An exciting freeride weekend took place on the weekend of March 15-16, 2014 in the Schnalstal Valley. Two contests took place at the same time on the South Tyrolean glacier: The "Boardbreaker" association and the Schnalstal Glacier lifts invited 35 starters from three nations to this year's "Freeride Hero" contest, who made their way to the summit "Im hinteren Eis" in less than ideal weather conditions, but perfect snow conditions. At the same time, a group of freeriders from Switzerland, Austria and Germany had already traveled to "Kick The Vik" the day before to take part in the Eco Freeride Tour, a freeride competition designed to take place in harmony with nature.
The idea behind the Eco Freeride Tour is excellent: to spend a weekend with like-minded, passionate freeriders, with the contest providing more of a framework for sharing ideas, touring with friends and riding lots of great lines. Thanks to professional support from the local mountain guides and the camera team, the contest was held on the north face below the Lazaunspitz on the very first day. As in professional competitions, each participant had to decide for themselves which descent line to choose. This was then filmed and later judged by all participants together.
Kick the Vik is all about the fun factor. Another positive surprise was that there was also a strong female representation at the start. What caused difficulties for many participants was assessing the snow quality from the inspection point: hours later, the quality of the snow had changed considerably when entering the slope under the spring sun. It also seemed unusual for many participants to have to memorize a line which, as expected, looked completely different from above. But with great support and loud encouragement from the finish area, all riders arrived safely and were delighted with the work they had done. The second day continued straight away. The camera and photographer team had positioned themselves on the high plateau above the Lazaunhütte, while the 15 participants climbed the various slopes, couloirs and steep faces below the Saldur, Lagaun and Stotzspitze on four different tours in direct eye contact. After changing snow and weather conditions, the team arrived at the Schönen Aussicht Hütte in the late afternoon, where hut host Paul Grüner gave the whole team a warm welcome. At over 2,800 m, he invited his mountain comrades to relax in the highest wellness facility, including the wine barrel sauna and vat Jacuzzi, while the Kick The Vik team edited the videos in the parlor.
When evaluating the lines from the previous day together, some of the participants realized that they would still need some training before the descents were as smooth and breathtaking as those of the famous freeride stars. But the Eco Freeride Tour Kick the Vik stands for completely different values: being out on the mountain together with like-minded people and having lots of fun - and getting to know lots of new mountain buddies.
The winners of the 2nd stop of the Freeride Eco Tour Kick the Vik - Schnalstal Valley
Women Ski & Snowboard
1st Alba Wunderlin (SUI)
2nd Johanna Bogner (GER)
3rd Daniela Pöham (AUT)
Men Ski
1st Peter Pflugmacher (GER)
2nd Maximilian Kamml (GER)
3rd Stefan Sönser (AUT)
3rd Stefan Sönser (AUT)
1st Peter Pflugmacher (GER)
2nd Maximilian Kamml (GER)
3rd Stefan Sönser (AUT)
Men's snowboard
1st Christoph Kolb (SUI)
2nd Roman Meister (SUI)
3rd Peter Boss (SUI) All results can be found here...
