Marius Schwager

The market launch of the Salomon "Quest Pro and Quest Pro Pebax" freeride ski boots with tech inserts has been postponed indefinitely. The alpine models are not affected by this and can already be purchased in stores.

Freeriding in La Grave. PG partner Black Diamond shows the exceptional French resort in the first webisode of the Ski Here Now series. In the three-part webisode, BD publishes short videos that take an aesthetic look at the playgrounds of the in-house team riders. Freeriding with an extra dose of passion.

Kashmir, Canada, La Grave. A trip halfway around the world. Jordan Manley, up-and-coming star photographer and filmmaker, shows his impressions of a ski trip to three different continents in a three-part webisode. In a short interview, he gives PowderGuide an exclusive insight into his work.

Powder and ski enthusiasts have learned in recent years that ""banana"ski constructions are advantageous and are derived from water skiing. This original sport in particular is currently experiencing a huge boom: so-called "wakeski" are becoming established. You can find out what these new sports devices are all about and how the first major European competition turned out in the contest review and the accompanying background interview.

Shane McConkey and his colleagues have been trying to explain one thing to us powder skiers for years: Powder is more like water than concrete in terms of its consistency. Therefore, the gliding equipment should also be based on that of the original sport of "water skiing". Nowadays, this realization has even penetrated the conservative Arlberg swing ski camp – the number of "banana skis" is steadily increasing.

However, a new trend is currently emerging in the sport that gave rise to this: so-called "wakeski" are conquering the water ski facilities. Wakeski are a mixture of the well-known wakeboards with their banana-like shape – negative side pull, negative pretension, light materials, stable bindings – and the established water skis, of which you always have one piece on each leg.

Wakeski Open 2010

On July 31, the first notable competition in this still young trend sport took place in the Turncable Park in Thannhausen. 18 riders from all over Europe finally crowned the winner after a thrilling competition on the various obstacles and kickers: Sebastien Coll.

Results
1st Sebastien Coll
2nd Chri Böttcher
3rd Lukas Gütling

The book "Mount St. Elias" deals with nothing less than the longest ski descent in the world. Two Austrian extreme skiers undertook the expedition to this very unusual "freeride descent" back in 2007.

Hidden yet present, right in the heart of the Alps, there is a reopened freeride paradise for ambitious off-piste skiers. The three valleys around the respective main resorts of Champoluc, Gressoney and Alagna are well-known to many freeriders when it comes to high alpine off-piste skiing. And rightly so - not least thanks to the construction of the new Indren gondola.

Spaghetti-strap tops, V-necks, slacklines between the trees, lovers twirling in the park and full ice cream parlors. The unmistakable signs that summer is fast approaching. But wait! There was something? Yes, that's right. Late winter.

Anyone who is seen today as a fashion-savvy, modern freerider without an additional feature on their ski helmet can almost pack it in. Thanks to new innovations in camera technology, helmet cameras are enjoying enormous popularity. But there are a few things to bear in mind if you want to take off into Web 2.0 with the resulting powder delicacies. PowderGuide has put these hot toys through their paces and tested their freeride kidneys for you.

Time and again you see people in high-risk off-piste terrain who are unaware of the dangers off the secured ski slopes. The fact that this also includes active members of the mountain rescue service while looking after children astonished us greatly and prompted us to write an open letter to the Salzburg Mountain Rescue Service.

In addition to the innovations in bindings, skis and snowboards and the new avalanche transceivers & Co (Part I), there are of course also a lot of other new products for the 2010/2010 season that should not be swept under the carpet here. New innovative safety standards for helmets, crazy color designs for freeride textiles and new glove concepts.

The Dolomites are considered the most beautiful mountains in the world. The ski slopes around the Sella massif or under one of the many other spectacular, fossilized coral limestone blocks enjoy great renown. The standard reference work "Freeride in Dolimiti" shows that you can also go freeriding there.