Patrick Wehowsky

Powderguns - split and in one piece - in all shapes and colors are the hot shit, but the biggest gun still does pogo, and has for 32 years! The experimentation department of the designers/manufacturers obviously had a merciless 'powder shortage' this year.

Given the normality with which people from all over Europe enjoy winter sports in the Alps today, it is always surprising that this movement only began around 100 years ago. In a very interesting two-part documentary, Katharina Schickling presents the eventful history of skiing in Bavaria, which is representative of the dramatically changed approach to the winter mountains.

A paradigm shift in snowboard design?! Anyone with a passing knowledge of scientific theory will be familiar with Thomas Kuhn's groundbreaking study on the development of new scientific disciplines - which has also become commonplace in everyday language under the heading "paradigm shift". These changes in doctrine do not necessarily come from the big institutions/players, but from lateral thinkers who consistently pursue their own theory. This is also the case with Furberg Snowboards - a so-called "early adopter" of a new design concept on the part of snowboard manufacturers.

Three days at the end of the season at the Amberger Hütte in May paired with the opportunity to test pretty much everything that is currently available on the splitboard market, that sounded quite tempting when the offer fluttered into the house in April...

The splitboard trend, which was already apparent at ISPO 2014, is continuing in winter 2015/16. Every brand, no matter how small, now has at least one splitboard in its product portfolio. Product differentiation continues to make inroads among established brands - more or less in line with Porter's business management textbook and the competition matrix it contains. Roughly speaking, the motto is more and for all groups and budgets.

Our author was struck by the Salomon Freeski episode "War Story"... The astonishingly insensitive mixing of old footage from the Dolomite front of the First World War with quite successful ski videos of the same area provokes a polemical reply.

There are several useful apps for outdoor activities, and the weather app from MeteoSwiss is definitely one of them.

Splitboards are now available in every conceivable shape and color. We put one of the most innovative new splitboards - the Ultrasplit from K2 - through its paces this season; with positive results, that much can be revealed in advance.

The PowderGuide crew was out and about for you at ISPO 2014 and took a look at the material for the coming season. Part 4 of our ISPO special is dedicated to developments in what is probably the only growth area in the snowboard world: splitboards and the associated binding systems.

Small and compact packable insulation jackets are one of the best developments of recent years. The Down Sweater from Patagonia is one of them.

For the average winter sports enthusiast on one or two boards, ski goggles are a necessary but rather unloved piece of equipment that is usually only used in the worst weather conditions. In fine weather, however, the respective sunglasses model of the season is preferred to ski goggles, after all, with rather narrow sunglasses, the surface area of the face to be tanned can be maximized, which is one of the main interests of the common winter sports enthusiast. For freeriders and freestylers of the younger generation, on the other hand, functional ski goggles are the means of choice in all weather conditions. The significantly enlarged field of vision, the reduced risk of fogging and, last but not least, the obligatory snow owl goggle face as visible proof of a good winter season are all positive factors here.

Deeluxe Spark XV - the first of its kind? A snowboard boot for freeriders and tourers