Marius Schwager

PowderGuide is launching a new editorial feature for winter 2012: In the "Gear of the Week" section, we will introduce you to a special product every week. Freeriding is a rather material-intensive sport: from well-sharpened ski edges and warm underwear to avalanche airbags – a freerider needs many things. Some of them are useful, others less so. Some are ancient and tried and tested, others are fresh from the product press. Let's start with the Mammut Felsturm Half-Zip jacket.

Another round of free moving images from the www. This week with the POV adventures of extreme ski mountaineer Andreas Fransson, Jeremy Jones, the FWT, Matthias Mayr and PG author Thibaud Duchosal.

The first group of specialist tourists meets us just a few meters after leaving the prepared ski area. Today is not a good day for a summit attempt, the leading mountain guide tells us – while his clients stagger down the moderately inclined slope, trying not to trip over their own feet. They are wearing crampons on their hiking boots, have an ice axe in one hand and a "butt-snow scoop" in the other. You can't do without crampons today, it makes sense to turn around, he affirms in rudimentary English.

From weather forecasters predicting winter based on the circumference of ants' thighs to the deep powder snow of the past "La Nina" winter. This Internet week once again brings plenty of free video material to satisfy your winter longing.

Freeriding in Lombardy, not exactly an everyday pleasure for residents of the northern Alps. 50 freeride variants in bilingual versions are presented here.

Winter is approaching and the internet lines for "snow content" are slowly starting to glow. Here's a small selection of the best videos that made it onto the PG editorial team's screen this week.

The North Project

Some friends made a pilgrimage to the North American backcountry for several years. The result is a very nice and calm freeride film with beautiful snow and good descents. Watch directly on the site, or download as HD at

thenorthproject.com

Snowboarding is far from dead. Rumor has it that this video will bring new momentum to the scene. Dear snowboarders, please always remember: don't forget to brush!

It's a dark Saturday in October, it's snowing in the mountains, but the snow is completely missing. There are few better things to do than sit comfortably in front of the TV and watch ski porn. Here you can see some free web clips, some of them exceptionally well produced. Definitely makes you want MORE!

Far behind the luxury chalets of the Valais vacation resort of Verbier stretches a long valley, the Haut Val de Bagnes. Bordered by a reservoir on one side and numerous four-thousand-metre peaks on the other, you can let your mind wander and your heart beat faster on a two-day hike or a day bike tour around the reservoir.

In contrast to Europe, South America is currently experiencing winter, even if the current weather in Europe doesn't always agree. As the information situation is generally rather poor, PowderGuide and the depths of the internet provide some relief here thanks to our investigative South America new snow correspondent Marius Schwager. The current situation for the most important areas in Chile and Argentina - September 2011.

"Stable high pressure continues to prevail over the Alpine region." A sentence that probably sums up the conditions in the Alps in winter 2010/2011. But there is a remedy. While, for example, almost all lifts in our home region of Tyrol have already been closed and only hand-picked slopes at the highest altitudes are skiable, Scandinavia had one of the best and snowiest winters in recent decades. We therefore fled to the Lyngen Peninsula in northern Norway. A week ago, there was still a meter of snow down to the sea. Last-minute travelers can still find outstanding touring conditions here well into the summer. You can read about our experiences in our travel tip for Northern Norway here.