Stefan Neuhauser

Lobbyists from the tourism industry are softening the Bavarian Alpine plan. A classic freeride and touring summit is severely restricted by the lift plans.

Stefan Neuhauser is a mountain guide and photographer. He happened to be near the scene of the Germanwings plane crash at the time. Although he and his tour group did not see the accident, but only heard it, this "ear-witness" status was enough for many media outlets, eager for news about the plane crash, to shower Stefan with interview requests, some of them dubious. For this reason, Stefan Neuhauser has decided to publish a statement on PowderGuide instead of further interviews.

While the Col du Lautaret pass is mainly frequented by snow kiters, the surrounding terrain offers a variety of interesting ski tours, which are favored by their relatively high starting point.

The Col de Larche, which is almost 2000 m high, offers a variety of different ski tours in the Italian-French border region between the Hautes Alpes (France) and the Italian Southern Alps.

In the middle of the Parc Naturel de Queyras, the road leads over the Col d'Agnel from France to Italy. This third highest pass in the Alps is surprisingly little known, but although the road (which leads up to 2,744 m) is of course closed in winter, it offers many opportunities for ski tourers and freeriders.

While kiters are busy at the top of the pass, the terrain around the Col de Vars offers a variety of different ski tours. The Vallon du Crachet is rewarding both in winter with powder and in spring with firn.

Mountain guide Stefan Neuhauser experienced an unusual avalanche phenomenon during a freeride tour with a group in the Aosta Valley on March 21, 2014: despite a hard-frozen blanket of snow, with only the top few centimetres of the snow having melted, he and his group triggered an avalanche. The avalanche was triggered in the Val di Rhemes, on the Cima le l'Entrelor in the Aosta Valley (Italy). The avalanche was a mixture of a snow slab and a uniform snow avalanche.

Skiing with a free heel is tempting. But it needs to be freer uphill than downhill. The Rotefella NTN breaks new ground here.

Nao - Chinese for brain - is the name of the "thinking" lighting miracle from French manufacturer Petzl. The secret: a brightness sensor in the lamp regulates the light intensity in real time so that as much light always reaches the eye as necessary. No more and no less.

K2 offers climbing skins for almost all K2 ski models suitable for touring, which can be attached directly to the ski using a clip system. Mountain guide and photographer Stefan Nehauser reports on his first experiences with the skins.

Attention! Please do not think that the Petzl Ultra is a normal headlamp. The only normal thing about it is that you wear it on your head. I have been using the lamp for 10 months. The lamp is the best in headlamps. You can use it to carry out delicate repair work on skis or drill holes in ski bindings, even on a moonless night.

Warning about La Grave from Stefan Neuhauser. On 29.1.09, a German group of six climbed to the area below the Girose Glacier. As the group had no rope with them, they got stuck above a wall bar. For reasons unknown to me, one person fell about 200 meters over this ledge and died.