4* FWQ Montafon
The 4* qualifier, which is important for the FWT qualification, took place last Saturday in the Silvretta Nova ski resort in Montafon. Alongside the 4* in Obergurgl, the competition is one of the two decisive 4* qualifiers in the German-speaking region, which now attracts all the top riders from Europe and Oceania.
This year, as usual, the race started from the small home face. The face consists of three stages or terraces. The terrain is rather convex and is difficult to see from above. This challenge, coupled with a relatively large amount of fresh snow, had to be overcome by the skiers this year. The snow that had fallen the day before didn't make it easy for the participants to stand the sometimes large jumps, so some of them did a somersault after landing or accidentally hit an old bomb hole. The 40cm that had fallen with some wind, coupled with rapidly rising temperatures, made the big airs seem very inviting for most. The first big cliff, directly after the start, which most riders tried to jump, only worked for the first starters. Later on, most of them landed in the rocks that had been exposed in the meantime and crashed. The large cliff at the end was also the undoing of some participants, who had to jump off in a controlled manner in order to land at the right angle. Due to this problem, many of the top skiers, especially in the men's race, did not finish without making major mistakes. A slightly more defensive line choice around the big cliffs, which the majority tried to jump, paid off for some this time.
In addition to the runs of the winners, Solan Dejouy's line deserves special mention. The Frenchman was almost the only one in the men's ski category to find an individual line and provided the most spectacular action of the day with his transfer hit over the small couloir. Unfortunately, his binding came undone on the last jump before the finish, which probably cost him the victory. Solan's run can be found here in the replay:
Swede Mans Fors Källstrand narrowly beat Frenchman Mael Ollivier with a wide 3 and two more clean drops. Austria's Sebastian Hiersche took third place with a triple in the upper section, a wide drop in the rocky middle section and an overall solid and risky run. Mael Ollivier was able to extend his narrow lead in the overall FWQ standings with second place in the Monatafon.
Among the female snowboarders, Claire McGregor from New Zealand secured victory and extended her lead in the overall standings with her third win at a 4* event this season. Linda Schmitter (SUI) and Maria Kuzma (NZL) took second and third place.
With controlled, fluid turns and some wide drops, Poland's Zuzanna Witych came out on top in the women's ski event, extending her current lead in the EURASIA Qualifier rankings. Megane Betend from France took valuable points in second place, followed by Eva Battolla from Switzerland, who is currently in second place in the overall ranking.
Exact line planning the day before brought last year's German runner-up Timm Schröder the victory he had hoped for in the SB men's event this year. With plenty of airtime, a 360 and a very fluid run, he clearly beat Benjamin Evens from New Zealand. In third place was former Freeride World Tour rider Ludovic Guillot-Diat from France.
