winter activities and preserved cultural traditions. From one end of the Kitzbüheler Alps where I first took to skis one year ago, to the other where I followed the ski trails of champions and achieved my biggest milestone here, Tirol remains my treasured winter haven.
Things to Know:
Ski Juwel is the merger of the ski areas includes the two valleys of Alpbachtal and the Wildschönau high valley.
The Alpbachtal Seenland region is made up of 10 resorts: Alpbach, Brandenberg, Breitenbach, Brixless, Kramsach, Kundl, Münster, Radfeld, Rattemberg and Reith im Alpbachtal.
The Alpbachtal Seenland Card gives you access to: The free bus service in the region, free admission to the adventure wave pool, guided torch lit walks, guided snowshoe walks and biathlon and ice-curling, as well as discounts at shops, museums, excursions and more. It is free of charge at all accommodation partners when booking at least a one-night stay.
There are over 600 accommodation facilities in the area from farmhouse holiday to 4-star spa hotels.
There guided snowshoe walks in Alpach once a week (Thursday at 10am) and ski mountaineering evening every Tuesday on Reither Kogel. You can be the first to ski on fresh slopes at 8am every Sunday if you book in advance.
Pristine snow seekers, you can get a special pass to hit some the virgin slopes in the area at 8am every Sunday.
How much is a ski pass and lessons in Ski Juwel Alpbachtal Wildschönau?
Prices for a package of 3 night accommodations in Alpbach Valley, 3 day ski pass and an Alpbachtal Seenland card, start from €182 per person/
There are five local ski (and snowboarding) schools. My ski instructor, Harold, was from the Alpbach Aktiv Ski School and I highly recommend him. After two hours with him my ski skills greatly improved.
Where to eat and Apres Ski in Ski Juwel Alpbachtal Wildschönau
There are 25 ski huts (three of which are new in 2016/17) to stop and rest, eat and après ski. The highest point in the ski resort – the Wiedersbergerhorn) is the Horn Alm. Wurmegg-Hochleger Hut is at the top of Schatzberg and the new Norderberg Alm is on the Lanerkopfl run in Niederau. There’s also the Hornboden lounge at Wiedersbergerhorn and Gipföhit at Schatzberg.
Where to stay in Alpbach
I stayed at the Hotel Alpbacherhof (alpbacherhof.at), a spa hotel situated right in the very centre of Alpbach, and less than two minutes from the ski bus stop.
How to get to Ski Juwel Alpbachtal Wildschönau
By train: The closest train stations are Jenbach or Wörgl and there is free bus travel from the stations to your accommodation (with valid booking confirmation).
The Ski Juwel area is 15 minutes from the nearest motorway exit – 40 minutes from Innsbruck airport, 90 minutes from Munich airport.
Further Information and Research
For a complete list of activities and events, alongside costs and accommodation options, visit the Alpbachtal Seenland website.
Inspiration on the ski season in Austria and beyond can be found on the comprehensive site for Austria Tourism.
Further Reading on the Winter Season in Austria from Borders of Adventure
My first ski lesson in the Kitzbüheler Alps in Tirol
My second ski lesson in the Salzburg Mountains, one year on
Taking to the snow on two wheels in the Austrian Alpine
A comprehensive list of non-ski winter activities to try in Austria
The post Skiing in Alpbachtal – The Alpine Trails of Champions and Gingerbread Villages of Austria appeared first on Borders Of Adventure.
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American vs European terrain park building.
My experience from a customer point of view.
I’ve spent a whole lot of time riding terrain parks (snowparks) allover the world. In my 20 years of snowboarding I have had a chance to ride some of world’s best terrain parks. During that time I’ve ridden top european parks such as: SPC park Hintertux, Better Park Hintertux, Vans Penken Park, Ischgl Snowpark, Gap 1328 at Zugspitze, Mottolino Park in Livigno, Gentlemans Park in Val Senales, Saas Fe and many other smaller parks allover Europe. I was also lucky enough to ride parks in other parts of the world, in resorts such as: Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, Sierra-at-Tahoe, Heavenly, Breckenridge, Keystone, Boreal, Canyons, Timberline Lodge at Mt Hood, Kingvale and Perisher in Australia.
I am not going to lie - there is a pattern. What pattern? It seems like it’s Europe vs. The Rest of the World. What do I mean by that?
Parks in Europe are different. To start with - they’re called differently. In Europe we have “snowparks”, while everywhere else it’s “terrain parks”. The naming isn’t all. There are also differences in how parks are being build and maintained in Europe and elsewhere.
After taking a closer look at park photos and videos from New Zealand and Canada, I can easily tell - there is an american influence on how those parks are built and maintained. So that’s why I’m going to divide it into “american” and “european” parks. What is funny is that most Scandinavian parks remind me more of those “american” ones rather than “european”.
European terrain parks (snowparks).
First thing that comes to mind is that european parks are better designed and better maintained. Dry alpine snow allows park builders to cut beautiful wedges and have everything nice and square - features look exactly like they do in 3D models. Parks in Europe look pristine. Awesome, right?
Well.. not really.. For those aesthetics, like for everything in the world, you pay a price. And the price tag is: CONSISTENCY. Yes, those beautiful, square wedges and perfectly aligned jumps look awesome, but only for a while. First thaw/snowstorm/rain makes it all go away. And guess what - that beauty is mainly achievable by hours and hours of hard hand work. I know that, not only as a first hand experience, but also from talking to my friends, who build and maintain some of biggest european parks.. mainly with rakes. No resort has budget big enough to keep shapers motivated to rebuild and maintain parks by hand through months of winter season. That’s why all the european riders and skiers share information, where the best parks are AT THE MOMENT in Europe. It changes throughout the season. To get the best park riding - you would probably want to start your season on one of the glaciers - Stubai, Hintertux or maybe Dachstein (depending which park is the “freshest”), after 2,3 maybe 4 weeks, you would want to go elsewhere - parks are going bad. You probably would go to parks at a higher than average elevation, such as Mayrhofen, Ischgl, Laax or Gerlos. When winter is in full swing, you might want to move over to lower elevations, where parks just got built: Kaltenbach, Planai, Flachau or Hochkar. Then, when spring arrives - you again have to reconsider, where to go. It’s really hard to stay in the loop as every year it’s different resorts that offer good park riding. My guess is that it depends on where the resort got enough snow to have everything rebuilt recently.
American terrain parks (snowparks).
It’s a completely different story with parks in US, Canada and in southern hemisphere (probably because all the park groomers from US and Canada go there in the summer). The parks are not as beautiful, because the main goal is providing safe and fun environment for the riders from the day one till closing the park in spring. What is more, I was in a situation where the resort would close with park at their finest (Keystone or Breck in the winter of 2014 are perfect example) not to drop the bar. From riders point of view - I honestly don’t care how precisely the edges of the kicker are cut and how they look in a photo on the website. I want to get hang time, I want jibs to be standing straight, I want it to be pleasan and I want it to be safe and fun EVERY DAY I’m riding that resort. Period.
How is that achievable? It’s very simple - “the american park building school” relies mostly on skilled groomers (cat machine drivers), who dedicate most of their lives to building perfect parks with their snowcats. They know exactly how much snow is needed, where its needed, how to push it and how to farm it. That’s why southern hemisphere gets parks as good as US and Canada - all the park groomers go there in the summer to build even more features. Some of them got so good at it, that their machine-made parks look no worse than those handmade (Charles Beckinsale from Whistler/Perisher is a perfect example) but with the advantage of being consistent. That’s why most parks in Europe are closed several days after snowstorms, while american parks open within 24-48hrs after it stops snowing. In Europe, you frequently can’t even rely on those parks weeks after the snowstorm. The outcome is that on the contrary to Europe, you can pretty much rent a cabin anywhere in the US early in the season and ride the best park that is achievable with given snow and weather conditions. You can easily log over 100 days in perfectly built and maintained parks that provide consistent experience for the user.
The main reason why parks in Europe and elsewhere are so different.
Coming from Europe, I’ve spent way too much time in the cat’s passengers seat, trying to explain slope groomer on how to build features. You can only imagine how hard it is to precisely tell someone, how to operate 12-position blade and tiller with complicated joystick while the cat is in motion. It’s impossible. The result of that are mounts of snow in all wrong places that need to be pushed with rakes - hours and hours of hard manual labour in harsh winter conditions. I can only assume that’s the reason, why I see the same crew raking american parks season after season, while all european park builders are complaining about keeping their staff (with the average shaper’s salary at 800euros - no one wants to do that hard manual labor for more than one winter).
Above you can see, how complicated the joysticks for operating cats are. It takes plenty of time to learn them - you can’t really tell someone what to do “on the job”. Operator must know those machines and have the knowledge of what he wants to achieve. From left: Prinoth Bison X, PistenBully Park Pro Series, Pistenbully 600. Source: www.prinoth.com www.pistenbully.com
I am not saying there are no good groomers in Europe, because there are. Just look how the Alps look like - those huge mountains require a lot of knowledge, experience and skills to move around and groom them. All I’m saying is that it takes someone who rides or at least rode parks at some point of their live to know, how to build those features efficiently and in a way that is maintainable. If you build the park with cat - it’s maintainable with cat. If you build it by hand - in most cases it’s only maintainable by hand. Only parks built and maintained with cats are consistent.
And why is consistency so important? That, I am going to explain in my next post.
#terrain park#snowpark#terrain park groomers#snowcat operators#how to build a snowpark#how to maintain a snowpark
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DBT WITH SNOWFLAKE
Harnessing the Power of DBT with Snowflake: A Guide to Modern Data Transformation
Data transformation has become critical for businesses seeking to make data-driven decisions. dbt (Data Build Tool) and Snowflake represent a powerful combination that can streamline your data pipelines, empowering you with cleaner, more reliable datasets. In this blog, we’ll unpack this dynamic duo and guide you through the process of getting started.
What is debt?
dbt is an open-source transformation tool that leverages SQL to streamline the process of building data pipelines in your warehouse. Its core value lies in:
Templating Power: dbt utilizes SQL templates (Jinja) to create reusable data models and transformations.
Version Control & Development Best Practices: dbt integrates with Git, enabling version control, collaboration, and adherence to software development principles within your data operations.
Testing & Documentation: debt facilitates built-in testing and automated documentation generation, ensuring data quality and pipeline transparency.
What is Snowflake?
Snowflake is a cloud-based data warehouse built for the modern demands of big data analytics. Its key features include:
Scalability: Snowflake seamlessly scales compute and storage resources independently, adapting to your data volume and workload.
Performance: Columnar storage and sophisticated query optimization ensure exceptional performance for complex analytical queries.
Ease of Use: Snowflake boasts a user-friendly interface and minimal administrative overhead.
Why debt and Snowflake Synergize
debt and Snowflake form a potent partnership for building efficient data pipelines. Let’s see how this alliance shines:
Developer-Friendly Workflow: dbt’s SQL focus makes it approachable for data analysts and engineers, lowering the barrier to entry.
Performance Optimization: dbt intelligently manages query execution and dependency graphs, while Snowflake’s backend horsepower delivers query speed.
Data Governance: DBT’s testing and documentation features and Snowflake’s security controls maintain data integrity and lineage.
Reduced Operational Overhead: This combination offers a more streamlined analytics stack, easing administrative burdens.
Getting Started with DBT and Snowflake
Set up Accounts: You’ll need a Snowflake account and a dbt Cloud account (or have dbt Core installed locally).
Connect dbt to Snowflake: Configure your Snowflake connection within your dbt project. Refer to dbt’s Documentation for specific setup instructions.
Define Your Models: Employ SQL within data models to represent the transformations you want to perform. Utilize ref functions to establish dependencies between models.
Run and Test: Use the dbt run command to execute your transformations and dbt test to validate your data quality.
Key Considerations
Leverage Incremental Models: Optimize performance with Snowflake’s powerful incremental materialization features within your debt models.
Use Snowpark for Python: Extend dbt’s capabilities with Snowpark Python models for advanced transformations and machine learning use cases.
Conclusion
The union of debt and Snowflake delivers a robust and developer-centric approach to data transformation. By adopting this combination, you’ll gain greater agility in building reliable data pipelines, enabling informed decision-making across your organization.
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Unogeeks is the No.1 IT Training Institute for SAP Training. Anyone Disagree? Please drop in a comment
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SNOWFLAKE OPEN SOURCE
Snowflake and Open Source: A Complex Relationship
Snowflake is a powerful cloud data warehouse platform known for its scalability, speed, and ease of use. But is Snowflake considered open source? The answer could be more precise.
Snowflake’s Approach to Open Source
Not a Core Open Source Product: Snowflake is a proprietary, closed-source software platform. Its code is not publicly available on platforms like GitHub.
Support for Open Source Projects: Snowflake actively engages with and supports the open-source community. For example, they offer connectors to open-source tools like Python, Spark, and Kafka. Additionally, they contribute to projects such as Apache Iceberg.
Open Source Tools: Snowflake has developed and released a few open-source tools related to their platform. Some examples include:
Snowflake SQLAlchemy: An open-source Python library for interacting with Snowflake.
Snowpark is a developer framework currently available for Scala, Java, and Python that offers functionality within its data warehouse.
Understanding the Nuances
It’s essential to understand why Snowflake isn’t considered a fully open-source product:
Business Model: Snowflake’s business model relies on providing a cloud-based, managed service. Offering a fully open-source solution might lead to the proliferation of competing self-hosted platforms, undermining their revenue source.
Complexity: Building, scaling, and maintaining a genuinely open-source data warehouse at Snowflake’s level of performance is a highly complex task that could potentially require considerable resources and investment.
Security and Control: Open-source models can introduce security vulnerabilities if not meticulously managed. Snowflake likely retains control over its core code to ensure robust security standards.
Open Source Alternatives to Snowflake
If you’re seeking robust open-source options for data warehousing, consider these highly regarded alternatives:
ClickHouse: A columnar database optimized for speed, ideal for large-scale analytics.
StarRocks: Another high-performance columnar database designed for real-time analytics scenarios.
Apache Druid: Great for real-time analytics and time-series data processing.
DuckDB: An embedded database focused on simplicity and ease of use.
Should I Choose Snowflake?
Snowflake’s decision to be closed-source while actively interacting with the open-source ecosystem is strategic. Here’s how you can decide if it’s the right fit for your needs:
Consider Snowflake if:
You prioritize ease of use, scalability, and a fully managed cloud solution.
Cost is less of a concern than getting the job done quickly.
Open-source licensing is a low priority for your internal tools.
Open-source alternatives might be better if:
You have a strong preference for fully open-source technologies.
It would help if you had flexibility and granular control over every aspect of the platform.
Cost efficiency is a significant factor.
Conclusion
Snowflake is an undisputed leader in the cloud data warehousing space, even though it’s not fully open source. Its commitment to supporting and engaging with the open-source community demonstrates its acknowledgment of open-source software’s benefits. Whether Snowflake or a completely open-source alternative is better depends on your organization’s specific needs and priorities.
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