Pascal Schindler

Who cannot relate? You wake up in the morning full of anticipation for a day of skiing, put on your ski boots and... urgh! Cold, clammy boots, accompanied by a smell that rivals ripe mountain cheese. After a long day on the board or boards, your boots are damp from sweat or snow. The perfect breeding ground for odour! Some people may celebrate this smell as a sign of frequent use, but nobody is really happy about it. Ski boot dryers provide a remedy for this.

Winter is just around the corner - and with it the biggest freeride event of the year. In less than 20 days, this year's Freeride World Tour (FWT) kicks off in Baqueira Beret, Spain, probably on 19th of January 2025. New riders and venues, legendary comebacks and changes to the contest format promise pure excitement. So buckle up, because the freeride elite is waiting in the wings, ready to thrill us with epic lines and wild moments.

When motivation is high but the snow is hard, it can happen that the "leg party" ends bad. "Shred till death" - but perhaps not in the way you planned. Knee problems are one of the most common reasons why many skiers have to put their ski boots away for good. One of the main reasons for this is overloading due to heavy impacts. Everyone has seen the videos of famous extreme athletes on social media in which they attempt huge jumps. This raises the question: how do athletes actually protect their bones, ligaments, cartilage, tendons and muscles? Because at some point, a point is reached where the body can no longer compensate for the strain and pain or injuries occur.

From cycling in the valley to mountain biking on the mountain - from relaxed walks across green meadows to challenging trail runs. Whether cross-country skiing on the trails in the valley or powder skiing on the mountain - the Zillertal, located south of the Inn Valley, offers an impressive variety of activities. Known for its numerous ski resorts, it invites you to explore with varied powder runs and ski tours in unspoilt nature. Every outdoor enthusiast will find the right adventure here, whatever the season.

The weather is going crazy and leeward cyclone Anett has caused chaos in many regions with large amounts of precipitation (a more detailed analysis in weather blog #1 2024/25). It brought an early onset of winter to the Alps at higher altitudes and even below 1500 metres. Even if the beloved snow is just melting again, the start of winter cannot be stopped. Here is an overview of the ski resorts that are the first to open.

At the first stop of the finals, I had the opportunity to accompany the Freeride World Tour in Fieberbrunn and not only see the surface of a contest, but also get to know the people behind it. The entire organisational team, all the riders and some of the support staff spend the week of the weather window together in the hotel. The team does a lot of work and discusses details of the competition late into the evening. The dinners with the riders and staff have shown me that there is a very friendly relationship between the participants and the organisers.

At the fourth stop of the Freeride World Tour, riders can expect the face of the Wildseeloder in difficult snow conditions. The expected 20 cm of fresh snow overnight turns into 1 cm and the slope is frozen, especially at lower altitudes, due to the previous period of warm weather. On the day of the competition, however, the sun shone brightly and spurred on all participants. Victor De Le Rue, once again in first place, secured the title in the men's snowboard category. Canadian Erin Sauve came out on top in the women's category. Frenchwoman Astrid Cheylus and New Zealander Ben Richards came first on skis.

The third stop of the FWT takes place in Georgia for the first time. The country is no longer a freeride insider tip and it's obvious why. It's the day of the cut, which will decide who gets to compete in the finals in Fieberbrunn and Verbier. The north-north-west facing face of Peak Kakhiani awaited the athletes with perfect visibility, bluebird day and powder snow. The spectacle begins with the snowboard category, where the leading Victor De Le Rue (FRA) and Spain's Núria Castán Barón take victory. On skis, Switzerland's Sybille Blanjean and Canada's Marcus Goguen win.