Marius Schwager

Is it still possible to write about the Olympics without being sued by the IOC? The Olympics are currently dominating the (sports sections of the) media, but watching them online seems to be strictly forbidden. When it comes to money, even the oh-so-fine Olympic idea (oh no, paying again!) is where the fun ends. Being there, according to the original Olympic idea (copyright too, now it's getting expensive!) is apparently no longer cool. In protest, a very special report from the Olympic village in the VdW. Plus the most viral video of the week (take that, Thomas!) - click tip: also check out the blogs and pictures of the two crazy Russians -, TGR's Way of Live as a full movie (!), a visual ski carrying guide, the latest news from Sölden and the rest of Tyrol and an epic snow roof clearing in South Tyrol.

Anyone who has spent the last few weeks in Japan or the Southern Alps has good reason to celebrate. Not so if you've been in the Northern Alps. But well, to each his own. Unfortunately, videos from the Southern Alps in respectable quality are still largely in short supply. I am happy to spare the reader of this article the supposed rescue of a stag by a hunter. Instead, in addition to the Celebration round, there's probably the most impressive avalanche of this winter, backstage shots of the Sherpas, POVs of Tanner and Henrik, migration lines from Alasaka, New York City tow-in snowboarding, a bit of powder snow from the Southern Alps and some nice jibbing in Chamonix. Just the usual. Who's celebrating with us?

The current video week was characterized by the so-called "Social Beer Game". It feels like millions of beers were "extorted" in front of cameras. Don't worry, you will be spared these excesses of Western luxury boredom here. Instead, as usual, there is snow in various forms: from Canada, Kappl and elsewhere...

What is this white stuff that is suddenly falling from the sky? It's not... No. Pessimists like me fear that the season called "winter" will be largely absent in the northern Alps this year. Videos of the week are still available, of course, because there's always snow somewhere. For example in Sochi. Hence a video explaining how the snow is made, another from the highly respected SID explaining what these snowboarders (btw: strange creatures, in the half-tube to music, tsts) are all about. Also the making of the Valhalla Night Shred, a very dark couloir, action from the FWT and fun on artificial snow and in natural snow in the Southern Alps.

This winter isn't actually that bad. Provided you hit the right spots, winter 13/14 is actually really good. However, North Tyrol and the Feldberg are clearly not among the chosen ones so far this winter. Japan and the Southern Alps, on the other hand, are. This week's weekly video series therefore includes amateur footage from these regions. And of course all sorts of things from the land where the honey always flows.

It's hard to believe, but there was widespread snowfall in the European Alps on 14.1.14. The Videos of the Week also get a good shout-out in terms of content in week 03: A Behind the Scenes of the Bella Coola segment from Into the Mind, current videos from Leo Ahrens from Alta, from the freeski crew as well as current shots from Les Ars and Cortina by Thibaud Duchosal. There is also a small potpourri of other fringe sports this week: Jean-Baptiste Chandelier shows his version of paragliding, some wingsuit flyers say a very special New Year's greeting to the world and a sport completely unknown to the author, somewhere between cycling and snow sports, shows beautiful nature shots.

Still not enough snow, but still decent summer sports conditions in many regions of the Northern Alps. Some places are really cold, others have really good snow, such as the Snowbrains guys in Japan. Others are generally confused in South America, Michelle Parker is playing the Black Panther this week, Salomon is once again showing how it could be and IG Powder Snow is showing how it is. The European bigwave surfing elite hit the jackpot this week, because Hercules has hit the spot. There is only one thing left to say: "And these, ladies and gentlemen, are your Videos of the Week".

New year, new luck! And we desperately need luck, because there's still not much to be had in terms of snow in the Northern Alps, apart from artificial snow, blisters from queuing at the lift and bruises from the scramble for the last beer at the apres-ski. At least, and this makes the VdW feel positive, there was a first really worthwhile edit from the current time frame in the weekly budget this week. The catch: the video was shot in Turkey... That's life. Nevertheless, there are a few things worth seeing and news from last season. The regulars' table of the freeski crew, True Color Films shows us something from outside and MLine proves that even plain old snow can be really fun with the right friends. And then there's Johan Johnsson. He shows us that we're just wimps and that even when there's no powder at all, the gas can stay on.

Let someone else say that journalists have an easy life. Fishing the best videos from the web once a week, he said. It's not work, he said. There's so much material, he said. And there's always snow, he said. If only there had been, you have to admit it here. As there's still not really any snow, or if there is, there's too much, there's the pure truth in the form of online videos this week. And the videos on the net aren't getting any better! Lest you think, dear readers, that life is all about powder snow and face shots, this week we've got the truth and nothing but the truth for the festival of love. Because you also have to look the truth in the face, dear PowderGuide Videos of the Week readers: life isn't always just cafés and cookies.

Let's assume it's the end of December and there's almost no snow in the mountains. Just like now at the end of 2013, only every year. Would that be the end of skiing? No, because there is artificial snow. As we will need a lot of the white artificial stuff in the future, as we already do today, and it will definitely never snow again anyway (just ask the oracle) and this powder snow is just an invention of the real estate industry anyway, here are the possible ways out of the dilemma in video-of-the-week form.

I was in a really good mood for a short time after breakfast today. There was fresh snow on the car in the parking lot: cold, fresh, loose, unbound. I was already thinking "yes, finally snow again, the Omega is over, winter is finally starting". Then I realized that the snow cannon next to the parking lot had just been running all night. This week, the guys from Sweetgrass show you that you don't actually need snow to ski, Mr. Svindal only skis on artificial ice anyway. Martyn Ashton shows you the right equipment for the future of powder running and all the other Videos of the Week, such as the Bella Coola segment by the Sherpas, are purely computer-generated (for sure!). And while this article is being posted on the web, Mrs. Holle is conjuring up a white dress on the balcony railing. Everything has an end, only the sausage has two.

This week's Freeride Video Hour presents exclusive and unique time documents. We take a look at Into the Mind by Sherpas Cinema, follow Hoji's tracks in the Pitz and Kaunertal valleys and experience a day in paradise with Matthias Mayr, Tom Leitner and Sebastian Fischer. Isen Seven provides support for the minority sport of snowboarding, and the Provo brothers take care of the weekly dose of Alaskan stoke.