Wallis

Isn't this just another pointless gadget for the kitchen that jumps on the 'mountains are totally in' trend? My initial skepticism fades with every snack I make. The more often I prepare my ham in slices and cut my slices of bread with millimeter precision, the more I like the PanoramaKnife. And every time I think of this ridge tour on the Blassen...

After every Patrouille des Glaciers, I had decided that this would be my last participation in this extreme ski touring race. But once again, I couldn't resist the request from my friends Marc White and Daniel Huguet to join them on the next Patrouille des Glacier.

The wealth of freeride variants, their extremely good accessibility with the lifts and targeted marketing have meant that the area around Mont Fort has been teeming with freeriders in recent years. Accordingly, you have to get up early after snowfall if you want to secure your line in the fresh snow. However, if you are prepared to climb up with your skins, you can escape the hustle and bustle and enjoy challenging freeride descents almost on your own. There are plenty of them in the area around the local mountain, Mont Fort.

Every year at carnival time, fur-clad figures make the Lötschental unsafe. The young men dress up as "Tschäggättä", according to an old custom, with fierce larvae (masks) with the intention of scaring schoolchildren and unsuspecting tourists. However, the freeride tour up to Elwertätsch is anything but scary. So it's not at all surprising to see packs of ski tourers heading towards Petersgrat on a beautiful weekend. Nevertheless, the many tour groups should not put you off. You can't complain about a lack of downhill options in the extensive area between the Hockenhorn and the Birghorn.

If the terrain around the well-known spa resort of Leukerbad seems unsuitable for freeriding, these worries evaporate as soon as you arrive in the ski area. The Torrenthorn in particular proves to be a cooperative mountain, offering endless freeriding fun all the way down to Albinen with a short ascent from the top station of the old platter lift.

On the weekend of February 21-23, 2014, the 14th edition of the First Track Freeride Contest took place in the small ski resort of St. Luc / Chandolin in the beautiful Val d'Anniviers. The weather and snow conditions could hardly have been better: On Friday and on Sunday night, around 15 cm of very light fresh snow fell on a relatively solid and soft base. This meant that nothing stood in the way of the "first tracks" for the two runs on Saturday and Sunday!

Verbier is one of the most famous ski resorts in the Alps and a Christmas meeting place for the chic crowd, adabeis and English Hooray Henrys. That shouldn't stop us from skiing the world-famous lines and couloirs such as Stairway To Heaven and Rock Garden. This is my experience report, which is also a guide to the best way to experience Verbier with a small yellow bag and wide laths.

The last FWQ tour stop of the 2013 FWQ season in Switzerland stops for the 2nd time in the 4 Vallées - the ski resort that is also known as the Mecca of freeriders. And not by chance...! Niko was at the start of many FWQ tour stops across the Alps in the past season and tells us in detail about his impressions from Nendaz! Thanks for your motivation and commitment Niko! (T.H.)

Another edition of the 3* FWQ contest took place in the beautiful Val d'Anniviers. The only contest where, according to our rider reporter Nikolai Göz, there is a (15-person!) mega jacuzzi for the aperitif... Niko has been at the start of several FWQ tour stops across the Alps this season and once again gives us his impressions...

Finally there's a decent amount of powder again until Sunday. And things are looking good further afield too.

The second edition of the Freeride Week in the heart of the Val de Bagnes in Lower Valais offered amateur freeriders from all over the world the opportunity to take part in three 2-star Freeride World Qualifier contests and thus move up the rankings of the FWQ series. The Verbier Freeride Week took place from January 13 to 20.

Somewhat belatedly, the oracle looks into his crystal ball and sees fresh snow for the northern slopes of the Alps. Ullr has finally finished his Christmas vacation and pushes this annoying warm high into the orcus. It has already started to snow from the northwest and won't stop until Saturday morning.