PartnerNews | Backcountry-Weeks Davos

The event:

We, i.e. Timo from the PowderGuide editorial team and Alex, a friend of his from Innsbruck, were able to take part in the festival in Davos/Klosters and took part in various courses. Alex has only been snowboarding since October. She is a bit of a natural, but has little backcountry experience and has never travelled on a splitboard before. Timo, on the other hand, has more experience in deep snow and has his own splitboard, which he uses to head up the mountain as often as the snow allows.

Day 1 in Davos:

When we arrived in Davos, it was raining. Due to the warm foehn air, everything above the tree line was wet. Nevertheless, we were confident, as the mountains around Davos were scratching the 3000 metre mark. We will certainly find some fresh snow at higher altitudes! The hopeful mood and anticipation could also be felt in the Event Village.

The event base was centrally located in Davos, just a few minutes' walk from the Parsenn cable car valley station, with a bus stop right outside the entrance. A good base camp for the adventures over the next two days! Here we also got to know a few of the event organisers and participants. GoVertical is an association of mountain guides from all over the canton of Graubünden. They organise accompanied alpine sports, from the Engadine to Davos and Chur. By getting to know each other, we were able to get a taste of the vibe within the small freeride village. Many outdoor brands have pitched their tents in the camp and provided test equipment, with most of the material coming from the GoVertical shops.

Alex was able to get advice on choosing her first splitboard, which was to accompany her on her first two touring adventures. We were then able to sign up for various courses with David Hefti, who, as the technical director, acted primarily as an organiser in the village. For the next day, we opted for the "Freeride Advanced" and "Splitboard Beginner" courses.

Day 3 - Splitboard tour medium

On the last day of the event, I took part in the "Splitboard Intermediate" course. In the morning, we first fortified ourselves in the event village with a café and crossaint from the local bakery. We then travelled by car to the Pischa valley station. From there, another nostalgic gondola took us to the "former" ski resort Pischa. Today, Pischa is a place for alternative sports, far away from the crowds and groomed pistes. It is an Eldorado for ski tourers, freeriders and snowshoe hikers.

Once at the top, we started our journey up the Pischahorn. The first few metres in altitude are flat and relaxed. A good start to warm up and enjoy nature and the sun. Once all the splitboarders had mastered a short descent in skier style, it was time to: "Fit crampons, it gets steep and blown off on the ridge!" Another thing I learnt from Davos was to actively use the crampons, as they narrow the gap between me and the ski tourers. I felt much more comfortable with them in exposed terrain because I knew I had enough support.

Once we reached the 2980 metre-high Pischahorn, an incredible panorama opened up. The good visibility allowed us to see from the Bernina Glacier to the Montafon. The descent was quite steep to the south, Mrs Holle and the wind did a great job! We enjoyed 20cm of the purest powder, which even allowed us to use some features to make jumps. Further down it got a bit flatter and wider, great for long and fast turns.

This time I had stowed my skins in my jacket and had no problems skinning up even in the shade. The second ascent took a little longer. 500 metres without tracks and with crampons can be exhausting! But the ascent was more than worth it. The following descent, 1000 metres completely in the sun towards the Flüela Pass, was incredible and the terrain was once again beautifully playful. I could feel the incredible joy of snowboarding in all the participants - we were jumping around like little kids, cheering and yodelling in good Swiss style.

A few metres of altitude were also climbed in the splitboard touring beginners' course and Alex was able to consolidate her newly acquired skills. Of course, it wasn't just the ascent that was practised - the efforts were also rewarded with a fine descent.

The mountain guides created a challenging and rewarding learning environment in all courses, making the Backcountry Weeks a wonderful event with fun, adventure and educational experiences for all participants. All in all, it was two incredible days on the mountain in Davos with great conditions. I would therefore highly recommend the Backcountry-Week and Davos to everyone, whether beginner or professional freerider!

If you are interested, you are in luck, because in a few weeks the event will start again in Pontresina.