Xtreme Verbier

As WeatherBlog 21 already indicated, and as two PowderAlerts within the last week as well as many highly starry ConditionsReports prove, early spring has once again covered the north side of the Alps in white gold. Although the gold price has fallen considerably since mid-March. We dare to doubt whether there is a negative correlation here. What these two northern storms certainly correlate with, however, is the weakening of the jet stream - more on this in the special topic.

Liam Rivera shows mental strength, but is not fully rewarded for it. Victor de Le Rue crashes, but still takes home the victory. The men's skiers show an incredible level with five riders above the 90-point mark. Mia Jones dominates the field of female snowboarders and takes a start-to-finish victory as a rookie. In the women's skiing, on the other hand, everything is shaken up once again.

The season is coming to an end. Go out again and put your head in the snow! I've put together a few moving images to get us in the mood and round off the season, first and foremost a film about a skier with Down's syndrome, but also with well-known heroes.

With breathtaking lines peppered with courageous tricks and unforgettable moments, the YETI Xtreme Verbier by Honda once again showed why it is considered the ultimate stop on the tour.

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!

A lot is falling from the sky again across the Alps at the weekend, and at least in high Alpine locations you can expect the snow conditions to improve and some powder. Winter is far from over, as there will also be precipitation next week. For lovers of apocalyptic news, we also have the finest entertainment, the Atlantic is boiling over!

Last spring, the best men and women of the competitive freeride scene met in Fieberbrunn to find out who had what it takes to stand at the top of the Freeride World Tour podium two weeks later. I was also able to be part of the action, not as an athlete of course, but as a reporter who was able to provide insights into the tour and the supporting events. As part of this, I had the pleasure of conducting an interview about our favourite activity with local heroine Manuela Mandl. In 2018, she became freeride world champion in snowboarding and last year she secured victory in Xtreme Verbier, taking third place in the FWT.

The well-known YouTube greats - Wester, Autti, Schirmer, Wiedemann... - are slowly taking over the main part of the VdW again, but a few independent films still appear, of course. We round off the menu with a culinary and cultural trip to the mountaineering village of Villergraten and the Low Pressure podcast.

Winter is making a comeback and obviously it's not an April pain! Hopefully you'll all be enjoying your well-deserved powder soon, so here's the virtual nightcap for afterwards. Antti Autti brings us the finest arctic lines and there's also the Verbier Extreme to marvel at! The program is rounded off with a podcast and a suitable piece of music. Nauttikaa!

I had a very pleasant encounter with conditions reporter Nino, a.k.a. schneerudi, at the final PG meeting. What's more, a few days later he surprised me with an email full of treasures I'd never heard of. Here are the collected highlights. Thank you very much! We're not saying goodbye to the summer break just yet. Perhaps there are more surprises in store for us!

We are delighted to announce our first winner of the "VdW Skier of the Year Award": Elisabeth Gerritzen! We will try to notify, congratulate and gift her immediately! The PG community chose her as the winner in a tough tournament mode in the final against "Our Roland". We also regret having lost sight of Antti Autti, but we will make up for it here. We close with Champion Aurelien and myself, Editorial Award Winner 2021.

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!