PowderGuide was on location for you in Slovenia at the 2-star FWQ, the Freeride Battle 2011 in Kanin. Our skiing competition freeride reporter Sebastian Fischer was actively supported this time by snowboarder Matthias Zimmermann. The conditions in the south-eastern Alps were amazingly good and the event was a huge success.
Freeride Battle - Finals from Planet Šport on Vimeo.
"Snowy road from Sella Nevea! Good winter tires or snow chains would be a good idea" warns Mario, who seems to be a few kilometers closer to Bovec in Slovenia, by text message. And indeed, there are almost 20 centimetres of snow on the Predel Pass road on the Italian-Slovenian border! None of us had really expected that. So the anticipation of a contest with fresh snow outweighs the annoyance at the unnecessarily sanded ski edges. The riders' meeting runs in the usual manner, apparently the FWQ management now has standards for the content of the riders' meetings. What is often old hat for experienced competitors nevertheless, or perhaps precisely because of this, has its raison d'être.
QUALIFICATION
We are rewarded with beautiful weather on the very first day of the competition. The gondola ride up the mountain takes 30 minutes, after all, 1800 meters of altitude have to be overcome. During the inspection from the opposite slope, the contest slope seems relatively short, and the steepness of the terrain is difficult to assess due to the very high viewing point. In the meantime, the Slovenian mountain rescue service has laid a fixed rope through a very steep gully up to the start area and a little later we begin the ascent. The snow conditions are very good in sunny terrain, elsewhere the snow soon becomes wet and "soggy". And the slope is really short, very short in fact...
My travel partner Julian Zenzmaier manages the outstanding run in the qualification with a mighty front flip over a windslip (can be seen in the highlight video of the qualification) and two good drops in the lower section, which is why the judges absolutely rightly put him in first place.
Freeride Battle 2011 - Qualification day from Planet Šport on Vimeo.
FINAL
Of the 80 participants, 50 will qualify for the final, so there won't really be any eliminations and many of those who mess up their first run will still get a second chance on Saturday. For the final, the organizers decide to set the start a little lower and further to the left, making the terraced terrain on the left side of the slope accessible, and there is now a very wide but still very short slope to choose from.
Due to the melting snow cover in some places, the organizers are delaying the start a little; it's very nice to see how the organizers are thinking about the snow conditions and not just wanting to push the contest through.
GIRLS
Manuela Mandl is once again the clear winner in the women's snowboard category. The Austrian has thus moved up into the top 10 of the World Tour rankings. Jenni Fis from Finland and Tamara Fritz from Austria took second and third place. In the skiing competition, Anna Khankevich from Russia proves her skills once again. She was the only one to beat the strong Swedes Stina Jakobsson and Jenifer Farde and was therefore delighted to take first place.
SNOWBOARD MEN
Local hero and serial winner of the freeride battle Matevz Macek was unbeatable today. Not even the explosion of form of my New Zealand travel colleague Johannes Scharl from Bavaria and the strong run of Fieberbrunn freeride legend Christoph Fuschlberger can knock the Slovenian off the top step of the podium.
SKI MEN
At his first freeride contest, Dominik Hartl from Germany is the happy winner among the skiers. He was followed by Johannes Klotz from Austria and Frenchman Guillaume Harleaux, who in my opinion deserved more than third place for his tricky run. Personally, I am a victim of my own forgetfulness: anyone who drops into the final run with ski boots in touring mode deserves nothing more than a proper "faceplant".
LOB AND CRITICISM
Great praise at this point to the organizers who really did a very good job. You could always tell that they cared about the participants. Criticism at this point, however, goes to the judging. While many other FWQ events adopt the judging criteria of the World Tour well, I was not really satisfied with the judging here. Guillaume Harleaux, for example, shows that he makes optimum use of the terrain with some nice, big airs over natural features and also finishes his run with a perfect 360. The winning line, on the other hand, only has one jump (albeit a remarkable double cliff), which is also approached with some hesitation. Judging is very difficult and always a little subjective, but it is noticeable that in some competitions the FWT criteria are not fully applied and extremely uncontrolled "heavy hitters" make it into the top rankings.
Overview of the results
Women's skiing
1. Ana Khankhevic (RUS)
2. Stina Jakobsson (SWE)
3. Jenifer Farde (SWE) Women's snowboarding
1. Manuela Mandl (AUT)
2. Jenni Fis (FIN)
3. Tamara Fritz (AUT) Men's skiing
1. Dominik Hartl (GER)
2nd Johannes Klotz (AUT)
3rd Guillaume Harleaux (FRA) Snowboard Men
1st Matevž Ma?ek (SLO)
2nd Johannes Scharl (GER)
3rd Christoph Fuschlberger (AUT)
The current FWT Ranking | as of 10.3.2011
Women's skiing
1 COLLINS, ANGEL (USA), 5050
2 HARGIN, JANETTE (SWE), 4800
3 KUZMA, JANINA (NZL), 4100
4 WALKNER, EVA (AUT), 3340
5 HARGIN, CHRISTINE (SWE), 3090 Women's snowboarding
1 KRISTOFERITSCH, LIZ (AUT), 4250
2 MARXER, ANNE-FLORE (FRA/SUI), 3570
3 WOHLSCHLAGER, URSULA (AUT), 3490
4 HOLLSTEN, MIKAELA (FIN), 3300
5 BOCK, ALINE (GER), 3140
The current FWQ ranking of the men | Stand 10.3.2011
Men's ski
1 SUNNERHEIM, ERIK (SWE), 3390
2 AMACKER, RICHARD (SUI), 2765
3 GURI, KEVIN (FRA), 2515 Snowboard men
1 BADOUX, EMILIEN (SUI), 4000
2 GUILLOT-DIAT, LUDOVIC (FRA), 3850
3 SCHNABEL, CHRISTIAN (AUT), 2970