Knut Pohl

The closing date for Level II of the Mountain Mastery is history and the participants have submitted their high-quality entries. Now it's up to us to sift through them, analyze them and provide useful feedback. So that you also have something to do while we carry out the – naturally unfair, arbitrary and hopefully not unfair – evaluation, we will show you an example tour of how we would have imagined an entry. There is probably no need to mention that there are countless variations on how to do it differently, but still well and correctly. The teams' contributions will then be – published as usual – in the team threads in the Mountain Mastery Forum.

Nothing is more annoying and embarrassing than when your skis don't want to stay together, you try desperately and unstylishly to keep them together and yet when you get on the gondola, the whole bunch of skis flops in front of your feet to the applause and cheering of all those present. Proper ski straps are therefore essential for being a sick freerider if you don't want to lose your hardcore reputation before the day's skiing has even begun.

"Check your line" - climb up safely, ski down awesome!" is the motto this time in Level 2 of Mountain Mastery 2012 – presented by Mammut, Gore-Tex and PowderGuide.com. Your task is to plan a ski tour or freeride tour in detail in the current conditions. The deadline for your entries is February 6, 2012.

Today's product is one that pole tormentors will look at with a mild, pitying smile and freeriders with incomprehension: a simple edge grinder. Most powder skiers don't even realize whether their edges need sharpening or not. Yet the Toko Ergo Plus is a small, versatile and effective representative of its kind.

When ABS expanded its airbag backpacks to include the Vario line, the hope was that the lack of comfort and practicality of the old ABS backpacks would be a thing of the past. In addition, the range of applications was to be massively expanded by the possibility of mounting various backpack attachments on an airbag unit. It quickly became apparent that the Vario base unit was a success and offered improved carrying comfort with enhanced functionality. Unfortunately, the backpack attachments (with emphasis on the last two syllables) that were initially available did not exactly prove to be the philosopher's stone. Several backpack manufacturers stepped into the breach and developed their own attachments for the ABS Vario System. EVOC did the same with this year's ABS Backpack Element.

Today, dear children, we are going to tell you a story that only life in the internet age can write. The story of how many ideas and many people influenced and fertilized each other until a special ski was born. A ski that many people had already thought about, but which was still not to be found on the store shelves.

Radios are a real help for communication on the mountain in serious freeride use. Anyone who has ever missed their companions because they didn't see them skiing down the neighboring gully will be able to confirm this. When it comes to photography, these hand sparks become indispensable. After all, the key to good pictures lies in consultation and understanding between the rider and the photographer. And nothing is more motivating or funnier than hearing a "Yeeeeehaaaaah!" or "Dude, fucked up!!!" booming out of the loudspeaker on the way out. One of the most useful radios is certainly the Team TeCom X-5.

Freeriders need warm and dry hands. The Vertical SV Glove from Arc'teryx makes sure of that. And with outstanding comfort.

Quickly changing or removing bindings is only possible with inserts. Here you can find out how to equip your skis with them.

For many winter sports enthusiasts, adjusting ski bindings, just like fitting bindings to skis, seems to be the prerogative of specialist ski workshops. So should bindings only be fitted and adjusted by professionals? Is it even possible to adjust bindings yourself? And are you allowed to?

Binding assembly has to be done in the sports store, right? That's actually correct. Actually. Because there are many reasons for fitting bindings yourself: Used skis, unconventional bindings or binding positions or the cost factor, in addition to a lack of trust in the local ski shop that specializes in alpine system bindings.

The traditional ski binding manufacturer Marker is pushing into the market for ascent-oriented ski touring bindings. With the new F10/F12 Tour bindings, Marker is expanding its range of touring bindings to include lighter weight classes without sacrificing much in the way of performance.