Where do Pro’s go? #1, Martin Schøber

In this series of articles we will give our users a bit of insights on where pro skiers prefer to go themselves. They all have extensive knowledge on the best destinations and know the little secrets about where you will find the best places. So read on – and follow in their footsteps to have great experiences and make sure your next trip will always be better than the previous one!

In this first article you will meet the Danish Freeride expert, Martin Schøber who is crazy about one particular Austrian resort.

Martin Schøber, Danish Freerider

Even though Denmark has no mountains and not much snowfall during an average winter, the Danes are generally speaking very good at winter sports and for many years the number of skiers and snowboarders have increased in a curve just as steep as the mountainsides in the Alps. One of the more remarkable Danes is Martin Schøber, 25. He is the 2013 Danish freeride champion, have skied from the top of Mt. Elbrus, 5642 m, (the highest point in Europe) and spends more than 100 days a year on his skis. He is the co-owner of an internet based ski shop Blacksnow.dk and Black-snow.se selling gear for skiers and snowboarders primarily in Denmark and Sweden, and he is constantly looking for new adventures and new places to go skiing.

Martin has visited more than 50 destinations in 7 countries, so we asked him to pick his 3 favorite ones and put a few words on why they stand out – here is what he said:

St. Anton am Arlberg, Austria

The popular freeride mecca in Austria is where I spend the majority of my skiing days, and have done for the last six years. And I never get tired of it. For an offpiste skier like myself, the terrain in the Arlberg is as good as it gets. There’s everything from high alpine couloirs to fun pillows between the trees. Even if it’s a hot spot of the alps, it’s so huge that there’s plenty of fresh powder tracks for everyone. Oh, and then it snows a lot, like a lot!

San Martino di Castrozza, Italy

A smaller and much less known ski resort in the beautiful Italian Dolomites. The small resorts have everything that I look for in a ski resort. There’s plenty of options for skiing fun powder runs directly from the lift, while there’s also some really great areas for ski touring and exploring some of the most beautiful mountains in the world. Another bonus is that the Italians really like their pistes, so you won’t have to beat any big crowd to find untouched powder in San Martino.

Seki Onsen, Japan

When people think of skiing in Japan, almost everyone thinks of Hokkaido and the famous Niseko resort. While most don’t realize that the main Island of Japan, Honshu, offers some tremendous skiing and just as deep powder. One of these hidden gems is this really small ski resort, Seki Onsen. It only holds two small chairs, but the possibilities in the forests there are incredible. And you’ll have to share the powder with practically no one else. If you go there on a powder day, you’ll have your mind blown. That’s a promise.

I had a hard time picking out three favorite resorts for this lists, while I always seem to have a blast no matter where I go skiing. The main thing is to know what to expect from a ski resort and adjust your expectations to that. Every ski resort has something great to offer. You just have to find it. – Martin Schøber

Thanks to Martin for sharing his favorites – we urge you to do the same. Just pick a country from the list at the top of the page, find your favorite destination, rate it with 1-6 stars and write a short review to let others know what you think of that particular place.