Marius Schwager

In November 2009, Chris Davenport, Andrea Binning and Stian Hagen sailed to Antarctica on a sailing ship. On the Antarctic Peninsula, far away from any civilization, they wanted to ski the ice giants of the last undeveloped mountain range on earth. Australis is the cinematic result of this extraordinary ski trip.

Ruedi Beglinger is a Swiss ski mountaineer and mountain guide. He lives in a hut in the Selkirk Mountains in Canada with his wife and two young daughters. A Life Ascending revolves around the life of the Swiss climber and living with constant danger.

With the Eagle, the traditional Swiss company Fritschi wants to offer a stable touring binding that can also cope with a demanding freeride gait without sacrificing the comfort of a proven touring binding. We tested the new Eagle 12 model.

At the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, not only single-board but now also double-board artists will be able to perform their aerial acrobatics. In addition to the halfpipe competition for skiers, which was confirmed in April, slopestyle will now also be part of the Olympic competition.

The young Swiss company Novasport has also been producing high-quality ski touring skins for a few years now. A cutting service and the look of the Hit Leopard draw attention to the product. The 100% mohair skin is even available in widths up to 140mm.

The long-established Swiss ski touring manufacturer Colltex was a pioneer in 1968, shaking up the ski touring world with innovative adhesive skins. Nowadays, the Swiss are trying to win over off-piste skiers with the "Split Freeride" split skin. A skin that fits on different skis and yet can be used anywhere is intended to open up new horizons away from the tracked variants near the slopes.

The ski touring skins from Kohla come from the heart of the powder metropolis, Austria's ski touring epicenter and Tyrolean capital Innsbruck. The "Multifit 130 I-Clip" model is available up to 130 mm and vies for the favor of touring freeriders with its 100% mohair content.

For the third day, we set our sights on two of the classics in the Sella Group. The shady Canale Holzer, named after its first rider, the steep face pioneer Heini Holzer, and the south-facing Canale Joel. Both gullies are easily accessible from the Sass Pordoi gondola and are frequently travelled. The narrow Holzer couloir does not offer many alternative routes and after ten to 20 descents, the descent can no longer be described as a pleasure ride. As only a few snowboarders have skied down the steep gully after the fresh snow, we still find acceptable snow conditions in the north-west gully of the Sass Pordoi. We stand at the entrance, quite impressed, and think about how Heini Holzer must have felt before his maiden voyage. At least he knew what he was getting himself into, as he always refused any mechanical help on the ascent and had climbed the couloir first before riding it. Without any up-to-date information about the icefall, which is halfway down, we put on our harnesses and had the abseiling equipment ready to hand just to be on the safe side. However, it turns out that we only have to overcome a two-metre high, icy steep section, which turns out to be quite rideable as the landing is covered in soft fresh snow. All in all, we ski the classic in very good conditions and despite our burning thighs, we hear several satisfied cheers echoing through the valley at the exit.

The ski circuit around the Sella massif, the so-called "Sella Ronda", is one of the most popular and impressive adventures you can undertake on skis. From the Pordoi Pass, the gondola takes you up to the Sass Pordoi in the middle of the maze of pistes, tow paths, lifts and magic carpets. It leads to the notorious gully spectacle. The two routes most popular among ambitious freeriders, the Canale Holzer and Canale Joel, are presented in this TouringTip.

Many competitors have criticized the officials of the Freeride World Tour: complicated billing systems, breakdowns at some event organizations and much more. The Freeride World Tour (FWT) claims to be the world's most important event series for freeriders and also to crown the "Freeride World Champion". To shed some light on the event organization and the season planning of an FWT rider, Simon Wohlgenannt answers our questions and gives us a look behind the scenes of the Freeride World Tour.

With Hike2Ride, three Austrian freeriders are bringing their very own freeride flicks to Vimeo free of charge. Not the usual Alaskan lines, but quite relaxed in the local mountains, touring from a mountain hut and riding beautiful slopes. The focus is on the background voices and the "feeling on the mountain" in the descriptions.

Tuesday is Salomon Freeski TV day! At least that's what you might think, because for the fourth year now, the Salomon Freeski Team has been delighting the freeride community with around 20 webisodes every year, which make the freeski internet lines all over the world glow every Tuesday.