Skitouren

The Cascades stretch from southern British Columbia across the US states of Washington and Oregon to California. Most of the peaks barely reach the 3000m mark. All the more dominant are the high volcanoes that are embedded in the chain, above all the 4392m high Mount Rainier.

Uka, the normally relaxed, always grinning cook at base camp, exchanged worried glances with Tsogo, our Mongolian translator. The kitchen tent was about to give in to the strong wind. The girls' tent had already given up a few hours ago. Now it was up to us to secure the other tents as quickly as possible with additional ropes and stones hastily dug out of the freshly fallen snow.

The Gaiskogel is very suitable for the start of the season thanks to the shady cirque in the upper part and the piste support on the lower half of the tour, or even when the snow conditions are poor, as they unfortunately still are at the moment. The tour is currently possible, but if you don't want to climb the piste for training reasons, you can of course take a shortcut with the lift.

The Schwarztor is not one of the great classics in Zermatt for nothing. After a short but impressive ascent, you reach the Schwarztor, which provides a passage northwards between Breithorn and Pollux to the Schwarzgletscher and the descent on the same. This is certainly not the most challenging descent in the area, but the landscape experience and, above all, the ratio of ascent to descent altitude meters are among the best.

Typical approach shoes are one of those things. Although I understand their purpose and occasionally use them for hiking, they are usually a bit "too much" for me for use on real approaches, especially when ski touring. Sooner or later, the boot often ends up on or in the already heavy backpack and may be carried there for days on end, plus you have heavy, crampon-proof "shoes" with you anyway with ski touring boots.

Lukas Ruetz, born in 1993, from St. Sigmund in the Tyrolean Sellraintal, collects a good 200,000 meters of ascent altitude per season, almost exclusively in his immediate home mountains. On his blog, Lukas reports eloquently and informatively about his tours, be it typical Sellrain standard routes or steep first ascents, to the delight of his considerable readership. The young and tradition-conscious ski tourer is an active member of the mountain rescue service and an observer for the Tyrolean avalanche warning service. He is usually only accompanied on tour by his dog.

This ski tour in the heart of the Verwall offers stunning views from the Arlberg to the Bernina group in varied ski terrain. With the right timing, you will be rewarded with descents in good firn and fine powder snow.

Small but beautiful ski tour south of Lake Tegernsee, which offers almost everything from dense forest to fine alpine meadows. After the ascent, you are rewarded with a magnificent view to the south of the Blaubergkamm and the Central Massif and to the east of the Risserkogel and Blankenstein.

A lightweight, compact, water-repellent and yet very robust combo that is aimed more at the weight-oriented tourer, but with which you don't have to be afraid of a serious freeride day and also cuts a good figure when going to the Christmas market...

The Hohe Tauern are the part of the Alps that I have only known from stories and reports so far. But I wanted to change that, so we made the Hohe Tauern the destination of this year's road trip. Equipped with a stove and sleeping bag, we set off in the VW bus to spend a week exploring the north side of the Tauern massif. We got to know many places that are often visited by freeriders and ski tourers, but also quiet, unspoilt areas that are off the beaten track but offer impressively good freeride terrain. One special experience was a ski tour on a rather inconspicuous mountain.

In recent years, more and more manufacturers have presented wide touring skis that are also designed to deliver great downhill performance in powder. Thanks to modern materials such as carbon, these skis are also very light. Dynafit is also launching a real freetourer on the market with the Chugach. We were able to take a closer look at the ski in the local mountains and in the ski touring Eldorado of Norway.

October can be a difficult month in Argentina. As if on cue, the country realizes winter in the northern hemisphere is near, and that it's time for a change in seasons. Chairlifts close, temperatures rise, and snow retreats up the mountainsides. Walking farther and farther in shoes each day gives one plenty of time to ponder their situation, and the farfetched nature of their pursuits.