Sella Nevea

Enrico Mosetti is to me a local legend among the freeskiers of the Italian Julian Alps. Me, a bavarian Triestino, came to hear of him on a drive back home from a ski tour. My friends were talking about "Mose" doing this or that cool line, and then I found out about him through Instagram. Soon though, on another day we arrived at Sella Nevea at the parking for the western side of the valley, the one without ski lifts, and there I saw him for the first time, and he was hard to mistake with his characteristic extravagant style. He was first to start the skinning and likely first to descend as well. I here in this interview try to find out more about him and to introduce this PowderPeople to you!

For several years now, a handful and a half of friends have been getting together once a winter to explore more or less distant mountain regions on skis and splitboards, but also to get to know other countries and cultures. They have travelled far to Romania, Kamchatka or Armenia, but have also travelled closer, for example to Ticino. This time, in winter 2023/24, the destination was chosen by lottery for the Julian Alps in Slovenia, with the additional requirement of 'winter camping'. The fresh snow forecast maps on PowderGuide.com were particularly colourful for the start and everyone was full of anticipation. But things turned out a little differently than planned... read the first part to find out how the first few days went!

We visit the Val Saisera, a jewel of the Julian Alps, and here we present the tour to the Forcella Lavinal dell'Orso: one of the three classic gullies in the valley. Last season wasn't so great in terms of snow conditions, until April brought us two good snowfalls and some beautiful tours. On the 10th of April 2022, we found 30 cm of powder, without wind and in cold temperatures, and history could repeat itself.

This could be a great season if there is already so much snow in October. Oh wait.... The amount of CRs on PowderGuide makes the sad situation clear. Below 2220m there is virtually nothing and above that we are at 30-60% of the long-term average.

Marco Milanese is an alpine mountain guide, a modern adventurer and certainly a local legend in Friuli-Venezia-Giulia. The variety of his mountain activities is astonishing, based upon alpine climbing, reaching towards highlining and base jumping, but also incorporating skitouring, freeriding and speedflying. In this interview we try to find out about Marco and how he manages such a variety of mountain activities, how he deals with risk and what he was doing last winter.

While the Oracle had become accustomed to swimming in the lake in recent years, it now has to remember the April months of the noughties, when you could ski powder more often.

The südstau has delivered, the mountains are full of white splendor. The videos are still lagging a little behind, but we're already seeing something from the Italian Dolomites! Plus a fresh film from Austria and a slightly older French one from the Julian Alps. Also: once again, we can't get past Nikolai Schirmer.

PowderGuide was on location for you in Slovenia at the 2-star FWQ, the Freeride Battle 2011 in Kanin. Our skiing competition freeride reporter Sebastian Fischer was actively supported this time by snowboarder Matthias Zimmermann. The conditions in the south-eastern Alps were amazingly good and the event was a huge success.