Totti Lingotti

At the moment, the Freeride World Tour is going full steam ahead: the third tour stop in Chamonix is expected to take place on Saturday (26.1.2013). The second stop of the Freeride World Tour 2013 in Courmayeur on the Italian side of Mont Blanc was also a complete success. Now it's off to the shady side of the highest mountain in the Alps - to Chamonix. However, the competition will most likely be held again in the Brevent/Flegere ski resort at the Pentes de l'Hotel.

South Tyrolean Markus Eder and La Grave local Aurelién Routens win the second stop of the Freeride World in Courmayeur. The other skiers on the podium were Revelstoke winner Jérémie Heitz (Switzerland) and Swede Reine Barkered. Among the snowboarders, John Rodosky (USA) and Emilien Badoux (Switzerland) won the places.

Avalanche airbags are now regarded as useful additional safety equipment. The 2012/13 market overview will help you decide.

Warm insulating jackets with a small pack size have been popping up like mushrooms in recent years. The Atom SV Hoodie from Arc'teryx comes highly recommended.

The Alpspitze stands strikingly above Garmisch-Partenkirchen - so striking that it has become the symbol of the northern Limestone Alps. With its north face visible from afar and the dead-straight south-east ridge, the Alpspitze has long since overtaken Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze. Every ambitious ski mountaineer should have climbed the landmark of Garmisch-Partenkirchen at least once in their life - and ideally early in the morning before the lifts open, directly from the Stuibenhütte. The descent over the eastern flank with the sweeping view as far as the Bavarian Alpine foothills is breathtaking and unforgettable!

For the first time, the BigLePowSki tour made a stop in Scandinavia from April 13 to 15, 2012. The Dude also had the right nose for this fourth and final event of the winter in Sogndal (Norway), as the temperatures dropped to wintry degrees again just in time and it snowed the finest powder snow that you wouldn't expect even in Norway in April. The BigLePowSki-Happening is organized by Black Diamond and Arc?teryx and is supported by Fritschi, FreerideMap, Pieps and Polartec.

Not so long ago, people still went skiing and touring in the tried and tested woolen undershirts and pants. Nowadays, it's normal for ski underwear to be made from dozens of different textiles and adapted to the body's different requirements in terms of breathability and heat capacity. We put the Arc?teryx Phase SV Comp LS functional shirt under the microscope and subjected it to extensive wear tests during ski tours and freeriding.

The fourth and final BigLePowSki freeski happening of the 2012 season will take place in Norway. For the first time, the Dude is heading north from the European Alps and will be making a guest appearance in idyllic Sogndal from April 13 to 15, 2012! Once again, a series of workshops, testing opportunities and of course the legendary Dude Party await all participants. This time there will also be a photo contest under the care of PowderGuide photographer Baschi Bender. The BigLePowSki event series is presented by Black Diamond, Arc?teryx, Diamir Fritschi, FreerideMap, Polartec and Pieps.

Völkl's widest powder ski is getting an update this winter. Since the Kuro first came onto the market in winter 2008, it has only changed marginally. The 2013 version is now being revised and will be significantly stiffer and therefore heavier thanks to titanium inserts. PowderGuide has already had the opportunity to put the powder weapon through its paces in the deep Tyrolean snow and the rugged off-piste terrain of Disentis.

From March 23 to 25, 2012, the BigLePowSki– event series took place in Chamonix (France) for the first time. No other ski resort in the Alps can keep up with the off-piste possibilities of the five resorts in the Chamonix Valley, so it seemed only a matter of time before the Dude made an appearance here too. With sunshine and good snow conditions, the participants were able to explore the off-piste terrain of Les Grands Montets on Saturday and Brévent / Flégère on Sunday with the local guides. The BigLePowSki is organized by Black Diamond, Arc?teryx, Diamir, Freeride Maps, Pieps and Polartec.

The Engelberg ski resort in central Switzerland is now well known to every freerider. This has the disadvantage that the first-line jostling for the first gondolas can be quite stressful. If the classic variants Laub, Steinberg, Jochstock or Galtiberg have usually turned into moguls after just one day, the descents in particular, which require a little effort (ascent) or alpine know-how, offer lonely descents and are still easy to ski days after the last snowfall. One of these freeride tours, the Titlis circuit, has been considered a classic since the 1990s and every freerider should have done this tour at least once. There are many reasons for this: a magnificent 2700-metre descent, impressive views from Tödi to Finsteraahorn or alpine adrenaline when abseiling are just some of them.

From March 23 to 25, 2012, the third BigLePowSki Freeski Happening of the 2012 season will take place - and for the first time, the Dude will be making a guest appearance in the Mecca of steep face skiing, Chamonix! A series of workshops, testing opportunities and of course the legendary Dude Party await all participants. The BigLePowSki event series is presented by Black Diamond, Arc?teryx, Diamir Fritschi, FreerideMap, Polartec and Pieps.