Innsbruck

It's that time again, the end of the year is approaching and it's time for fireworks. As the year draws to a close and the first firecrackers go off in the valley, it's worth taking a look up there. Innsbruck has been celebrating its mountain New Year's Eve on the Nordkette since 1994.

Once again, the Austrian Board of Trustees for Alpine Safety organized the Alpine Forum as part of the Innsbruck Alpine Trade Fair. Every year, numerous experts report to an interested specialist audience on a highly topical and hotly debated subject. The trend towards more and more mountain rescue missions in summer and winter, the increasing pressure to perform, the professionalization of alpinism and the winter topics of avalanches, falls and cold led to this year's key question: "Mountaineering - only healthy?". This question was explored in four different thematic blocks. We at PowderGuide were able to take part in the exciting presentations, the sometimes heated debates and the impressive field reports and would like to report on our personal highlights below.

It was dark and the moon was shining brightly as a VW bus drove slowly around the corner at 5 p.m. in the afternoon. People were sitting outside, quietly engrossed in conversation, when a thick flake slowly fell out of the sky.

The Prime Tour of the Freeride Film Festival (FFF) celebrated its end on Thursday with a sold-out auditorium (750 people) at the Gartenbaukino in Vienna. But the FFF has only just picked up speed. Included in the line-up are six fascinating, exciting and thematically diverse freeride films, which are categorized and rounded off by the on-screen moderation of Harry Putz and Lena Öller. The festival is also bringing its legendary raffle to some cinemas, with great prizes to be won.

The alpine fair (Alpinmesse)with the alpine forum (Alpinforum), Europe's leading mountain sports trade fair and conference, will take place in Innsbruck from November 22nd to 23rd, 2025. This annual event brings together experts, mountain sports enthusiasts, major organizations and brand manufacturers. Two days full of mountain sports and PowderGuide will also be there.

PowderGuide is a partner of this year's Freeride Film Festival and is bringing the legendary PG snow depth prediction game to Innsbruck. Of course, everyone can take part, even those who are not at the Metropol Cinema. Directly above the venue is the Nordkette/Seegrube snow hole close to the city. But how much fresh snow is there on the Seegrube in an average season?

This year, the Freeride Film Festival will once again start its Prime Tour in Innsbruck at the beginning of November and run in over 200 cinemas across Europe until mid-January. But this year is a special year, because PowderGuide is part of the Prime Tour for the first time. We await you in Innsbruck with our classic, the snow height tip game, and a few more surprises.

When the snow slowly disappears and the sun gains strength, it's Figl time again! Hardly any other piece of sports equipment symbolizes the transition from winter to spring in the Alps as much as the Figl - short for firn glider. What was once born out of necessity is now almost a cultural asset of alpine skiing.

The Austrian national anthem describes this season well "Since early ancestral days borne the burden of a high mission, much-tested Austria. Much-tested Austria."

From a short film by a couple just beginning their filmmaking journey to the search for hidden lines in the Alps and a snowboard best-of from Alaska—it's all here. Plus, creative projects beyond the ski world and the grand finale of the first stop of the Jib League.

We at PowderGuide had the pleasure of interviewing the two rising freeride stars with Innsbruck as their home base in Val Thorens.

Heavy equipment, waiting times at cold railway stations, high planning costs... there are plenty of reasons (or excuses?) not to travel by public transport, especially on ski tours. A reflection on my efforts to leave the car at home more often and to outwit my own comfort.