Lorraine Huber

Damn youtube: if even Nikolai Schirmer doesn't deliver anything new, then it's time to open up to other streams. Vimeo is always the brilliant alternative, but let's just switch to pure listening pleasure: podcasts! A neglected medium that should finally be given a regular hearing!

Ski films are just as much a part of the culture of our sport as ski magazines and season tickets. But as our expectations of our sport change, so do the narratives of the films. We are showing two that make you think and take to the streets.

Please note: your esteemed editor was suffering from severe flu, only had enough strength to watch the pseudo-live broadcast of the Freeride World Tour in Hakuba, and then stayed alive after all. He then became aware of Elias Elhardt's film and connections began to emerge everywhere, between mountains and across valleys. A few flics from young and old for fun, and if that's not enough entertainment for you, why not watch Greta vs. Trump in Davos 2020...

The Snow&Safety Conference on the Arlberg is entering its 8th season this year and is a good opportunity to practice with the avalanche transceiver, exchange ideas with like-minded people or simply listen to an instructive lecture. It will take place next weekend, 13.12.2019 - 14.12.2019 (Friday and Saturday) in Lech am Arlberg.

Freerider and filmmaker Sandra Lahnsteiner is hosting the first Shades of Winter FilmFest in five cities from November 27 to December 13, 2018, showing her two latest films alongside films by Nadine Wallner, Arianna Tricomi, Lorraine Huber, Evelina Nilsson and Janina Kuzma, among others.

At the penultimate tour stop of the FWT, things got down to business once again and in most categories it remained exciting right up to the end in Verbier. However, Kristoffer Turdell has already secured the FWT title in the men's skiing category. The day after the FWT, a 3* FJT contest took place at the Wildseeloder from the women's start, which we will also report on at the end.

There hasn't been much going on in the contest area in recent weeks. But while the FWT circus is now slowly traveling to Andorra to hold the first European tour stop of the season next weekend, two top-class qualifiers took place last weekend with the 3* FWQ Silvretta Montafon and the 4* FWQ Jasna Adrenalin.

PowderGuide was there for the second time to give us and you an impression of the conference. The purpose of the two-day event is to update your knowledge of winter terrain just in time for the start of the season.

With the last ContestHappening for the 2016/17 season, we take another brief look at the FWT Final in Verbier and the winners of the overall FWT ranking, and take a look at who has won the qualifier categories and qualified for next year's tour. Finally, it's all about the Open Faces final event in Gastein! I'd like to thank the readers, am open to criticism and would like nothing more than snowier winters and safer conditions at the competitions in the future. Then reporting would be more fun than constantly writing about difficulties and bad snow conditions...

There were no contests in the German-speaking Alpine region last week. The World Tour is waiting for the start in Alaska and Obergurgl is coming up for the qualifiers.

The FWT calls the event in Fieberbrunn 'Crunch Time' and that's exactly what it was. Contests in Nendaz and Axamer Lizum had to be canceled due to the high risk of avalanches. Read all about the latest ContestHappenings here:

Last Wednesday, the catch-up event for the canceled stop of the Swatch Freeride World Tour (FWT) in Chamonix took place in bright sunshine in Andorra. Lorraine Huber (AUT) and Leo Slemett (FRA) won the so-called "Swatch Freeride World Tour Chamonix-Mont-Blanc Staged in Vallnord-Arcalís" on skis and Marion Haerty (FRA) and Christoffer Granbom (SWE) on snowboard. FWT newcomer Manuela Mandl took third place. The 2*FJT Silvretta Montafon also took place on Sunday!