Lorenzo Rieg

Typical approach shoes are one of those things. Although I understand their purpose and occasionally use them for hiking, they are usually a bit "too much" for me for use on real approaches, especially when ski touring. Sooner or later, the boot often ends up on or in the already heavy backpack and may be carried there for days on end, plus you have heavy, crampon-proof "shoes" with you anyway with ski touring boots.

With the Laser Speed Light, Petzl combines the lightness of aluminum with the strength and "bite" of steel in an ice screw. The result is quite impressive, as light weight is practically not at the expense of performance...

With the Patrol 32, EVOC has a typical top-load backpack for extended adventures in the backcountry in its range. As robust and fully equipped as usual, it is a loyal companion not only in the ski area, but also on extended ski tours where you need to carry a lot of extra equipment.

Last weekend, the "King of Dolomites" photo contest was held for the third time in San Martino di Castrozza. Once again, 14 professional and over 100 amateur teams had the opportunity to put their riding and photography skills to the test and capture the best moments around the impressive Pala Group.

The Joel (or Joelspitze) may not even be 2,000 m high, but it is still a popular tour (especially from the valley). And not for nothing, as it offers many downhill variants with manageable difficulty. What's more, the ascent from the lifts is only a short hop ...

Ski tours are undoubtedly very much in vogue and more and more freeriders, who are less interested in winning the summit than in an interesting descent, are taking on shorter ascents from the lifts or even full-blown ski tours to get to the coveted untracked powder snow.

Downhill performance like an alpine binding, combined with almost all the ascent qualities of a pin binding and all this at a weight of well under 2 kg per pair? Sounds too good to be true? No, it sounds like the Beast 16 from Dynafit ...

Even at a time when smartphones and Wi-Fi seem to be ubiquitous, there are still plenty of areas where contact with the rest of the world is severely limited. There, a satellite phone is not only useful in an emergency.

Everyone knows that the large Swiss brand with the extinct cousin of the elephant as its emblem is one of the leading manufacturers of mountain sports clothing. It has also been offering clothing specifically for freeriders for over 10 years (i.e. long before the big trend). At the same time, this clothing line is revised and improved every year. We have tested the top models from Mammut for you.

The Canalone Neri on the Cima Tosa is probably one of the most perfect gullies in the Alps. 900 vertical meters, north-facing and steep throughout, the gully is also located in a very impressive landscape!

Next week sees the launch of the Marker Kingpin, not only one of the most interesting products of the season in the ski touring sector, but also the first major manufacturer of ski bindings to enter the rapidly growing and increasingly competitive market for Pintech bindings. We have already briefly tested the Kingpin for you.

Ski touring guides are now almost a dime a dozen. But the relatively new guide "Freeski Alpin" by Reini Scherer is a very special one. Initially, it is dedicated to a single mountain range, the Mieminger Kette, but aims to document all possible downhill variants there. As a result, significantly more difficult and dangerous routes are described than in almost all other guides from German-speaking countries.