Perfect conditions at the top of the mountain for the first Austrian Freeride World Qualifier event in 2016! After numerous cancellations or postponements in this year's "Austrian Freeride Series" due to poor snow conditions or high avalanche risk, it was now time to start the freeride contest season in beautiful Austria under sunshine and powder snow! And the riders were really happy to find great conditions and were delighted with the perfectly organized contest.
Conditions-Base
Southwest of the Arlberg lies the ski and eponymous alpine region of Silvretta-Montafon, which has an amazing mountain world to offer in addition to many kilometers of slopes. Piz Buin is probably the most famous of these peaks. In this area, backcountry freestylers will find super playful terrain with cornices and natural kickers, as will full-blooded freeriders in search of steep lines in couloirs or on big mountain faces! The altitude of the upper ski area region (approx. 2500 meters) and the geography guarantee snow-sure conditions. Ms. Holle was generous in the previous week and gifted the region with another 30 cm of powder snow, so that nothing stood in the way of a brilliant third Open Faces Silvretta Montafon at the Heimspitze! The contest face:
Riders meeting & face check
After the opportunity to check the face of the 3* FWQ event at the Heimspitze at reduced lift pass prices on Friday, February 26, 2016, accreditation and the first mandatory riders meeting took place in the evening. As usual, the meeting covered the safety equipment to be brought along, consisting of helmet, back protector, avalanche transceiver and backpack with shovel and probe. The event also covered judging, i.e. how the individual runs are scored. Here, too, there were no changes compared to previous years, as this is based on the Freeride World Tour guidelines: Line choice, fluidity of the line, air&style, technique and control are the decisive criteria.
In addition, other important safety information such as the snow conditions on the mountain and zoning, i.e. the limits of the rideable zone, were discussed. It was very nice that there was a hearty dinner including BBQ afterwards, where you could socialize with new and old shred contacts and the organizers
Welcome to the Powdergames
Yeah!!! All competition participants received a T-shirt with this print. Fresh! Saturday morning was the day. At 8 am on the dot, we took the Versettla cable car not far from the village of Gaschurn to Nova Stoba, the mountain restaurant where the event was held. From here, the Heimspitze shows itself from its most beautiful side and offered the riders another opportunity to inspect the mountain and the choice of lines or to make minor changes.
After two more chairlifts and two warm-up descents, I set off from Schwarzköpfle towards the ascent to Heimspitze. Once at the top, the panorama and the very steep starting passage put you in the right frame of mind for the decisive run! Incisive motto: The higher you get, the higher you get!
Let's Ride
Beautiful lines, high cliff drops, numerous tricks such as back and front flips, 360s and insane speeds on the descents were once again the hallmarks of the event! Freeriding at an absolute world-class level!
My run also went quite well again! With a fast, flowing line with several smaller drops, I was able to achieve a satisfactory (and good points-wise) 6th place. A good result allows you to take a little more risk in the next contest. (But not too much, as I found out the weekend before last in Morgins! Report to follow shortly...) Until the award ceremony, we, a team consisting of Cedric Giradeau and Tim Schubert, used the time to go freeriding ourselves and explore the super playful terrain. That's probably one of the best things about freeride contests: meeting so many nice like-minded riders, enjoying the powder snow together and making plans for further discoveries.
Then it was finally time for the results:Snowboard Men:? 1st Huber Lukas (SUI)
2nd Loschin Marcel (AUT)
3rd Eisendle Daniel (ITA) Snowboard Girls:? 1st Nuria Castan (ESP)?
2nd Ana Salvador Arguas (ESP)?
3rd Khantu Ramos (AUT) Ski Girls:? 1st Hazel Birnbaum (USA)?
2nd Adela Vilanova Fabrega (ESP)?
3rd Birgit Ertl (AUT) Ski Men:? 1st Carl Renvall (SUI)?
2nd Eirik Schjolberg (NOR)
3rd Felicetti Mattia (ITA) Congratulations to all the winners! After this great Saturday, it was time for most of the riders to make their way back home. But one thing was certain for us: Montafon has a lot to offer and we'll definitely be back!
Feedback
A really successful start to the Austrian Freeride Series 2016!
Thumbs up for the top organization of this year's first Open Faces event in Austria. It was very positive that the contest presentation, including a live broadcast of the individual runs on a large screen in the public area in the Nova Stuba mountain restaurant, a captivating presenter and a DJ, could be shown to a large, very interested audience on the mountain. In addition, all runs could be watched via live streaming on the internet. Not forgetting the top photographers, with Mia Maria Knoll certainly deserving special mention with her incredibly nimble fingers on the trigger! Andreas Vigl also took great pictures of the riders in action on the mountain! Thanks for that!
Outlook
It was my second contest on Austrian mountains and I'm really impressed by the top-class competitions that the Open Faces series puts on. The next stop, after the Freeride World Tour stop next weekend in Fieberbrunn, will be the already legendary 3* event on the Kitzsteinsteinhorn. We are definitely looking forward to more top events like this one here in the Montafon!
