The 11th edition of the prestigious 3* Qualifier in Zell am See - Kaprun was particularly impressive due to the extremely high standard of the riders from 14 nations on the Lakarschneid Face. As in the previous season, the riders had to hold their own in spring-like conditions on the Lakarschneid. Tyrolean Flo Orley won the snowboarder category, Max Kroneck from Germany took his second FWQ victory, Norwegian Anja Gardli won the women's ski category and Frenchwoman Annouk Mouthon won the women's snowboard category.
Austria's freeride veteran Flo Orley once again remains the dominator in the men's snowboarding category on the Kitzsteinhorn and secures his second X OVER RIDE title in a row in commanding style: "I'm super happy and was able to show a liberated run today. The qualification for next year's Freeride World Tour is in the bag, simply perfect," explains the Tyrolean after his third win of the season at the Austrian FWQs. In the men's ski category, Tyrolean Stefan Jöchl's winning streak on the Kitzsteinhorn came to an end. The winner of Kappl and Silvretta Nova has little luck with bib number 1 this time and chooses a tactical line from the Lakarschneid. Germany's freeride newcomer Max Kroneck seized the opportunity and secured his first victory on the Kitzsteinhorn with a spectacular run: "At the top, I took a really big cliff that everyone said wouldn't work. But then it worked out quite well. In the technical lower section, I added a double and took a small cliff," explains the German. The best Austrian is Martin Rofner from the Arlberg region in second place. After a mixed season, the reigning Austrian freeride champion made his comeback with a strong run on the Kitzsteinhorn: "I unpacked a backflip and showed what I'm actually capable of. That was important for my self-confidence," explains Rofner. Last year's winner and PowderGuide reporter Jochen Mesle was there purely as a rider this time and managed to finish on the podium. With third place, he was able to add a place at the end of his so far mixed contest season that suits him better. In the strong field of women's skiers, Norway's Anja Gardli pulled off a surprise victory. Angelika Kaufmann from Vorarlberg got herself back into the race for the overall women's ski ranking with a strong run and second place. For Sabine Schipflinger from Salzburg, of all people, things did not go according to plan at her home event and she had to settle for 6th place. Frenchwoman Annouk Mouthon, a Freeride World Tour rider, secured the women's snowboarders' classification, ahead of the two Austrians Manuela Mandl and Liz Kristoferitsch. The Kaprun snowboarder Siobha Challis also achieved a good result at her first home event with 8th place in the women's snowboarder category: "I practically grew up on the Kitzsteinhorn. I'm super happy that I got the chance to ride a contest at home thanks to the wildcard. I skied a safe run today, it was a lot of fun. I'm happy that my first contest season is going so well."
A summary of the event can be found in this 13-minute video:
The organizers, led by Chris Geissler, were also satisfied with the 11th edition of the X Over: "Today was a great show with riding performances that thrilled us all. Perfect conditions, enthusiastic spectators - in short: a perfect day. But the work for the X Over Ride 2015 starts tomorrow."
The 4* event in Obergurgl is the final highlight of the European qualifier season as part of the now relatively large number of Austrian Freeride World Tour qualifiers. PowderGuide hopes that the reporter role that Jochen and Julian will once again take on for us in Obergurgl on 29.03.2014 will not prevent them from achieving good results and wishes them every success!
