Patrick Wehowsky

The Snow and Safety Conference in Zürs am Arlberg is now part of the season opener on the Arlberg for the seventh year in a row. After last year's perfect conditions with a sufficient base and an additional load of fresh powder snow just-on-time, the participants and organizers were reminded once again this year that early winter does not always have the thickest snow cover.

PowderGuide was born out of the desire to combine the fun of off-piste skiing with informed and professional risk management in order to ideally be able to spend a lifetime "off-piste". A few years ago, Jeremy Jones summed up this principle in the catchy phrase "live to ride another day".

The Helix Long Sleeve Zip from Icebreaker has probably become my most-used garment over the last year, as it excels in a number of areas.

"ISPO in Munich is of secondary importance for the snowboard industry. The pulse of the industry beats at the retailer trade fair (Shops 1st try) in Alpbachtal."

PowderGuide was there for the second time to give us and you an impression of the conference. The purpose of the two-day event is to update your knowledge of winter terrain just in time for the start of the season.

The documentary "Snow of Tomorrow" was produced in 2016 and broadcast for the first time. By chance, I stumbled across a repeat in the 3sat media library yesterday, which can still be seen for a few more days. So if you have 70 minutes to spare at the weekend: it's time well spent, as the documentary offers a panoramic view of winter tourism in the Alpine countries.

Alongside classic snowboard boot manufacturers such as Deeluxe or Northwave, the Italian company Fitwell, known for its mountaineering boots, was long unknown in the snowboard sector. This changed abruptly about 4 years ago when the first pictures of a crampon-compatible snowboard boot from Fitwell made the rounds in the relevant forums.

After some manufacturers launched the big "powder shape competition" last year, this trend is now entering its second season. In addition to well-known concepts (swallowtail), the trend among many manufacturers is towards short but wide boards, as K2 demonstrated last year.

For the fifth time, the "Snow and Safety Conference" took place in Zürs am Arlberg right at the start of the Ski Arlberg season. The generally difficult conditions in the northern Alps were known in advance, but this did not discourage the organizers from successfully carrying out their supporting program.

THE FOURTH PHASE is the third major film by and with Travis Rice - after "that's it that's all" from 2008 and "the art of flight" from 2011 - which have contributed greatly to Travis Rice's general, cross-industry fame.

The descent from the Kleiner Kaserer is a lift-assisted variation of a ski tour with the same name starting at Wipptal.

From Friday, February 19 to Sunday, February 21, the Alpine Splitfest took place for the third time in Kandersteg. As the festival has grown significantly in the last two years, the organizers were forced to move the festival to a new location this time.