Premiere of the Freeride World Qualifier series on the Goldeck sports mountain in the Gailtal Alps: The organizer "SGS - Sportgemeinschaft Spittal/Drau" has proven its organizational talent and successfully integrated the Big Mountain Goldeck into the ever-growing FWQ series. Despite the lack of rain in the run-up to the contest, the conditions on the face were good. The winners of the FWQ premiere knew how to take advantage of this: Wolfgang Kofler (snowboard), Dees Hetzenauer (snowboard), Rene Riegler (ski) and Jenni Kaipainen (ski). Contest participant Nikolai Göz was there for PowderGuide in Carinthia...
On the weekend of March 1-3, 2013, the first edition of a 2* Freeride World Qualifier event was held in the sometimes quite sun-drenched mountains of Carinthia. The venue was the notorious Steilhang, a 50-hectare freeride terrain in the Goldeck ski resort not far from Lake Millstadt and the town of Spittal an der Drau. Thanks to Mother Hulda and St. Peter, the face was in very good condition on Saturday, the day of the contest, even though there had been a break in precipitation for about a week beforehand and the temperatures were already quite spring-like in the bright sunshine.
Initial situation
Just looking at a map of the Alps makes you realize that the special location of the Gailtal Alps in Carinthia, surrounded by the mountain ranges of the Gurktal Alps in the east, the Carnic and Julian Alps in the south, the Karawanken in the east and the Ankogel, Kreuzeck and Schobel groups in the north, can have a significant influence on two things in particular: Large amounts of fresh snow during Adriatic lows, which carry cold, moist air masses northwards and cause persistent accumulating precipitation, as well as a decent number of moderate-temperature "bluebird" days due to the frequent southerly currents. This winter, too, there's probably been enough of both weather conditions to make the conditions on the mountain almost perfect. After the competition, you could enjoy the partly untouched deep snow slopes around the contest face or explore the longest black run in the Alps, which is 8.5 km long and has an altitude difference of around 1600 meters.
Contest schedule
The program was scheduled for the days from Friday to Sunday, whereby participation in the first face check on Friday was voluntary and Sunday was planned as a reserve day. However, as the weather and snow conditions were perfect on Saturday, the contest was able to go ahead as planned. On Saturday, the 65 riders from 10 different countries were to arrive at the Goldeck valley station by 8 a.m. for accreditation. After registering and receiving their start numbers and a few other goodies, the steep slope could be examined in detail at 9am. The left side of the slope was relatively flat and offered space for freestylers to show off their tricks, while the right side was perfect for technically more difficult lines and cliff drops.
As with all major freeride contests, it was once again extremely important in Goldeck to demonstrate a perfect symbiosis between technique, line fluidity, safety, style and airtime in order to achieve a good ranking in the field of participants. At the riders' meeting it was announced that daring cliff attempts that end in a fall will not be rewarded. Although snowboarders are now considered to be "handicapped", as they only have one edge available to press their turns into the snow, a skier's run is not judged at all if a ski is lost. So much for the handicap of the "Skifoahns" at contests... The competition started punctually at 11 a.m.: After an extensive safety check (does every rider have their avalanche transceiver, shovel, probe, back protector and helmet with them?), the female participants were the first to start. Snowboarders and skiers were called alternately until only the latter were left to fight for the title. The event was not only about points for the ranking of the Freeride World Qualifier Series, but also about important points for the title in the "Austrian Freeride Series", which is awarded at the end of the season. Due to the fact that many riders were taking part for the first time, while others had already won several tour stops, the competition once again pitted newcomers against local heroes and old hands!
At 4 pm, the results were announced in the cozy and rustic Gasthof Marhube, right next to the slope of the downhill run. As a skier, I only had a limited opportunity to follow the runs of the best skiers this time. However, it must be said that the spectators were once again treated to some impressive lines and tricks, from front flips to 360s. Victory in the snowboarder category went to Wolfgang Kofler from neighboring Bad Hofgastein (local), followed by the two Finns Tuomas Immonen (the newcomer from an Austrian perspective) and Niklas Hollsten (the rookie who has already been able to collect some points this season). There were few sensational surprises in the female snowboarder category, as there were only two participants at the start. The Dutchwoman Dees Hetzenauer was able to secure victory ahead of the Austrian Tamara Fritz. The women skiers were won by Jenni Kaipainen from Finland, ahead of Sanne de Jong from the Netherlands and Sabine Schipflinger from Austria. And in the skiers' category, victory went to Austrian Rene Riegler. Second place went to the Italian Zeno Cecon ahead of the Swede Peter Wallin.
In the evening, there was an after-contest party for all the riders in the Irish pub Finegans, which was enjoyed until late... New contacts with nice people in all kinds of freeride destinations in Europe were once again pre-programmed!
Conclusion
The contest organizers deserve a lot of praise for the smooth running of the first FWQ event in Carinthia. All the riders I spoke to were very happy with how the contest went and the snow conditions on the mountain. What's more, the small Goldeck ski resort really showed the world (and freeride pilgrims from many different areas) that they can definitely keep up with some of the bigger and better-known destinations. The main focus here is on numerous other beautiful slopes and faces. In addition, the atmosphere among the riders was once again super relaxed and everyone really enjoyed it! Best conditions for upcoming golden times and a lot more contests in the next years in the golden corner Goldeck. We are already looking forward to it!
