Freeride

From the summit of the Göller, the parade ski mountain of the eastern edge of the Alps, the Schneeberg (at 2076 m the highest mountain in Lower Austria), shows its gentle side. This mountain offers such diverse terrain that it even has its own up-to-date ski guide with a total of 200 descents and variants on 240 pages. This mountain was first climbed on skis in 1895, again by the well-known Toni Schruf.

The drive in heavy snowfall from Aspen to Crested Butte is long and difficult. The route planner had indicated a good three hours in normal weather, but with 30 centimetres of fresh snow on completely uncleared mountain roads, it takes seven hours. Without four-wheel drive, this would probably have been a mission impossible. So once again it was midnight before we drove our jeep into the hotel garage.

Having already visited five ski resorts along the Powder Highway in British Columbia in the winter of 2009, this time we decided to tackle a road trip through the Wild West of Colorado. Fully equipped, we boarded the plane in Munich and landed a good 17 hours later in Grand Junction, in the west of the highest state in the USA.

Kitzbühel has always been a top spot for deep snow skiers. However, if you talk to many Kitz powder junkies about the exact place where they prefer to draw their lines in the snow, the answer is often: "Yes, at Pass Thurn of course!" Reason enough to pay this spot a visit.

After the avalanche accidents at danger level 4 in the high winter of 09/10, the discussion about possible criminal prosecution of freeriders and tourers has once again flared up in the media. Lawyer and mountain guide Dr. Stefan Beulke explains the extent to which freeriders can expect criminal prosecution in the event of an avalanche accident.

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.

25 centimetres of fresh snow have been reported for the third weekend of Advent. What hardly allows for a descent in the rocky high mountains can be a lot of fun on grassy mountains: the best conditions for making the first powder turns of the season in the snow of the Kitzbühel Alps.

While there is still no basis for carefree off-piste powder skiing at higher altitudes, lower-lying ski resorts are usually too flat to blow the first sprays of the season from untouched slopes. Hanna Finkel took a small group and the thick poles to the Schilthorn to check out the freeride suitability of this small but beautiful ski resort.

The best European freeriders on skis and boards, interviews, risk management during video shoots, processing accidents... All this makes the new European freeride documentary a unique feat in freeride film history.

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".

Freeriding as art. Beautiful mountains, a small group of powder addicts, a cameraman, a musician, 30 minutes of smooth entertainment. That's how you could summarize the US film Hand Cut. No big show, no superlatives, no big moves, no helis. Just a couple of madmen from British Columbia indulging in powder addiction in their home mountains. In addition to small tuition units in pioneering railroad feats, this is what characterizes Sweetgrass Production's first film. With a specially composed soundtrack by musician John Alex Mason (Colorado Springs/Denver) in relaxed US country blues, Hand Cut offers a real change from the ski porn industry.

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.