Sebastian Müller

As far as I know, we haven't had any fatal accidents involving professional freeriders since last year's tribute edition. That's nice, but it doesn't matter, because unfortunately people without celebrity status also die in the mountains, without a fan community to mourn them. Nevertheless, we remember Andreas and JP once again. There's also a re-make of Mount Ushba and Jeremie's diaries. We are longing for a comeback of winter with lots of snow and new movie material.

Where at best only firn or steep gullies promise joyful activities in the given weather conditions, the VdW also go there on dry, wet or soaked terrain. We show Nikolai Schirmer and Xavier de le Rue, but otherwise I offer a selection of lengthy replays and more entertaining best-ofs from great contests. Unfortunately, in my opinion, they strive for a little too much HYPE/STOKE/SYKE. But let everyone find what they like!

The Black Forest has turned completely white with snow this winter. And so all the inhabitants took to their hilly homes and completely forgot where they were because of all the powder and pillows, and the pandemic was only half as wild. Great cinema from a small low mountain range!

Welcome to this year's review of the channels of our Alpine clubs! More online seminars are hardly what we need, but I would like to establish this sub-category. Of course, all channels have gained subscribers, but the balance of power has hardly shifted. In my opinion, the ÖAV stands out with its educational and humorous videos about safety on the mountain. Just like back then, we are growing from small to big. Language courses included!

Today we're bringing you the best of the best. Our protagonists have used their talent, stamina and style to become stars of the scene and won't let up! So: sit back and enjoy!

The characters in ski films are as diverse as skiing itself: always the same and yet always different. This may mean that a protagonist can always ski and usually does so on snow, only the how, where and why differ. So in this episode we meet old and new heroes who live and film this eternally beautiful skiing in their own way.

No video can replace practical, real-life courses. But Xavier and all sorts of other institutions invite us to expand and refresh our knowledge. There's a bit of contest content to go with it!

In view of the northern congestion and the associated avalanche situation, we are also watching videos about avalanches here today. We cover a wide spectrum: from scientific-educational to case studies and VLOGs to music and film. The quality of the videos presented starts at educationally valuable, but steadily declines towards the end until it becomes unbearable. But the selection is large and you have been warned. So, despite all the fun in the powder, watch out!

Inspired by the last column "Snow of Tomorrow", the new mantra is: "Sustainability sells". The VdW and the ski film industry also need to reorient themselves: "Bigger, deeper, steeper" plus "fat beats" times "kerosene" only leads to "head shaking to tired yawns" among the trained public. So here we present a selection of particularly "green, sustainable, environmentally friendly" ski films, or at least that's what we think.

Another year has passed, and in this new one everything will be good and even better! The offerings have burned down, the wax has solidified into symbols and we now know exactly what is really important: video art and skiing!

You can't reinvent the ski, unless your name is Sean McConkey. All striving for powder and weightlessness has its origins in steep face skiing. So in these hopefully reflective days for all of us, let's go back to those roots. After all, whatever we do in the mountains: style means everything.

The südstau has delivered, the mountains are full of white splendor. The videos are still lagging a little behind, but we're already seeing something from the Italian Dolomites! Plus a fresh film from Austria and a slightly older French one from the Julian Alps. Also: once again, we can't get past Nikolai Schirmer.