217 reports · 44 countries
Every story appears in the printed BACKLINE magazine and online. Pick a year for cover, editorial and all reports.
Österreich · Pitztal Alps (Taschachferner)
"Drop-in in 10 seconds!" I put the radio in my backpack, pick up the camera and double-check the exposure. Through the viewfinder I see Jochen closing his boots, then he drops in. He is doing wide …
2021 · Max Draeger · 5 min
USA · Sierra Nevada (Tahoe)
Retirement isn't really a word Daron Rahlves understands. Sure, he retired from racing in 2006 after a long and decorated career on the U.S. Ski Team, but he didn't exactly call it quits. Instead, he …
2021 · Megan Michelson · 6 min
USA · North Cascades
Of all the magical places in the North Cascades, a few particularly enchanting remote spots have escaped my attempts to visit them. Among these is a spear of mountains thrusting itself beyond the …
2021 · Jason Hummel · 5 min
Österreich · Zillertal Alps (Rofan)
In the short film "TimeOut" by Andreas "Mone" Monsberger and Roman Rohrmoser, the freeskier and biker Roman and Georg Almer meet at a special spot on earth that attracts and connects them both to the …
2021 · Roman Rohrmoser · 5 min
Pakistan · Nanga Parbat / Spantik
When does an adventure begin? When you first talk about an idea? At the airport check-in desk? When you catch a first glimpse of the mountains? The road to the high mountains of the Karakoram …
2021 · Tiphaine Duperier · 5 min
Tadschikistan · Darvoz Range (Vanj)
The clouds are finally lifting. The sun warms our skin, the last snow crystals dancing through the air sparkle like crazy, and an almost endless couloir is opening up right in front of us. It seems …
2020 · Max Kroneck · 5 min
Italien · Dolomites (Tre Cime di Lavaredo)
When I am planning a ski touring day, the snow conditions, the itinerary and the friends I am skiing with are of great importance to me. On this one day in early March, all of the above came …
2020 · Alice Russolo · 5 min
Finnland · Käsivarren Erämaa (Lappland)
The wind is not just howling; it's raging, trying to rip the roof from our hut, and waking us up with its thundering noise. The fire in the stove has gone out, and the chill starts to creep under the …
2020 · Antte Lauhamaa · 5 min
Kanada · Rossland Range (Monashee Mountains)
Extreme cold. Infinite spaces. Snow-covered trees. Steep descents. Bottomless powder. This is how I imagined the winter in British Columbia. My journey began in August 2018. I started an extended …
2020 · Christoph Johann · 4 min
Österreich · Zillertal Alps
I have these pictures racing through my mind almost every day. I get anxious; I start to focus; it haunts me like a curse. I am talking about big wall skiing. Usually my daughter wakes me up from …
2020 · Roman Rohrmoser · 5 min
Frankreich · Mont Blanc
Colin and I huddled just before midnight in the small chapel above the lake in Champex, at the north-eastern end of the Mont Blanc massif. We had planned to climb and ski an 89-kilometer …
2020 · Ben Tibbetts · 5 min
Italien · Dolomites (Sexten / Pustertal)
Usually it only takes a day or two to decide whether you will find powder or one of the less popular types of snow. For most backcountry skiers this is exactly what makes a trip an #epicday …
2020 · Anton Brey · 5 min
Kanada · Kluane & St. Elias Mountains
In 1999, three hunters found the body of a First Nations man in a remote corner of British Columbia's Coast Range. For nearly 20 years, scientists and his ancestors learned everything they could from …
2020 · Ryan Stuart · 5 min
USA · Olympic Mountains
In 1890, while on a pioneering climb of the Anderson Glacier, deep within Washington State's Olympic National Park, Private Harry Fischer postulated, "...man may never know how deep, the snow, and …
2020 · Jason Hummel · 5 min
Schweiz · Bernese Alps (Mönch / Fiescherhorn)
Big wall skiing. Hara-kiri for some people, fulfillment for others. "Why?" This question keeps popping up in my head, before and during this adventure. Why would you do something like that? I've done …
2020 · Christian Penning · 5 min
USA · Chugach Mountains (Alaska)
One move at a time, we moved up the steep face of Sphinx. Step, place the axe, step, place the axe. Looking down more than 1,500 vertical feet, you knew a fall would allow for a long time to …
2020 · Ming Poon · 5 min
USA · Rocky Mountains (Sun Valley / Idaho)
I shuffle forward in the skin track, pulling my neck warmer up over my nose, the radiating sun my only reprieve against the bitter Idaho cold. Black husks of burned trees rise like porcupine quills …
2020 · Vince Shuley · 5 min
Griechenland · Mountains of Epirus
Three years ago, we had managed to leave the traces of our skis on the snow of Olympus. The experience was immensely charming, and still more charm came from the awareness that those places were the …
2020 · Alberto Sciamplicotti · 5 min
Norwegen · Flåmsdalen
It is hard to imagine a better place for a hotel focusing on ski touring. Located at 2,690 feet above sea level and surrounded by mountains made for skiing, the Vatnahalsen hotel is the perfect …
2020 · Fredrik Schenholm · 5 min
Norwegen · Jotunheimen National Park
Glitterheim marks the end of day two. The tired group of skiers stumbling into the lobby at half past eight is greeted by Knut's warm smile. He is the fourth generation in this family-run place. The …
2019 · Fredrik Schenholm · 5 min
Österreich · Zillertal Alps
October 2018. As Hilaree and I walked into the Yak and Yeti in Kathmandu for a drink to celebrate our ski of the Lhotse couloir, we saw a guy in the lobby and smiled at each other. As I walked up to …
2019 · Jim Morrison · 6 min
Österreich · Rätikon / Montafon
Like every year, we want to wrap up our Montafon winter with an end-of-season bivouac. With great enthusiasm, the Whatsapp group of the same name begins planning the trip, because Torsten's new pulka …
2019 · Sigrid Reusch · 5 min
USA · Sierra Nevada
As the winter winds down, spring gives way to new adventures in California. It is the season for bigger peaks, longer days, and exploration. There is no other place that I would rather be than the …
2019 · Michelle Parker · 5 min
Österreich · Mieminger Chain
The Mieminger Kette in the heart of North Tyrol is one of the most rugged mountain environments in Austria and a worthwhile adventurous destination for connoisseurs, especially in winter. There are …
2019 · Max Dräger · 5 min
