Brief report | Alpine Fair 2018 Innsbruck

About three weeks earlier than usual, Innsbruck once again became the meeting place for the mountain and outdoor community with the Alpinmesse on October 20 and 21. And it's not just the timing that has moved forward, the event itself has also surpassed itself year after year with an even more extensive program.

Wandering through the corridors of the Innsbruck exhibition center, it's like being at a small ISPO. It's hard to get a quick overview of what you can find there and what additional offers there are. Thanks to the extensive offer, thousands of visitors once again gathered in Innsbruck this year - despite the perfect mountain weather.

In addition to the exhibitors, there were dozens of travel lectures, two multivision presentations by well-known alpinists, countless workshops, the annual competition on the bouldering wall in the exhibition halls, product presentations on the catwalk, specialist lectures or controversial questions in the forum. In addition, there is now also a range of services: this year, for example, free binding adjustment or the professional mending of clothing.

Trends: material

In principle, relatively little has been happening in the hardware sector for years. A detailed overview of the innovations relevant for freeriders and ski tourers can also be found in the ISPO articles from last season: Snowboards, Skis, touring-bindings & -boots, avalanche safety equipment, clothing. Personally, the following little things caught my eye:

The construction of touring skis is becoming increasingly similar across most manufacturers. The optimum of downhill characteristics, durability, price, profitability, screw retention and effort in the manufacturing process seems to lie with a paulownia core with carbon/glass fiber layers in the upper and lower chord, reinforced with a titanal plate only in the binding area. K2 has now also given in to years of pressure for lighter touring skis and now builds them exclusively in this form.
The market for airbags is now also hotly contested and the big innovations seem to be behind us. But tinkering is still going on: Advenate, for example, is also presenting the combined breathing airbag system at the alpine trade fair after its initial presentation at ISPO.
The Salomon/Atomic Shift binding is still an eye-catcher. For me personally, however, the question still arises (albeit as a ski tourer without freeride ambitions): If you already place such a high value on downhill performance or release that you decide against a "normal" pin binding, isn't a low-tech adapter such as the one now offered by Dynafit (to be able to ascend with an alpine binding with pins) also or even better suited to this problem?
Small "garage" ski manufacturers still come and go. However, some, such as the Innsbruck team around Spurart, seem to have gained a foothold. An interesting approach in terms of construction (full carbon jacket) and shape is being pursued by a one-man operation from the Allgäu called snørre with very high-priced models. It is very interesting to see what wave surfers bring to snowsurfing in terms of shape. Augment - a relatively young ski manufacturer from Salzburg, which has its origins in high-priced downhill racing skis - now also builds high-quality touring skis. However, all small brands have one thing in common: they focus on quality and mostly on the high-price segment.
Boots with very high performance but low weight (usually between 1300g and 1500g) and high mobility are also on trend: Tecnica Zero G Tour Pro, Dynafit Hoji, Fischer Ranger Free.

There is currently a lot going on in terms of certain rescue systems: Swedish manufacturer Recco [PHOTO] is successfully equipping many helicopter bases with a buoy that makes the passive Recco reflectors (integrated into various outdoor equipment) detectable from the helicopter. The system is particularly interesting for search missions in summer: the crew can fly at 100 km/h over forests, for example, and thus search a huge area in a very short time. Austria is now the first country to be equipped with these detectors throughout the country.
Satellite phones are now relatively cheap: whether to rent or buy. For skibums who often travel to remote areas of the world, but also for a single trip, you can now seriously consider a satellite phone. However, anyone considering a satellite internet router should be a top earner.
Apropos Skibums: Camp it Simple offers casual kits to turn a large format van into a motorhome. An interesting concept for those who don't want to DIY - the new Cubes seem particularly promising.

Conclusion

Once again, it was a successful, well-organized and interesting event in the early winter season. The Alpinmesse is well on its way to becoming the ISPO of the customer and has become a fixed point in the event calendar. Above all, however, is the Meet&Greet: nowhere else in the German-speaking world are so many players from the scene concentrated at a public event.