The Montafon Freeride Festival with its two stops on the Hochjoch (11.02.2012) in the Silvretta Montafon ski area and in the Brandnertal ski area (04.02.2012) was held in very good, albeit icy cold conditions.
Bright sunshine at minus 14 degrees and great snow conditions attracted many top skiers to the Montafon. In addition to Stefan Häusl and Christian Schnabl, athletes such as Sebastian Camus (CH) and Liz Kristoferitsch and Lorraine Huber from nearby Arlberg also took part. The standard at this invitational contest was correspondingly high - and the mood among the riders was positive across the board. In the end, the winners were beaming with the weather and enjoyed the sunset at the Wormes Hütte.
Lots of top athletes had traveled to the 2nd stop. While Austrian skier Tobi Tritscher and snowboarder Chris Schnabel were able to hold the trophies in their hands for the first time, it was the 1998 Olympic champion in the halfpipe, Nicola Thost from Munich, who won the double and thus both Freeride Festival Stops. Among the female freeriders, it was Jennifer Taylor from Argentina who took the top step of the podium for the first time on the Hochjoch.
The event was more than successful for the locals from Vorarlberg, as they were able to make the most of their home advantage: Nadine Wallner from Klösterle made it onto the podium with a great run and secured second place ahead of Angelika Kaufmann from Arlberg.
The favorites stumble
However, Stefan Häusl, one of the favorites, and runner-up Liz Kirsoferitsch, as well as Lorraine Huber from Lech, were all relegated to second place with less than perfect runs.
Pictures and results of the Freeride Festival 2012
The results of the 2nd tour stop / Montafon, Hochjoch, 11.02.2012
Ski Ladies
1. Jennifer TAYLOR (ARG)
2. Nadine WALLNER (AUT)
3. Angelika KAUFMANN (AUT)
Snowboard Ladies
1. Nicola THOST (GER)
2. Babsi HOFFMANN (AUT)
3. Sanne Koeman (NED)
Ski Men
1. Tobias TRITSCHER (AUT)
2. Reine BARKERED (SWE)
3. Martin ROFNER (AUT)
Snowboard Men
1. Christian SCHNABL (AUT)
2. Simon HOLZKNECHT (AUT)
3. Alex HOFFMANN (AUT)
Results of the 1st stop of the Freeride Festival in Brandnertal, 4.2.2012
Snowboard Women
1. Nicola Thost (GER)
2. Ursula Wohlschlager (AUT)
Ski Women
1. Sabine Walser (AUT)
Snowboard Men
1. Thomas Feurstein (AUT)
2. André Sommer (SUI)
3. Simon Holzknecht (AUT)
4. Emanuel Scherp (AUT)
5. Bernd Unterlechner (AUT)
6. Christoph!Obernosterer (AUT)
7. Fabian Standke (AUT)
8. Daniel Micheli (AUT)
9. Wolfgang Kofler (AUT)
10. Benjamin Zanon (AUT)
Ski Men
1. Fabio Studer (AUT)
2. Leo Rauch (AUT)
3. Dominique Heinrich (AUT)
4. Matthias Kurzthaler (AUT)
5. Samuel Schuler (AUT)
6. Michael Trojer (AUT)
7. Mathias Gschwandtner (AUT)
8. Mathias Siegler (AUT)
9. Lukas Kirchner (AUT)
10. Martin Krautschneider (AUT)
