Markus Eder

The Xtreme Verbier took place, everyone arrived safely at the bottom and it was really great fun. Then suddenly people turn up who we've been missing all winter: Markus Eder, Cody Townsend and Yann Rausis!

Start of the season! A warm welcome! Obviously: all the well-known characters and collectives are already busy publishing. Lots of recent footage of last winter's snow is ready and we almost feel late! But don't worry, we won't be tactically holding back here. No, we're burning off the Hollywood fireworks so that we can devote ourselves to fine alternative works in the future! With this in mind, let's celebrate the start of the season! Because...

There's still a bit left and in Chamonix anyway, but the search for powder is becoming increasingly difficult and it's clear that it's high time to start thinking about the approaching summer! So, our climbing projects for 2021: Big Island Assis or King Capella? Or maybe wrestling in Senegal? Or a highline on a ski tour? Or do you still have high alpine ambitions? Firn, powder or steep faces? Or roadgaps like Markus? In any case, summer will come and is somehow already here.

Vimeo is given far too little attention here. The artistic quality of the publications is generally higher there. This may also be due to the fact that they attract less attention and therefore generate less advertising revenue. True video artists seem to enjoy the freedom from commerce and there are plenty of small and large gems to be found! The VdW then reflect on their YouTube consumption and dependency.

Without anticipating the ContestHappening too much, the Verbier Xtreme must be briefly mentioned here. It is the annual highlight of our scene, and its date at the end of March also marks the peak of climatological snow depths. The search for powder is becoming increasingly difficult. But as you can see in the latest conditions reports, it's still well worth it!

Welcome to the new VdW season! Spectators are not the rule at our games anyway and the world probably needs moving images to dream and indulge more than ever. And hopefully our beloved heroes, and those who want to become heroes, will always be able to show us all the perfect white mountain world freely and without restrictions.

"The Wizard" Gigi Rüf qualified for the Verbier Extreme 2020 at the FWT in Fieberbrunn with a lot of style. [Should it take place, as of today: "Ghost Contest" with live broadcast, see below]. He has left his mark on Absinthe films, and we look back on these great, golden snowboard films that have been watched so often for their soundtracks alone.

Here we go again! The Freeride World Tour 2020 starts next weekend in Hakuba, Japan. The qualifier season has already started, after a few contests in France and French-speaking Switzerland, the German-speaking countries have now also kicked off the season with the 3*FWQ/2*FJT in Kappl.

After some of the more experimental works of recent years (think Ruin and Rose, for example), the trend for major productions in 2019 is once again moving in the direction of: "Story - what's that?" In the semi-professional home video sector, the focus is increasingly on sustainability and most films - in contrast to the previous year - no longer consist of 90% drone footage. Time- and roadless it's off to winterland!

Freeride World Tour: Marion Haerty, Arianna Tricomi, Markus Eder and Victor De Le Rue crowned Tour winners! Elisabeth Gerritzen, Marion Haerty, Wadeck Gorak and Jonathan Penfield took the day's victory at the Xtreme Verbier.

Victories for Jaclyn Paaso (USA) and Léo Slemett (FRA) among the skiers and Marion Haerty (FRA) and Blake Hamm (USA) among the snowboarders. Marion Haerty (FRA) is already the world champion for sure, Markus Eder and Victor De Le Rue also have a comfortable lead, while the women's skiing remains exciting.

Bright sunshine, good snow conditions, spring-like temperatures and some fresh snow awaited the riders of the Freeride World Tour at the third stop of the season in Fieberbrunn on Sunday.