Martin Svejkovsky

PowderGuide has been reporting on a "Gear of the Week" almost every week for over 10 years now. From ski suits to skin wax, ski boots, sunglasses and safety halves, almost everything has been included, but one thing has probably been forgotten and that is not at all unimportant for us freeriders. That's why this week is all about our favorite element: snow!

Once again, the Austrian Board of Trustees for Alpine Safety organized the Alpine Forum as part of the Innsbruck Alpine Trade Fair. Every year, numerous experts report to an interested specialist audience on a highly topical and hotly debated subject. The trend towards more and more mountain rescue missions in summer and winter, the increasing pressure to perform, the professionalization of alpinism and the winter topics of avalanches, falls and cold led to this year's key question: "Mountaineering - only healthy?". This question was explored in four different thematic blocks. We at PowderGuide were able to take part in the exciting presentations, the sometimes heated debates and the impressive field reports and would like to report on our personal highlights below.

We from PowderGuide were at the TouringPreview 2025 in Hochfügen - an exclusive event where specialist retailers and experts can discover the latest freetouring and freeride highlights for the 2025/26 season. In a relaxed atmosphere, we tested skis, bindings, avalanche equipment and more, gaining exciting insights into the innovations of the coming winter.

The Scott Re-Source is part of the sustainable Re-Source product line from Scott. This means that, depending on the weight, more than 50% of the ski touring boot is made from sustainable materials. The strap is made from 100% recycled material, the shell is made from 90% bio-based upper material and the liner is also partially recycled. Scott says it combines sustainability, versatility and lightness and promises nothing less than "one of the best ski touring boots on the market".

Martin is a member of POW and from time to time publishes articles on PowderGuide that deal with sustainability issues. After dealing with the contradiction between structural problem solving and the individual responsibility of skiers last winter, he is now focussing on the concept of the economy for the common good. Can this vision of a sustainable economy change our approach to nature and mountain sports forever and, above all, how does it actually work?

Education is one of the most important factors in driving social change towards a more sustainable and increasingly fair world. For this reason, Protect Our Winters Austria organises a variety of different climate workshops that are adapted to the respective target group. With the "Mountainsports for Everyone" project, POW Austria has set itself the goal of providing children and young people who normally have little or no connection to mountain sports with low-threshold access to climbing, mountain biking, skiing and snowboarding. At the same time, important knowledge and an awareness of the climate crisis was imparted to them through age-appropriate climate workshops.

Martin is a member of "Protect our Winters Austria", in his last two guest posts he explained why he is involved with "POW" and how the NGO is organised. The content of today's guest article is an interview with POW athlete Rosina Friedel:

Martin is a volunteer with "Protect our Winters Austria". In his last guest article, he dealt with moral questions of being constantly confronted with being an active winter sports enthusiast and also an environmentally conscious person. Part of his answer to these questions lies in his commitment to POW, and now it is time for him to introduce "Protect our Winters Austria" and dispel a few preconceptions.

In this guest article, Martin, a volunteer with "Protect Our Winters Austria", explains how he deals with the moral dilemma of skiing. A recurring dilemma that catches up with him and many of us winter sports enthusiasts year after year. Because whenever there are reports of new climate records in autumn, the media discuss the early start of the season, society has long since found the culprits and yet we can think of nothing else but ploughing through the snow as soon as possible, our guilty conscience grows. But the question is, why?