"Go out and Ride" is the motto of the third competition phase of Mountain Mastery 2012. Or to put it another way: Thinking is silver, freeride tours in powder are gold! In this competition phase, the 13 teams still in the title race will have to put their theoretical knowledge into practice. In the last competition of the Mountain Mastery - powered by Mammut & Gore-Tex - it is not about undertaking the "wildest" tours possible or taking alpine risks, but rather the participants should undertake one to a maximum of three tours that suit the current snow and weather conditions as well as their abilities and tastes. The participating teams must have undertaken their tours up to and including February 27, 2012 and posted them on the PG forum.
Level 3 requirements for participating teams
It is the teams' own responsibility to plan and carry out their tours as safely as possible. Should the avalanche situation become and remain very tense in the near future, we ask you to only choose tours with a correspondingly low risk. As the snow conditions in the north are also very good at low and medium altitudes, this should be feasible. The Mountain Mastery practice level is all about undertaking tours that suit you and the current snow and weather conditions as well as the avalanche risk.
This is what is expected of the participants
Each team may enter a maximum of three tours in the race to win the final level of the Mountain Mastery. These tours must have been completed during the competition period (Level 3: 13.-27.02.2012). A summit photo of the team with a current daily newspaper in their hand (the date should be legible!) will serve as proof of the achievement or the completed tour. If you do not reach the summit of a tour, please take the proof photo from the highest point of this tour. Each team must post at least one tour in the forum. For each additional tour (maximum three) the team will receive additional points. (For teams living in the Alps: please don't just run up your home hill behind the house, but plan and do something real). We expect a minimum of ~500 meters of ascent under your own steam! For each tour we ask you to publish a short and concise tour planning in the respective subforum of the team. The tour preparation should include a short version of a risk check. Teams that neglect this important point will receive significant deductions in the S rating from our safety expert Reiner Taglinger from the Mammut Alpine School. Please add a map or map sketch with the marked tour to your entries.
At least 5 current photos of each tour should document the event.
After completing the tour, we ask you for a short evaluation or a joint summary. Here are some points that may be interesting or important when drawing up a summary:
Were the conditions as we expected them to be according to the planning?
Were the weather and avalanche conditions as forecast? If not, what was different?
How did I (we) feel about the chosen tour? How was the risk: (too) high, just right, too low (= boring tour)?
Did we reach the tour destination or did we decide to abandon it? If so, what were the main reasons?
How was the atmosphere and communication in the group?
How were the decisions made in the group?
What would you do differently on the next tour, and what would you do exactly the same again.
The special task: Giving feedback
Each team also has the task of giving brief feedback on at least two tours by other teams. The usual feedback rules should be observed here: What was good, what could possibly be done better, what tips can you give the team for planning further tours. It is important - especially for teams with longer journeys - that quantity does not win out over quality. If you provide a good tour report and well-founded feedback on the other teams, you can also achieve full points.
Another request at the end
To put it bluntly: Ride hard, but smart! If you have the impression that the conditions are not right today, leave it alone and don't stubbornly or blindly run into danger. If you abandon your tour for understandable reasons, no points will be deducted. On the contrary: If you succeed in explaining the reasons for your decision and how this situation came about in your summary, you have a great chance of gaining valuable knowledge for your next tour planning... The Mountain Mastery organization team wishes you lots of fun and success and also a little bit of luck in the last level of the Mountain Mastery 2012! To the Mountain Mastery forum
