Tobias Kurzeder

Hardly any other area of the market for avalanche emergency equipment is experiencing a boom comparable to that of the avalanche airbag segment. More and more manufacturers and suppliers are trying to capture a slice of this growing pie with innovative ideas and solutions. Although the image of avalanche airbags has changed massively in a positive direction, there is still debate about how much an avalanche airbag can increase the probability of survival in an avalanche... This question is answered by a current international study on the effectiveness of avalanche airbags.

Almost all current three-antenna avalanche transceivers have a feature that allows the signals of buried victims who have already been located to be suppressed. Especially when several people are buried close to each other, signal suppression makes it much easier to search for other buried victims. It has been known for a long time that there are always problems with this, especially with some manufacturers' devices, and it is an old, albeit annoying, hat.

Originally, the magazine BergUndSteigen was purely a specialist magazine for mountain guides and alpine managers. The initiator of BergUndSteigen was the Austrian Alpine Association. Unlike its sluggish, conservative German counterpart, the ÖAV regularly comes up with surprisingly innovative projects: and BergUndSteigen is a real masterpiece!

The Allgäu mountain guide and well-known avalanche expert Martin Engler died unexpectedly at the age of 52 on the night of March 2, 2014. After returning from a course, he did not wake up the next morning.

I like softshell jackets, especially those that are really mountain-friendly. The Gipfelgrat Light jacket from Mammut is a softshell jacket that can do quite a lot and withstand quite a lot. The Gipfelgrat jacket is part of the Eiger X-Treme series, the successor collection to the famous bright orange Mammut Extreme clothing line.

It goes without saying that a bag full of first aid equipment cannot help you on its own. And probably everyone agrees with this banal wisdom. But let's be honest: on a scale of 1 to 10, how high or how good do you rate your first aid knowledge?

The second competition of the Freeride World Tour was a success. The invited riders knew how to make the most of the conditions and put on a great show. And the Winners are .........!

In the event of an avalanche accident, there are many things to consider and do at the same time. Time is usually the deciding factor between life and death for those buried, but resources are almost always scarce. It's good to know what to do and in what order in such bad situations.

The time has come! The ninth freeski journal from downdays has seen the light of day: and this time it's a... photobook. It's old hat that some pictures say more than many words. But sometimes the old hats also fit.

There are almost as many telescopic poles as there are snowflakes on the mountain. And many good ones, but also some really bad ones. Black Diamond's 3-section telescopic poles are what every telescopic pole should be: durable, reliable, long-lasting. You can stow them away small and always have them quickly adapted to the prevailing conditions. Skiers (and snowboarders), what more could you want?

The authors attempt to quantify the statistical risk of being killed by an avalanche in the course of a winter sports enthusiast's lifetime. The starting point of their study is the problem that, despite greatly improved avalanche training and risk management methods, well-trained and experienced winter sports enthusiasts are repeatedly killed in self-inflicted avalanche accidents.

A particularly beautiful descent from the 2865-meter-high Monte Caurga, which, however, requires a 45-minute ascent and should only be attempted a few days after fresh snow or in firn conditions due to the consistently steep terrain.