Fabian Lentsch

After lengthy preparations, the SNOWMADS team led by Fabian Lentsch set off east from Tyrol in their converted fire engine at the beginning of the year. Neil Williman was with them on the first leg of the journey and reports on his experiences. What should you know if you want to ski in the Middle East and how did it actually go with the giant camper?

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.

The Line of the Year Awards were presented for the first time during the Kitzbühel Freeride Weeks. The jury and audience had previously made their decision and Sandra Lahnsteiner and Fabi Lentsch were delighted to receive the wooden chamois buck and a number of prizes.

"Waist-deep powder snow in Ticino, winter camping in Disentis, sunset in the Laax snow park or steep descents around the Keschhütte. Long Season, Short Stories tells six short stories about what winter means for freeskiers. In addition to lots of skiing and snowboarding action, the film shows brief insights into the "everyday life" of the four main protagonists. The film was made out of passion for sport and art, without any commercial intentions. With over 80% Swiss music, snow and snow sports enthusiasts, the film is not quite "Swissmade", but certainly more local than Argentinian "Bündnerfleisch"."

After "Time for the Whiteroom" and "For a few Lines more", the Innsbruck-based film crew led by Johannes Hoffmann and Simon Platzer have now produced their third major film this year: "Trail and Error". As the name suggests, not everything always goes right at the first attempt in a ski film production, and sometimes things can go really wrong. But that's no reason not to try. And so last winter, the Whiteroom crew once again took to the mountains far away from the usual film locations to try their hand at perfect lines.

62 athletes from four continents, including all four reigning freeride champions in skiing and snowboarding, are taking part in the Freeride World Tour 2015. The interesting field of participants includes not only the qualifiers from the last FWT and the promoted athletes from the FWQ, but also some participants with wildcards. These were awarded, among others, to those top riders who were injured last season and are now making their comeback. Other wildcards go to the Olympic participants.

On the last weekend of March 2014, the Obergurgl/Hochgurgl ski resort was the venue for one of the most impressive and best organized freeride contests we have ever seen.

Last weekend saw the third-to-last competition in the Open Faces Series: the Silvretta Montafon ski resort hosted the premiere of a 3* Freeride World Qualifier event. As the points at the end of the season are becoming increasingly coveted - after all, it's also about the overall victory of the Austrian Freeride Series - it was no wonder that many top riders had announced their attendance. In addition to the usual suspects, World Tour rider Neil Williman and local Fabio Studer, who returned from Canada just in time, were also at the start.

On February 8, 2014, Europe's contest freeride elite gathered once again in Hochfügen to collect valuable points for the Freeride World Qualifier Tour. The 4* event is a highlight for many of the athletes thanks to the perfect organization, the unique supporting program and the perfect terrain - and so, as every year, the numerous spectators were treated to an impressive show. Max Kroneck secured victory in the men's ski category, Flo Orley won the men's snowboard category, Lotten Rapp the women's ski category and Amber Schueker the women's snowboard category.

When the Whiteroom crew and Fabian Lentsch invite you to a cozy film evening, this invitation is accepted in Innsbruck, no matter how creative or inconvenient the date may seem.

The Big Mountain Hochfügen 4* FWQ is now an established contest with a very strong field of riders on a slope that can easily compete with most of the FWT faces. This was one of the reasons why the podium places at the 2013 edition were mainly occupied by current FWT riders, above all Loic Collomb-Patton, who qualified for the World Tour with his victory and has been unstoppable ever since. While the conditions on the slopes were pretty good at times due to the difficult winter in the Northern Alps (PowderGuide tested them on site), the mild temperatures and foehn are currently putting quite a strain on the snowpack. Nevertheless, we hope for a successful competition from 08.02.2014 in safe conditions!