Timo Macvan

Incredible conditions in Verbier right at the start of the season, especially on the extremely steep and exposed slope of the Petit Bec. An incredible start for two German riders: Max Hitzig, FWT Rider of the Year 2023, wins his third stage and for the first time in Verbier. Timmy Schröder puts down an incredibly creative line in the high mountains of Valais and makes his first exclamation mark on his Freeride World Tour debut. Among others, he had to admit defeat to one of the grand masters of snowboarding; Victor de le Rue shook up the fabric of last year's tour with his comeback, as did Kristofer Turdell. Zuzanna Witych won the women's contest.

Last spring, the best men and women of the competitive freeride scene met in Fieberbrunn to find out who had what it takes to stand at the top of the Freeride World Tour podium two weeks later. I was also able to be part of the action, not as an athlete of course, but as a reporter who was able to provide insights into the tour and the supporting events. As part of this, I had the pleasure of conducting an interview about our favourite activity with local heroine Manuela Mandl. In 2018, she became freeride world champion in snowboarding and last year she secured victory in Xtreme Verbier, taking third place in the FWT.

The competitive freeriding season is finally starting again. The best freeriders on one and two boards will once again plunge down slopes in the Alps, Pyrenees and Canadian Rockies and try to convince the judges of their skills with their line and freestyle elements. This year is also a very special one, as another event stop will be added to the Freeride World Tour - Georgia, which is increasingly becoming the focus of the freeride community, will become the "Home of Freeride" for the first time.

Thanks to its modular design, the Arva Airbag Ride 18 Switch promises to be the ideal solution for all types of freeriding: its modular design ensures compactness when travelling in the ski area, while additional attachments enable expansion for tours of all kinds. With a focus on functionality and high safety standards, the avalanche backpack from Arva is designed to be a versatile and reliable companion for freeriding.

The backcountry weekend in the legendary winter sports destination of Davos will take place for the 9th time on the last weekend in January. The Backcountry Week 2024 offers a comprehensive and varied program. Participants of all skill levels will get their money's worth as part of various guided ski and splitboard tours, technique and avalanche courses.

The FreerideFilmFestival is back on tour and will be showing six truly wonderful international freeride films that will make you extremely excited for the upcoming season. The focus is not only on the action, but also on the stories and creativity of the filmmakers and their messages to the audience.

The Freeride World Tour has had difficulties this season due to the weather. It started with a changed start date in Kicking-Horse, rain and warm weather delayed the start at Wildseeloder and now the Xtreme Verbier had to be canceled for the second time in its 25-year history. In this winter of all winters with little precipitation, heavy snowfall coupled with strong winds meant that the safety of the athletes on the Bec des Rosses could not be guaranteed.

The Freeride World Tour 2022/23 will once again set new standards in terms of creativity, airtime and freestyle elements this season. The story of the older generation and big mountain riders with their alpinistic approach, such as Sam Anthamatten, Reine Barkered or the de le Rue brothers, seems to have come to an end. Nevertheless, avalanche prevention and safety awareness remain key issues for the contest scene.

The Freeride World Tour 2022/23 starts its final stops in the Alps next weekend. The next stop at the infamous Wildseeloder in Fieberbrunn promises two new events and could become the unofficial finale.

Mammut advertises the new Taiss HS Hooded as a "feather-light all-rounder" that can be used "all year round in the Alps". We get to the bottom of this description in the test and also explored other possible uses!

The Alpride system, which is powered by supercapacitors instead of gas cartridges, avoids many of the usual disadvantages of airbag backpacks, such as the expensive and time-consuming replacement of cartridges. The system is also lightweight. We have tested the Scott Patrol E2 30 for you.

At the end of January, I was supposed to take part in the legendary White Ring, the ski and snowboard race through the extensive ski area of Lech. Unfortunately, the event had to be canceled due to the weather. The race weekend took a completely different but exciting direction. I got a little insight into the freeride history of Lech Zürs and was able to pick up a few powder turns.