Steep Skiing

The Hochkönig, a magnificent massif in the Berchtesgaden Alps with its high rock faces on the south side. In the middle of this magnificent sight lies the Lammkopf at 2846m. The summit has something special about it, the Weißkar stretches southwards to this Weißkar: a classic among the steep face descents in Salzburger Land.

From March 23 to 25, 2012, the BigLePowSki– event series took place in Chamonix (France) for the first time. No other ski resort in the Alps can keep up with the off-piste possibilities of the five resorts in the Chamonix Valley, so it seemed only a matter of time before the Dude made an appearance here too. With sunshine and good snow conditions, the participants were able to explore the off-piste terrain of Les Grands Montets on Saturday and Brévent / Flégère on Sunday with the local guides. The BigLePowSki is organized by Black Diamond, Arc?teryx, Diamir, Freeride Maps, Pieps and Polartec.

From March 23 to 25, 2012, the third BigLePowSki Freeski Happening of the 2012 season will take place - and for the first time, the Dude will be making a guest appearance in the Mecca of steep face skiing, Chamonix! A series of workshops, testing opportunities and of course the legendary Dude Party await all participants. The BigLePowSki event series is presented by Black Diamond, Arc?teryx, Diamir Fritschi, FreerideMap, Polartec and Pieps.

Winter in our beloved north-eastern Alps is rapidly coming to an end, the meadows are already green in many places and the summer temperatures are causing the below-average snow cover to melt even faster. Many of the usual steep face projects for this time of year are highly unlikely to be realized this winter.

After a winter in Salzburger Land that provided us with some skiing highlights, it was time to crown the season with a few highlights on a trip to the western Alps. The big mountains were calling us, we heeded the call and made a determined pilgrimage to Chamonix – the Mecca of ambitious off-piste skiers on the afternoon of Maundy Thursday.

The name Kye Peterson is well known to park rats, but also to well-informed freeriders and TGR fans. Trevor Peterson, however, is probably only familiar to Chamonix and steeps enthusiasts. Trevor Peterson died when his son Kye was 3 years old on a well-known steep face route (Glacier Rond, Exit Couloir) in Chamonix. The Edge of Never documents the story of young Kye's self-discovery and, beyond that, of an entire sport.

This movie is not a freeride movie, but a documentary about freeriding and its development. Extreme skiing is like the Olympic Games: There is an old time; "Der weisse Rausch" by Arnold Fank proves this wonderfully.

Numerous steep runs with sufficient snow and safe conditions attracted ambitious freeriders with corresponding preferences at the beginning of January. Two weeks without any new snowfall to speak of in the entire Alpine region. Plus the New Year's Eve week with its crowds of people. Not exactly the ingredients of which freeride dreams are made. But one man's sorrow is another man's joy. What could be more fitting than taking a day off from teaching skiing in the Skiwelt Amade and tackling two Eastern Alpine classics on the Dachstein: the leisurely Edelgrießkar variant and the Schwadrinn steep descent.