The Mammut Gore-Tex® Mountain Mastery 2012 is history! Over three increasingly detailed and practical levels, analogous to the 3x3 filter method, the participating teams fought their way through and literally gave their all. They had to, because the level and motivation of the participants was extremely high and catapulted the entries to unexpected heights of performance. The best teams had to measure themselves against these standards if they wanted to have a chance of winning one of the prizes worth a total of 15,000 euros. The standard at the Mountain Mastery was high right from the start. But without exception, all teams, from beginners to experienced mountaineers, learned even more over the course of the Mountain Mastery 2012 and knew how to use the feedback from our mountain experts on the individual levels, so that in the end, tour reports at the highest level came out that really delighted us. All in all, we really enjoyed the Mountain Mastery 2012 with you, and we would like to thank all participants for their great commitment and openness!
Reiner Taglinger's (Mammut Alpine School) personal feedback on the Mountain Mastery 2012:
"I was really impressed by the enthusiasm with which you all worked together on this project. The execution of the individual levels was consistently top class. You can really see that you already have a great deal of specialist knowledge. I was particularly pleased with the often meticulous reports with very detailed information on the tour, planning and risk management."
The winners
The performance density in the upper midfield was enormous and the teams in question all deserved to win. It was literally a neck-and-neck race or a photo finish, so that for a short time there was even a draw. In the end, it came down to the nuances and the judges decided.
The winners were:
1st place | a freeride trip of your choice and the matching equipment from Mammut and Gore-Tex®
Team boarderlife & Team Professor Jagens and Mizzi Tant
Team Spothunter
Team schnee is schean
Team This is why! - for your dedication, despite your limited mountain experience, to keep developing and participating until the end. A huge special respect from the entire PG editorial team to you!
Reiner's brief summary of the top five teams:
Dear Professor Jagens & Mizzi Tant, dear team boarderlife - you really did a great job in the preparation, execution and planning. Above all, I was impressed by your stringent risk management in planning and execution, even if the professor in Level II would have liked to have included the 40 degree steep summit slope in the planning as a possibility - but as I said, it was only a possibility. Both teams certainly have a great deal of experience here. Of course, we hope that the Mammut Alpine School can give you a tip or two on our trip.
Dear Spothunter - you only just missed out on the winner's podium. Your tours were also consistently great, well-founded and described in detail. On the last tour, I was initially a bit shocked to be at level 4 in the planning. However, the chosen tour was really justifiable for the conditions with a 20-25 degree incline.
Dear team Schnee is schean - you also did a really great job and provided a lot of input on the tours. One or two points were deducted from the individual levels. Be it in the information or the definition of the checkpoints in Level II. The possible correction of the LLB in Level III was somewhat misleading. Correction of the LLB. I would always work with the current LLB when planning, if it is corrected downwards in good time before the start of the tour, I can still react - even if the LLB talks about a possible correction on Thursday, I would personally only plan with it when it is available.
Dear Team Triumskarat - You were also really great. You always shone with great and detailed descriptions in the preliminary planning and delivered excellent work. However, I have to say that you like to push the conditions to the limit and leave too few reserves for my personal taste. 3 tours planned, 3 aborted, hmmm. Schafkar with a good 3 hmm. Surely there are other variants and tour options where you can see a tour through to the end. So here's my tip for you, leave a little more room for maneuver at the top, that will make you more capable on tour. We would like to thank all the other participants for taking part and your great commitment, you all impressed us very much! And hope dies last: maybe the first few teams can't even make it!
Planning the event
But that's not the end of it. Now it is a matter of fast-forwarding through all the stages of Mountain Mastery 2012 once again. Because a suitable area for the final event of the two winning teams from March 21 to 23 needs to be found. We would like to ask you to confirm your availability for the event by tomorrow evening and to let us know your clothing sizes by email to knut[at]powderguide.com (if the winning teams are not available, the following teams will move up). In addition, please let us know three suggestions for the spot selection by Tuesday, March 13th in the evening in the forum thread set up for this purpose so that we can tackle the logistics for the event. To make your selection easier, our powder guru Lars or our weather fairy Lea will create an analysis for the event period and put it online by Monday evening. We would also be delighted if the other teams would actively participate in this process. On Wednesday, together with our feedback and the expertise of the Mammut Alpine School, we will then determine the spot for the final powder event and then nothing will stop us... We wish all participating teams and all readers and fellow learners of Mountain Mastery 2012 a great rest of the winter and lots of fun in the snow. We will be happy to answer all your questions, especially until the end of the Mountain Mastery final! www.gore-tex.com
