Klara Stang

The final preparations have started and the anticipation is growing steadily. In the last article, I told you how I came up with the idea of going to Japan and what you need to consider when planning a winter season in Japan. Now it's time to get down to business and I find myself surrounded by a pile of winter sports gear and other equipment and am asking myself: WHAT DO I NEED?

I've often heard about this dreamy country with its "champagne powder", the endless amounts of snow and the hot springs where the Japanese macaques have a good time, but I've only heard about it from stories. But I was lucky enough to meet the right people, got carried away and am now sitting in my flat in Innsbruck with a working visa for Japan in my passport, eagerly awaiting winter.

"Freeride Symphony," directed by Anton Thorin and filmed in Engelberg, Switzerland, takes viewers on a journey into the world of freeriding.

PowderGuide has wrapped itself in a cocoon during this summer break and is still pupating, but will appear in a new design just in time for the winter season.

We have already reported on Snowflake in the past few weeks. Now we've had the opportunity to get to know him a little better. The interview reveals his positive attitude and love of nature, as well as his more idiosyncratic opinion on off-piste safety equipment.

Even if there isn't much sign of winter at the moment, it is slowly approaching and the first motivated skiers are already out on the glaciers. It's time for us to wake up from our summer slumber. Every year, we kick things off with a list of the ski resorts opening in the Alps.