Frankreich

The meteorologist (and Wikipedia; forgive me) defines weather as: "The weather is the weather or is the weather conditions in a certain period of time (from several days to a season) related to a certain area".

The time has finally come! The saga continues. I hope George Lucas forgives me for my entry and doesn't sue me. And no, I can't tell you if you can see Luke Skywalker's hand reaching for R2D2 in the trailer for "Star Wars - The Force Awakens", but I can tell you where it's snowing. That's what I'm here for and what we've all been waiting for.

The main character in the third part of the Black Diamond TV web series is the gondola in La Grave. The four-minute film is a declaration of love to the legendary lift, whose continued existence is in danger.

Perhaps the most famous mass start freeride race in the Alps looks back on an impressive 27-year tradition. On April 3, 2015, 832 freeriders plunged down the normally 2000-metre descent from the glacier (Dome de La-Lauze) at over 3500 m to La Grave. Due to the poor snow conditions, the 2015 race had to be started on a shortened route so that the descent "only" covered 1500 vertical meters.

Stefan Neuhauser is a mountain guide and photographer. He happened to be near the scene of the Germanwings plane crash at the time. Although he and his tour group did not see the accident, but only heard it, this "ear-witness" status was enough for many media outlets, eager for news about the plane crash, to shower Stefan with interview requests, some of them dubious. For this reason, Stefan Neuhauser has decided to publish a statement on PowderGuide instead of further interviews.

While the Col du Lautaret pass is mainly frequented by snow kiters, the surrounding terrain offers a variety of interesting ski tours, which are favored by their relatively high starting point.

The Col de Larche, which is almost 2000 m high, offers a variety of different ski tours in the Italian-French border region between the Hautes Alpes (France) and the Italian Southern Alps.

In the middle of the Parc Naturel de Queyras, the road leads over the Col d'Agnel from France to Italy. This third highest pass in the Alps is surprisingly little known, but although the road (which leads up to 2,744 m) is of course closed in winter, it offers many opportunities for ski tourers and freeriders.

While kiters are busy at the top of the pass, the terrain around the Col de Vars offers a variety of different ski tours. The Vallon du Crachet is rewarding both in winter with powder and in spring with firn.

Les deux Alpes, home of the European Crankworks, a European Whistler? With a range of 21 routes and a maximum elevation gain of 2,300 meters, it definitely has potential and is also popular with (mainly Italian) summer skiers. But we are not the only bikers there and are excited to see what awaits us...

The southern winter won't be really boring for Ullr, but he's turning the screws so that snow is also coming to the north and especially the west.

French freerider Sebastien "Seb" Michaud first got on skis at the age of three. After five years as a member of the French free-style team, he discovered his passion for freeriding and has since enjoyed numerous international successes. Seb Michaud is now one of the most experienced freeriders in the world. We wanted to get to know the cool Frenchman a little better in a short interview.