Totti Lingotti

A varied round tour with a detour to Italy - one of the classics from the Forno hut. If you're not just interested in the big peaks, you should plan this circular tour. Val Bona often offers good snow conditions (mostly on the lee side) and rewarding downhill terrain. The ascent into the basin between Monte Rosso and Cima di Val Bona is just as much a ski mountaineering highlight as the summit of Val Bona.

The Proton LT Hoodie from Arc'teryx has been around since last winter and since then it has been my all-purpose jacket for skiing, ski touring and as a lightweight jacket for the city. Due to its high wind and vapor permeability, it is certainly not designed as a particularly warming layer, but except on very cold days, it can be worn in any weather. The water-repellent layer works surprisingly well during short rain showers or longer snow showers.

As every year, we report on the most important ISPO highlights from the PowderGuide partners. The second part is about women's one-piece suits, an avalanche backpack from a backpack specialist, extremely light insulation jackets, equally light ski touring bindings and carbon skis and even more safety equipment. Some of the products will be presented as tests early next season. Have fun browsing!

The granite giants in pre-Gallia stand ruggedly. However, they were only able to withstand the Romans until around 100 BC, when they passed under Roman rule. No, this is not about a new volume of Asterix and Obelix! It's about the Bergell, whose name was originally derived from the Latin word Praegallia (pre-Gallia). Today, Bergell is mainly located in the southern part of Graubünden. The wild mountain peaks form the border with Italy.

Actually, we've all remained a bit of a child - luckily! - and so we always get that big grin at the first powder turn of the winter, which children experience hundreds of times a day. So that they can keep it outside in the forest, in the snow and in the mud, there is also clever outdoor clothing for children. The polar bear brand from Sweden (ISBJÖRN of Sweden) has been producing high-quality clothing for the little ones for almost 15 years, without any environmental toxins.

What could be better than travelling in the mountains with the whole family? Even in winter, this is possible with a converted bike trailer! To anticipate an outcry: We are not going on a normal ski tour here, but rather ski touring in very moderate terrain, i.e. on prepared winter or unprepared summer trails. Whether this is acceptable for everyone is up to you.

For historical reasons alone, you should take the old cogwheel railroad from Davos to Schatzalp once in your life. By the way, with what is probably the cheapest tour ticket in Switzerland, you also gain a good 1000 meters in altitude and thus save yourself a good portion of climbing effort. Although the whole undertaking is not quite as healing as it was for the guests of the old sanatorium, which is why Thomas Mann, among others, wrote a book or two here, ascent-supported ski tours in this climate certainly have a healing character.

The bobble hat used to be the best helmet for off-piste skiing. Nowadays, people (and women) often wear helmets on their backpacks when touring. This is only logical and, in my opinion, the helmet is far too often missing from the official list of safety components in off-piste terrain. The argument of additional weight only counts to a limited extent nowadays, as modern freeride helmets do not contribute significantly to the overall weight and hardly weigh more than an extravagant bobble hat. In any case, you hardly notice the Symbol helmet from Scott on your head or on your backpack on the ascent.

As every year, PowderGuide is once again reporting on the new products from our partners at Ispo 2017 with a slight delay. Some of the articles have already been mentioned in the other ISPO reports, but here we will once again explicitly cover the ISPO highlights from our partners for the coming winter 2017/2018. The second part is about products from Dynafit, Icebreaker, Mammut, Marker, Salomon, Scott, Sweet Protection and Völkl. Have fun reading and find out about neon-colored skis, water-repellent wool, the new long-range Barryvöxes, heat-regulating helmets, ski touring boots with walk mode at the front and particularly light ski touring boots with walk mode at the back, a backpack with back protector and a few more efficient ski touring skis.

As every year, PowderGuide is once again reporting on the new products from our partners at Ispo 2017 with a slight delay. Some of the articles have already been mentioned in the other ISPO reports, but here we will once again explicitly cover the ISPO highlights from our partners for the coming winter 2017/2018. The first part is about the products from Arc'teryx, Bergans, Evoc, Fritschi, FRM, G3, IAS and Julbo. Enjoy reading and find out about highly functional ski clothing, new ski touring bindings, ski touring boots specially adapted for women, backpacks that are particularly comfortable to wear, new topo maps for freeriding, innovative skis, women's ski goggles and an avalanche backpack that can do more than just inflate balloons.

For over 50 years, the Madrisa round tour has been the epitome of the lift-assisted freeride tour par excellence. From Austria to Switzerland and back or, as in our case, from Switzerland to Austria and back. After it was first published as a 'bold adventure' on PowderGuide.com in 1972, here it is finally as the current and modern freeride tour of the week.

When Tim S. Leatherman patented the so-called Pocket Multiple Tool in 1980, initially only craftsmen and technicians were interested in his tool. Then, according to legend, it was the stage technicians who were happy that they didn't always have to carry an unwieldy tool case on the ladder. Nowadays, every child knows the pocket tool with the name Leatherman, there are different sizes and even special versions specially adapted to the needs of different user groups. It was long overdue to finally recognize Leatherman's many years of service here on PowderGuide.com as Gear of the Week.