The fifth stop of the Swatch Freeride World Tour 2012 took place in Fieberbrunn (Austria) on March 10, 2012 in fantastic snow and weather conditions. A good 1000 spectators watched a perfectly organized competition on the Wildseeloder in sunshine and 20 cm of fresh snow. Drew Tabke (USA) won the skiers' competition on the steep north flank ahead of Kevin Guri (FRA) and Reine Barkered (SWE). The snowboard contest was won by Jonathan Charlet (FRA) ahead of Innsbruck's Flo Orley (AUT) and Aurélien Routens (FRA). There was an Austrian double victory in the women's competition: Eva Walkner (AUT) won the women's skiing competition and Liz Kristoferitsch (AUT) won the women's snowboarding competition. The stage was set for the freeride downhill elite. 20 centimeters of fresh snow the day before and perfect weather awaited the freeriders of the Freeride World Tour in the Tyrolean ski resort of Fieberbrunn on the steep northern flank of the Wildseeloder.
Ski and snowboard men
The ski men in particular put on a breathtaking show. High jumps, fast lines and lots of freestyle tricks were offered to the astonished spectators. The athletes took advantage of the good snow conditions to the delight of the many spectators. Without exception, all of the men's ski and snowboard runs were of such a high standard that even the smallest mistakes resulted in a significant drop in the rankings. The young Tyrolean Fabian Lentsch took it comparatively easy with his wildcard, avoiding high jumps and showing a clean, fluid and level-headed run instead of action at the limit. At just 18 years old, he still has plenty of time to gain experience and will certainly not have skied his last tour stop. However, a slight contact with his hand in the snow after a small cliff drop cost him a TOP10 result.
In the men's ski category, US-American Drew Tabke secured victory seemingly effortlessly with a fluid line with two jumps as well as a 360 and a clean backflip ahead of Kevin Guri (FRA) and Reine Barkered (SWE), who put on a show that was no less worth seeing.
The men's snowboard competition was dominated by Jonathan Charlet (FRA). He impressed the judges with his choice of lines in the technical terrain and jumps that were as impressive as they were clean, ahead of the "safety run" by Flo Orley (AUT) and Aurélien Routens (FRA).
Women's skiing and snowboarding
The women's start was a little further to the left of the men's start and far less exposed. However, the terrain offered many playful features with a main gully and lots of small jumps, which suited the ladies very well. The crown in the women's competition went to Austria for both the skiers and the snowboarders.
In the women's ski category, Eva Walkner took a clear victory with a fast and technically clean run, individual line choice and high jumps. The winning snowboarder Liz Kristoferitsch didn't show the most spectacular action of the day, but her line with some playful jumps in untracked snow and a flowing descent was so much fun that she also deserved to win.
The results (5th tour stop Fieberbrunn)
Ski men
1. Drew Tabke (USA)
2. Kevin Guri (FRA)
3. Reine Barkered (SWE) Snowboard men
1. Jonathan Charlet (FRA)
2nd Flo Orley (AUT)
3rd Aurélien Routens (FRA) Women's Ski
1st Eva Walkner (AUT)
2nd Christine Hargin (SWE)
3rd Janina Kuzma (NZL) Women's Snowboard
1. Liz Kristoferitsch (AUT)
2nd Shannan Yates (USA)
3rd Maria Kuzma (NZL) For the complete results from Fieberbrunn
Picture gallery from the event
Outlook and overall ranking
The sixth and therefore last tour stop of the Freeride World Tour is imminent and is expected to take place from March 23-25, 2012. Once again, the best of the best will have to tackle the uncrowned king of freeride mountains, the Bec des Rosses in the Swiss resort of Verbier. PowderGuide will once again be there for you and report live. Only the best riders in each category (plus a few wildcard participants) are invited to compete for the freeride crown on this mountain. We are looking forward to an exciting competition.
FWT 2012 Ranking
Men's Ski
1. Sam Smoothy (NZL)
2. Drew Tabke (USA)
3. Reine Barkered (SWE)
Complete ranking men's skiing Men's snowboarding
1. Jonathan Charlet (FRA)
2. Ralph Backstrom (USA)
3. Flo Orley (AUT)
Complete ranking snowboard men Ski women
1. Angel Collinson (USA)
2. Eva Walkner (AUT)
3. Jacklyn Paaso (USA)
Complete ranking ski women Snowboard women
1. Maria DeBari (USA)
2. Margot Rozies (FRA)
3. Shannan Yates (USA)
Complete ranking snowboard women
