Alaska

Contrary to the trend in recent years towards rather mediocre contest conditions at all events, the Freeride World Tour in Haines was lucky once again: blower powder on a beautiful face provided the basis for a contest worth seeing. Only an avalanche on Reine Barkered's run marred the impression a little. Sammy Luebke (USA) and Shannan Yates (USA) won the snowboarder category, while Loïc Collomb-Patton (FRA) and Arianna Tricomi (ITA) won the skier category.

There were no contests in the German-speaking Alpine region last week. The World Tour is waiting for the start in Alaska and Obergurgl is coming up for the qualifiers.

THE FOURTH PHASE is the third major film by and with Travis Rice - after "that's it that's all" from 2008 and "the art of flight" from 2011 - which have contributed greatly to Travis Rice's general, cross-industry fame.

21 years of TGR. 21 years of pushing boundaries in skiing and, apparently, alcohol consumption. Because if there is one thing that runs like a red thread through Tight Loose, it is the thought of the 21st birthday, which is of course a memorable event for Americans who like to drink. In Tight Loose, the occasion is repeatedly used to embed anecdotes from the past into the current film.

Steep gullies, spectacular cliff drops and unfortunately no livestream: the fourth stop of the Freeride World Tour in Haines (USA) was the hoped-for highlight, at least on site. In Alaska, Eva Walkner (AUT) and Logan Pehota (CAN) won among the skiers, while Anne-Flore Marxer (SUI/FRA) and Ryland Bell (USA) won among the snowboarders. Snowboard "gorilla" Flo Orley (AUT) took third place. Fabio Studer (AUT) and Stefan Häusl (AUT) took fourth and eighth place; Felix Wiemers (GER) came fifth.

Our traveling reporter Zach Paley reports from Japan for the last time this season. As has been the case all winter, the conditions are changeable and you have to work harder for the powder turns than usual in Japan. Nevertheless, every now and then you are richly rewarded. Next stop for Zach: Alaska.

Markus Eder from Val Pusteria has been the figurehead of Italian freeskiing for several years now. After a career in the park and an Olympic participation in slopestyle in Sochi, Markus can now be seen more and more in powder. He has been on the Freeride World Tour for several years and also films freeride segments with MSP, one of the biggest ski film productions in the world (Days of my Youth, Superheros of Stoke and many more). On Thursday 29 October 2015, "Fade to Winter" celebrates its European premiere in Innsbruck. We took this as an opportunity to ask Markus a few questions about his work with MSP and his plans for the winter.

The last PowderGuide interview with Fabian Lentsch was a few years ago and was entitled 'The Junior'. In the meantime, Fabi, now 22, has established himself as a pro in the freeride scene. He rides for the most famous of all action sports-hyping effervescent manufacturers, qualified for the Freeride World Tour and then voluntarily left it behind, has appeared in several major film productions, traveled from Tyrol to Kyrgyzstan with a camper van and skis, and started speed flying. Over coffee, he told us about his FWT exit, how he deals with risk and his plans for the future.

After several years in the business, the Innsbruck-based ski film production company "Legs of Steel" has become one of the biggest in Europe. Last year, we didn't see a film from the friends of steep slopes, big kickers and cultivated heavy metal, but only the mocumentary "#skigoodmoneywillcome". This year, they present Passenger, the result of two years of work. To mark the start of the film, we asked Tobi Reindl, the head of the LoS crew, and the Tyrolean and Bavarian owners of steel legs Raphi Webhofer, Fabi Lentsch and Tom Leitner for an interview.

Now it's over, the Alaska tour stop in Haines that overshadowed everything this FWT season. At first it looked as if the Freeride Word Tour entourage would have to travel on without having achieved anything, having sat out the bad weather and made three futile attempts in vain. But then the tide turned: the competition only took place one day after the official time slot. The question of whether the wait and effort for this unique Freeride World Tour stop was worth it was one that many European freeride fans were able to answer for themselves on 23.03.15 on the live stream at prime time. For all those who didn't have the time or opportunity, here is a recap of the event.

The FWT crossed the Atlantic for its fourth and only North American tour stop in 2015 and landed in Haines, Alaska (USA). The field of participants has been reduced in all categories: Only the top 60% of the overall rankings are still taking part in the FWT Alaska premiere. But 2015 will not only be remembered for this first FWT tour stop in Alaska, but also for the following anniversary at the FWT finale: the Verier Xtreme is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Alaska ... Spines, steep slopes, endless glaciers, all covered in a thick layer of powder snow. The holy land of freeriders. The land of heliskiing. The ultimate dream for many powder addicts. Last winter, we tried to turn this dream into reality. Without heliskiing, but with all the other ingredients. An adventure report with diary entries by Lukas, at 21 the youngster in our group of four.