Chamonix

Just in time for the first significant snowfall of the still young 2011/2012 winter season, the PowderGuide team presents a new editorial addition and completes the PG weather service: The PowderAlert appears before significant new snowfall and forecasts when, where and how the snow will fall and where you have the best chance of good snow. The experienced amateur meteorologist and powder snow enthusiast Lars Oelmann presents the first PowderAlert for the period from October 8, 2011.

Tired of railriding and big kicker action? Then DEEPER is your movie!

Whether "Claim" is the best ski film of all time remains to be seen. In any case, the MSP crew have a good sense of humor and (self-)irony. As before, potential further developments of skiing in impossible terrain are not to be missed. This time, instead of a base jump, a small paraglider, skis and the extreme terrain around Chamonix! A wild mixture. But this is certainly not the highlight of the movie. The highlight is once again the camera work that captures the outstanding performance of the riders on the memory card. Worth mentioning is the performance of the young Sean Petit, who makes his debut in a beautiful sequence. Personally, I was impressed by Kaj Zackrisson's part. He got across what he needed to get across: The feeling! Yeeeha!

After a winter in Salzburger Land that provided us with some skiing highlights, it was time to crown the season with a few highlights on a trip to the western Alps. The big mountains were calling us, we heeded the call and made a determined pilgrimage to Chamonix – the Mecca of ambitious off-piste skiers on the afternoon of Maundy Thursday.

The name Kye Peterson is well known to park rats, but also to well-informed freeriders and TGR fans. Trevor Peterson, however, is probably only familiar to Chamonix and steeps enthusiasts. Trevor Peterson died when his son Kye was 3 years old on a well-known steep face route (Glacier Rond, Exit Couloir) in Chamonix. The Edge of Never documents the story of young Kye's self-discovery and, beyond that, of an entire sport.

Sammy C. is known for his freestyle action. As you would expect, the same can also be seen in "his" film with him as the main protagonist.

The first real French freeski film that attempts to unite the national freeski scene. It's about time, after all the skiing skills of our French neighbors are not only known since various X-Games or FWT victories. Madin France shows all types of freeskiing. Off-piste, park and some freeride will be on offer.

This movie is not a freeride movie, but a documentary about freeriding and its development. Extreme skiing is like the Olympic Games: There is an old time; "Der weisse Rausch" by Arnold Fank proves this wonderfully.

Part 2 of the report from our intrepid Chamonix exiles. This time with pictures from the Freeride World Tour Qualifier event, tips on accommodation, a short trip to central Switzerland and, of course, steep couloirs again.

The Couloir Cosmiques is on the program today: as the weather gods were really kind to us, we set off for the Aiguille Du Midi the next morning.

After a good early winter and lots of treeskiing, it's time to tackle the big lines. Where better to do this than in Chamonix? After a long wait, we have finally arrived in Chamonix and will be reporting on our experiences over the next three weeks.

Haute Route - Verbier Route...