Text from contest participant and PowderGuide reporter Tobias Wohlmanstetter (blog):On 12.01.2013 the time had come: The first stop of the Open Faces Tour took place in the Axamer Lizum, near the Alpine metropolis of Innsbruck. 77 riders in the men's and women's ski and snowboard categories were at the start and went on the hunt for points at this 2* Freeride World Qualifier event! The initial situation
77 participants, mainly from Austria and Germany, but also from Finland, Denmark and the USA were registered. At first glance, the slope looked very straightforward. The upper section, a white slope without many features, gave the riders few opportunities to show off their skills. However, once the flat section had been overcome after the first third, there were many small and medium-sized cliffs further down that could be jumped. Orientation was required here in order to find the right turn-off to your line. The snow quality was very good due to the snowfall from the previous day and the landings were quite soft, although there were a few stones that were only lightly snowed in.
The contestThe first stop of a new contest series should always go perfectly. The organizers almost managed that. The only thing that delayed the start was the clouds that kept rolling in, limiting the judges' view of the contest face.
Once the race got underway, the women showed what they were made of and impressed with strong and fluid runs. In the women's skiing category, it was above all Lisa Breckner from Germany who impressed and secured first place ahead of Lea Hartl, also from Germany, and Johanna Obermoser from Austria. Jenny Farrah from the USA showed a very fluid run and some cliff drops in the women's snowboarding competition and took the middle of the international podium ahead of Liisa Korpela from Finland and Khantutia Ramos Coca from Austria, who also showed the crowd in front of the Sonnealm very solid runs. The men's podiums, both snowboard and ski, were almost exclusively in Austrian hands: Chris Fuschelberger took third place in the snowboarding category behind Alex Hoffmann and Niklas Hollsten from Finland, who was able to build on his form from last year.
Martin Rofner won the skiers' competition with a smooth run and a big cliff in the lower part of the face ahead of Konrad Dorian, who was the last skier to enter the face, and the wildcard winner of the "Linehunters Buitl Battle" Benjamin Kalra. Unfortunately, the whole competition was overshadowed by two injuries.
Editor's note: The fall of a participant is probably one of the worst things the spectators have ever had to watch live. Such a careless action does not belong at a freeride contest and could quickly overshadow what was otherwise a very successful premiere. We wish him a speedy recovery and would be pleased to receive an update from the organizers regarding his state of health, as the shock was probably quite deep for most of the riders.Update: The injured rider is doing well under the circumstances after breaking his pelvis and collarbone.Conclusion:
A pleasant contest at the start of the season, where the atmosphere was very relaxed and whetted the appetite for more competitions in the series. The next stop of the Open Faces Tour is already on January 19, 2013 and attracts the extremely interesting contest slope to Fieberbrunn!
The results and more pictures:
(The editors apologize for the sometimes poor picture quality and promise to bring a better camera next time.)
Open Faces Freeride Series 2013:
12 January 2013 OPEN FACES** Axamer Lizum (**FWQ)
19. January 2013 OPEN FACES** Fieberbrunn (**FWQ)
January 26, 2013 OPEN FACES* Hochkönig (*FWQ)
February 02, 2013 OPEN FACES** Kappl (**FWQ)
23. February 23, 2013 OPEN FACES*** Big Mountain Stubai Glacier (***FWQ)
March 22, 2013 X OVER RIDE* Kitzsteinhorn (*FWQ)
March 23, 2013 X OVER RIDE*** Big Mountain Kitzsteinhorn (***FWQ)
