The Open Faces make a stop in Salzburger Land: While it was still overcast the day before, the Aberg in Maria Alm showed its best side on Saturday, 26 January and gave the 74 starters at the OPEN FACES *FWQ Hochkönig a warm welcome. Hosting a Freeride World Qualifier for the first time, the Hochkönig ski region more than did justice to a 1-star event. Creative lines and clean jumps were required to win points from the judges. Ferdinand Winter (ski/AUT), Johanna Obermoser (ski/AUT), Niklas Hollsten (snowboard/FIN) and Jenny Farrah (snowboard/USA) knew how to get the best out of the face and won in their respective categories.The third stop of the OPEN FACES Freeride Series brought two new and two old winners. Austrian skiers Ferdinand Winter and Johanna Obermoser finished at the top for the first time. As at the OPEN FACES** Axamer Lizum, Niklas Hollsten and Jenny Farrah were successful among the snowboarders. Ferdinand Winter from Obertauern chose the OPEN FACES* Hochkönig for his first competition after a year out of contests. Although the face was too short for him and offered few features, it was still a pleasure for him to ride the Aberg. His Austrian compatriot Johanna Obermoser had only started riding contests with the OPEN FACES Freeride Series and was right at the top of the podium at her third start. She achieved her goal of not crashing and came out on top in the women's ski category.
The audience saw two familiar faces in first place among the snowboarders. Niklas Hollsten celebrated his second victory in the OPEN FACES Freeride Series. As with his run in the Axamer Lizum, the face on the Hochkönig was surprisingly better than expected for him, so we will definitely be seeing the Finn again at the OPEN FACES*** Stubai. The audience on the Hochkönig was able to applaud the same winner as in the Axamer Lizum in the women's snowboard category. With only two female snowboarders in the competition, the American-Austrian by choice Jenny Farrah came out on top ahead of Stephanie Posch (AUT) and was satisfied that she "didn't really tumble down". Although the conditions were more difficult than at the last two stops, it went quite well for her. In her opinion, the fact that the face had been ridiculed by riders in advance had to do with the fact that it was very short and there were few opportunities to stand out from below. But the OPEN FACES crew pointed out that they select attractive faces according to the number of stars. The next OPEN FACES stop will be the 2* event on February 2, 2013 in Kappl in the Paznaun Valley. Kappl, once known as a cozy insider tip, wants to show off its freeride potential next Saturday and can draw on the full potential. The upcoming contest slope is probably the most challenging and interesting competition slope in the Open Faces series to date.
The winners:
Snowboard women:1. Jenny Farrah (USA)
2. Stefanie Posch (AUT) Snowboard men:1. Niklas Hollsten (FIN)
2. Matthias Zauner (AUT)
3. Roland Pühringer (AUT)Ski women:1. Johanna Obermoser (AUT)
2. Sabine Schipflinger (AUT)
3. Jacoba Kriechmayr (GER) Men's skiing:
1. Ferdinand Winter (AUT)
2. Michael Durstberger (AUT)
3. Rene Riegler (AUT)
The results list (PDF) and more pictures:
Open Faces Freeride Series 2013:
January 12, 2013 OPEN FACES** Axamer Lizum (**FWQ) (read report)
January 19, 2013 OPEN FACES** Fieberbrunn (**FWQ) (read report)
26. January 2013 OPEN FACES* Hochkönig (*FWQ)
February 02, 2013 OPEN FACES** Kappl (**FWQ)
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)
