Freeride

Powder, trouble with the ski troll, sun (a rather rare guest in the permanent snowfall paradise) and even more powder. In the third part of Patrick Fux's Japan sequel report, Japan nevertheless shows its classic winter side: lots of fresh snow!

The Mammut Freeride line has long impressed with its functional 3-layer Gore-Tex Soft Shell clothing. The Alagna pants are no exception

In the second part of Patrick Fux's photo reportage, we Alpine freeriders learn that periods of poor snow conditions are by no means a purely European problem. Quite the opposite. But seek and ye shall find is also true in Japan and so there are also some great shots to enjoy in this part. To be continued!

The outdoor watch is many a mountain enthusiast's favorite handbag among men's accessories. Tech4o shows that it doesn't always have to be Suunto or Polar.

The ski safari reports from Japan and North America by Zurich freeskier Patrick Fux aka Paedde (powdermania.com) are hard to imagine life without, except perhaps if you were there yourself and plowed the Japanese powder masses together with Patrick. Thanks to Patrick, you can now find out again how Japan dumps and powders or even rains. The only change compared to previous years' ski safari reports is that this year we have decided to let the pictures speak for themselves. Because photos sometimes, but by no means always, say more than many words.

29-year-old Sina Wittman is an enthusiastic snowboarder and took part in the first level of the risk'n'fun freeride course, the training session, as a freeride rookie. Here, Sina describes her impressions and experiences. Sina owes her participation to her extremely charming and enthusiastic application for the training place for the three risk'n'fun camps that risk'n'fun and PowderGuide have advertised for winter 2012/13. Read her refreshing inside report from the first level of the risk'n'fun freeride training program in Sölden.

The new PowderGuide book "Tirol - The best freeride tours" presents 50 selected deep snow tour destinations with short ascents and exciting descents on 184 pages. From pleasure slopes to challenging steep terrain, there is something for everyone between Kitzbühel and St. Anton. The tours are accompanied by detailed route descriptions with topographical maps and all the important information, as well as many high-quality freeride pictures that will make you want to follow them.

Almost all freeriders are familiar with the problem of scarce resources. It is usually the powder that is scarce, sometimes the time and especially with younger freeriders - typically students know what we are talking about - it is often the lack of monetary resources that is lacking. One way to minimize a major cost driver when freeriding is the overnight stay. We present some tips and tricks on how to spend the night in a motor vehicle in a reasonably humane and socially acceptable way.

What does Pia Widmesser actually do in summer? The all-round sportswoman is drawn to the mountains even without snow.

Originally, I "only" wanted to conduct an interview with freerider Pia Widmesser (27) from Kiefersfelden. During the summer months, to get to know her better, to talk about her passion and her sport in peace and quiet. As it's better to meet up with a sportswoman outdoors rather than indoors, we agree to go hiking together. Why not climb the 2118-metre-high Wildseeloder summit? After all, Pia has already skied down the north face of this mountain several times in winter as part of the FWT (Freeride World Tour), in which she has taken part twice so far. Pia certainly thinks it's great and agreed: "I've never been there in summer!"

News from safety research: the so-called "safety half" promises increased safety in mountain sports and especially when freeriding. A simple quadruple Prusik and a can of beer are the basic components of this innovation with a wide range of applications for freeriding.

"WHAT? You've got the Rocker2 for testing? You have to give it to me!" a ski colleague hissed at me the other day when he saw the Salomon test ski in the car. As we all know, most of the members of the PG editorial team have more or less left their 20s behind them, and the Salomon Rocker2 is particularly aimed at the "flippy and spinny tailgunner" target group, it was a perfect fit for us that freerider Jan Berger wanted to take a closer look at the Rocker2. The Salomon Rocker2 in the test report: