76 freeriders from 11 nations conquered the face on the "Stoana Mandl" at the season opener of the Open Faces series on the Hochkönig. After heavy gusts of wind had initially delayed the start, the Hochkönig finally gave the hoped-for GO for the start of the Open Faces and at the same time the start of the Austrian Freeride Series. Birgit Ertl from Radstadt won the women's ski category, Siobhan Challis won the women's snowboard category and skier Maximilian Dettenhofer and snowboarder Andreas Bichler won the men's category. For PowderGuide, participant Stephanie Posch reports on her contest day:
On February 1st 2014, after several postponed contests in January, the first competition of the Open Faces Freeride Series finally took place in Maria Alm am Hochkönig.
The alarm clock rang mercilessly at 6am after a restless night, as accreditation for the contest was scheduled to start at 7:30am. When we arrived at the valley station, however, we were informed that an inspection of the slope and an assessment of the weather situation was still underway to determine whether the contest could take place at all.
The foehn storm had not only done a great job of softening the snow cover and making it heavy, it had also not calmed down during the night and continued to rage, which is why some lifts could not yet be put into operation.
At 9:00 a.m., fortunately, the starting signal for accreditation was given and at 9:30 a.m. we met again for a second meeting to discuss the further procedure, including a changed schedule. We took the gondola and the drag lift to the face check of the "Stoana Mandl", to the right of the Abergbahn. Afterwards we were able to take the chairlift up to the Langeck - although we had previously been told that we would be doing a hike because the Abergbahn was closed. From there, all participants first had to ski down the ski route and then traverse behind the contest slope to the start. A short climbing section completed the ascent to the start. As always at the Open Faces Contests, the contest began with the women. There were 10 female skiers and 9 female snowboarders at the start, followed by the 32 male skiers and 25 male snowboarders. The start was certainly the biggest challenge of the contest slope, especially with the thin snow cover. There was the option of starting directly at the start flags and tackling a 40-degree slope, or riders could drop right off a rock into no less steep terrain. Last year there was more snow on the slope, so the start was a little more difficult this time. Everyone struggled with the conditions: the snow was wet and sticky, making it difficult to pick up speed. After drops or jumps, you always had to reckon with being slowed down by the snow and, unfortunately, some of the starters came up with a little too much of a lead, which often resulted in at least one rollover. Nevertheless, some riders were able to show that they could cope well with the conditions and there were a few fine jumps and tricks to be seen.
At 4 pm, the award ceremony took place at the Bärmooshütte. First, the results of the style contest were announced, with the best trick of the competition being awarded 100 euros. Austrian Birgit Ertl was crowned Style Queen and her compatriot Christoph Schöffegger took home the crown of King before the winners of the first OpenFaces contest were announced... Women's skiing: 1st Birgit Ertl (AUT)
2nd Kornelia Kocher (AUT)
3rd Stefanie Noppinger (AUT) Men's skiing:
1st Maximilian Dettenhofer (GER)
2nd Colin Biribauer (AUT)
3rd Michael Strauß (AUT) Women's snowboarding:
1. Siobhan Challis (AUT)
2. Jenny Farrah (USA)
3. Sophia Neuner (GER) Men's snowboard:
1. Andreas Bichler (AUT)
2. Matthias Zauner (AUT)
3. Johannes Schwaiger (AUT)
