Alaska

Level One Productions is once again launching a complete freeski package this winter. The hottest tricks of the moment are shown both in urban skiing and in the backcountry. A sequence of fat city trails, big jumps, backcountry runs and drops – presented by the world's best freeskiers.

MSP's countless award-winning films have been delivering one "must-see? flick after flick. This year's masterpiece The way I see it is no exception. In addition to breathtaking freeride and freestyle shots, the innovative POV shots and the freestyle elements of the athletes on the dream slopes of Alaska are particularly impressive.

Aline Bock, 2010 Freeride World Champion (Snowboard), spoke to PowderGuide about the 2011 Freeride World Tour, snowboarding and her goals as a professional rider. After finishing a surprising second in her first year on the tour, she won the title race in 2010, her second season on the tour.

Travis Parker does the honors. One of the greatest snowboarding legends is back to show the film world "Respect Your Elders", a film that focuses on the love of powdering with friends. Together with a group of partly old hands and partly young rippers, the crew embarks on an adventure trip from California to Alaska. The cast includes Josh Dirksen, Ben Lynch, Brandon Cocard and, of course, Traivs Parker himself. This film from Mr. Parker's own production company, Resourcefull Gnome, is very likeable.

Warning – all of the situations depicted in this film are potentially dangerous! After taking note of this warning at the beginning of the film, Light the Wick kicks off with a few violent ski scenes showing perverse steep wall descents and nasty falls, soberly commented on by the protagonists. No bullshit, there's something to this warning...

An absolute Powderwhore classic! The powder whores have clearly remained true to their style. All lines are developed using climbing skins and manpower. Although there are a few aerial shots that were certainly not shot by birds, on the whole the guys stick to their motto "back to nature". Of course, the introduction of a hermit is not to be missed: Nic Devore and his teepee tent in the middle of nowhere: "But I?m not a hippie – I swear!" Yes, of course?

Every year, Teton Gravity Research (TGR) sends us top-class freeride films. Re:Session also fits seamlessly into this exclusive collection. Deep powder, high cliffs and steep Alaska lines at their finest.

Massive is the second film by and starring Tanner Hall. After last year's premiere with "Believe", Master Hall is back in the spotlight in his own movie. Red Bull is once again the main sponsor. Again there is ragga music and "bringing the Park to the Backcountry".

Scando invasion. This year, Scandinavian film company Field Productions is (again) bringing a mixed freestyle and freeride ski film to the European market with "Get Lucky". Unfortunately, both the film technology and the action on offer cannot keep up with the powerful competition from overseas. Camera work, tricks, lines and the athletes' skiing technique all remain at a rather national level.

A tree is set on fire to perhaps bring more light into the darkness, or the MSP crew wants to protect the North American forests from bark beetles? Since both seem rather absurd to me, there is only one thing left to say: pointless action! That concludes the worst contribution in this year's MSP strip.

We have reached our camp IV and are on the Denali Pass. If the altitude is correct, we are at about 5750 meters. It is now 22:30, the sun is setting and we are doing relatively well. It has taken us seven hours to get here from the last camp. We are very lucky, there is almost no wind. We are quite exposed, if the wind came up we would have big problems.

17.05. Camp VI Tundra 22:45 750 m - We are somewhere between McGonagall Pass and Wonderlake. After leaving our campsite this morning, we made good progress at the beginning. We then entered a huge glacier break, with several small difficulties, including extreme rockfall, which we then bypassed. The Muldrow Glacier stretches on forever and if it were a bit warmer, you'd probably sink up to your knees in silt. You probably wouldn't be able to get back and forth. We reached the McGonagall Pass at around 18:00. The descent from the pass was brilliant. It saved us two hours of walking. Hiking through the tundra with our light backpacks and skis on the back is a special experience. I'm really glad we didn't do the whole thing in the other direction, because we wouldn't have got very far with our equipment. Swamp, dense bush, etc. Now, for the first time in a long time, we are lying in the tent without snow, without ice, without storms, without cold. We've hung the food up in a tree in case we get a visit from a bear. Now we are enjoying the evening atmosphere with the tent open.