Stephanie Jagl-Posch

I keep waking up and staring at a white, uneven ceiling. The air around me is cold and only a red light illuminates the room. There are three other people lying next to me, all wrapped up in bivouac bags and sleeping bags and protected as best they can with winter clothing. When I fall asleep again, I dream of shoveling snow for hours. Sometimes I feel slightly panicky and cramped.

While it is now certain that the FWT will kick off its season between February 9 and 16, 2017 with two contests in Vallnord-Arcalís (Andorra) due to the lack of snow in Chamonix, the only 1* qualifier event took place in the very east of the Alps last weekend. Rider reporter Stephanie was there for us and took part in the event, which is designed to help newcomers to contest freeriding, among other things:

When we are out and about in the mountains, we often hardly notice how many small details have been changed by human hands so that we can travel safely and enjoyably. We take path markings and signs for granted, and we usually don't think much about the use of handrails either. We often don't even realize how much work goes into building and maintaining trails. I volunteered to spend a weekend working on the trails team of the Südwien-Mürzer-Oberland Mountain Association. I wanted to gain an insight into what work is needed to make life easier for all those interested in the mountains and to actively contribute something myself.

The snow and weather conditions are not making it easy for the organizing team of the Open Faces Freeride Series this season. Instead of holding the contest as planned on the Freeride World Tour-proven, beautiful Quellspitze, a replacement face had to be found at short notice due to the snow conditions. In addition, it was even necessary to change the zoning and the start of FWQ** and FJT** on the day of the contest. The visibility conditions were not the best either ...

Breathe a sigh of relief! The time had finally come ... The first Open Faces FWQ contest was successfully held on 07.02.2015. In bright sunshine and fantastic powder snow, not only was the first decision made at the 1*Freeride World Qualifier 2015 on the Hochkönig, but the juniors also celebrated their successful OPEN FACES premiere. Some newcomers were particularly impressive in the end.

Winter has passed and the season is over. What happened to my big mission? A look back.

First published in 2014, the Rother ski touring guide "Obersteiermark" from the mountain publishing house of the same name presents 50 tours in Styria - from the Salzkammergut to the Hochschwab region. In addition to popular tours, the book also includes some lesser-known routes. The different landscapes offer a wide variety of options for ski tours, from leisurely tours to challenging day trips.

Two Pinzgau freeriders, Sabine Schipflinger and Siobhan Challis, dominated the sunny first edition of the OPEN FACES Freeride Contest in Uttendorf-Weißsee, Salzburg. In the men's ski category, there is currently no way around Tyrolean Stefan Jöchl, while Sabine Schipflinger (AUT) won the women's ski category. First place in the snowboarder category went to Gergo Szkalák from Hungary, while Siobhan Challis (AUT) won the women's competition.

76 freeriders from 11 nations conquered the face on the "Stoana Mandl" at the season opener of the Open Faces series on the Hochkönig. After heavy gusts of wind had initially delayed the start, the Hochkönig finally gave the hoped-for GO for the start of the Open Faces and at the same time the start of the Austrian Freeride Series. Birgit Ertl from Radstadt won the women's ski category, Siobhan Challis won the women's snowboard category and skier Maximilian Dettenhofer and snowboarder Andreas Bichler won the men's category. For PowderGuide, participant Stephanie Posch reports on her day at the contest:

In this story, Stephanie Posch talks about how to reconcile a passion for the mountains with life in the lowlands.

Full, full, - Freeride Film Festival. That was the first impression you got at this year's tour stop in Vienna. The queues at the box office, at the advance ticket collection and at the face check at the entrance were enormous.

On March 23, 2013, I took part in the X Over 1* Freeride World Qualifier Contest on the Kitzsteinhorn in Salzburgerland. This contest in late winter was also the last part of the Open Faces series.