Angelo Gastl. Photo: Rudi Wyhlidal/QParks

Every year, the Almdudler Snowpark Sölden impresses with a setup that is second to none. And every year, we are prone to believe that it can’t get any better than this. Well, and every year anew, park designer Christoph Schöpf and his crew prove to us how wrong we were in our assumption. And the season 2012/13 is no exception to this rule. Be it the Oakley Box, the Almdudler Jibcan or the massive kickers of the now complete Pro Line, it never gets boring! And since the park is finally shining in all its glory, it’s time for the eagerly anticipated park check!

Yes, this is the Almdudler Snowpark Sölden. Photo: Rudi Wyhlidal/QParks

Naturally, Christoph and his men are always as keen as mustard to have a nice session in their park, so they invited a whole armada of riders to the Almdudler Snowpark Sölden to put the new setup to the quality test. For hours, snowboarders Jonel Fricke, Angelo Gastl, Daniel Moesel and Max De Boer hit one run after the other. And the guys were more than impressed by the creativity of the new setup! We grabbed snowboarder Jonel Fricke for a little interview:

Daniel Mösl Photo: Rudi Wyhlidal/QParks

Jonel Fricke Photo: Rudi Wyhlidal/QParks

Now you’ve heard it, the new setup’s rocking this winter pro style! To get an idea of what we’re talking about, and check out the video edit we put together from the park check shooting. In the clip, park designer Christoph Schöpf guides you personally through the new setup. Additionally, we got a gallery with the best shots of the biggest freestyle playground in the Ötztal for you. Enjoy!

The happy winners.

A previous winner of Best Style from the German stop, Jonel Fricke, worked the mic to keep the riders and crowd stoked whilst retail partner Blue Tomato kept spirits up with warm snacks and drinks as the 24 riders braved the snow, cold and cross winds in a bid to take the MVP and a ticket to the Nike Chosen Sessions.

This is Peter Walchhofer, who received the Best Style Award

Ultimately the weather ruled the comp and with Finals unable to take place riders were judged on their performance in the Qualis. Peter Walchhofer took Best Style following his inverted FS7 tailgrab, Most Creative went to Markus Bernhard by laying out a powder run to knuckle line, but handling the tough conditions by sticking everything with style and composure was Stephan Wimmer from Innsbruck – BS5s, 7s and 9s – who claimed MVP and booked his spot at The Nike Chosen Sessions in April.

Jonel Fricke got the crowd going

RESULTS
Best Overall (MVP) Stephan Wimmer
Most Creative Markus Bernhard
Best Style Peter Walchhofer

BEST TRICK WILDCARD
3 competing riders from each stop will also have the opportunity to gain a wildcard entry into the finals ‘Nike Chosen Sessions’. Watch the tricks and vote for which rider you think should make the finals.

www.nikechosenseries.com

Overall winner, or should we say wimmer: Stephan Wimmer

TOUR STOPS AND WINNERS

DATE / COUNTRY / RESORT / RIDER HOST / STOP WINNER
16 DEC – UK – HEMEL HEMPSTEAD Jamie Nicholls Andy Nudds
14 JAN – SWE – FUNASDALEN Kevin Backstrom Joel Anderson
21 JAN – IT – KRONPLATZ Halldor Helgason Daniel Reichegger
28 JAN – CH – HOCH YBRIG Nicolas Muller Markus Mathis
04 FEB – GER – EHRWALD Ethan Morgan Felix Georgii
11 FEB – FRA – CHATEL Gerome Mathieu Enzo Nilo
18 FEB – ESP – VALLNORD Jan Scherrer Bernat Ripoll
26 FEB – AUS – HOCHKONIG Gigi Ruf Stephan Wimmer
03 MAR – NOR – TRYVANN Gjermund Braaten

01 ARP – 07 APR FINAL – NIKE CHOSEN SESSIONS

Another APO podcast dropped, and it features the lesser know riders of their team: Valerian Ducourtil, Aljosa Krivec, Johann Baisamy, Felix Cadiou, Flo Heim, Jonel Fricke, Franck Moissonnier and Chris Weber.

Enjoy!

Photo: Daniel Ausweger

A QParks video about a snowboard comp? Bring it on!

For those of you who are just interested in who won exactly, here are the results. Everyone else, scroll down for a lengthy report.

Men

1. Stephan Wimmer (AUT, 900 Euros prize money)
2. Viktor Szigeti (HUN)
3. Jonel Fricke (GER, QParks Tour Leader)

Girls

1. Daniela Kaindl (AUT, 150 Euros prize money)
2. Lisa Veith (AUT)
3. Maria Teifel (GER)

Rookies

1. Simon Reitsamer (AUT, Nitro Love Edition snowboard)
2. Roland Tschader (AUT)
3. Marc Schumy (AUT)

Best trick: Max Pölzl (AUT): One Foot over the kicker line

Photo: Daniel Ausweger

Kitzsteinhorn Ride On: A high-end freestyle weekend

A weekend full of plain sunshine, massive freestyle action and super motivated riders who demonstrated impressively their skills at the last big freestyle showdown on the Kitzsteinhorn lies behind us. More than 60 snowboarders and freeskiers rocked the contest setup in the Central Park of the Snowpark Kitzsteinhorn on April 16th and 17th. The participants battled each other on the highest level and pulled out their sickest tricks once again!

After some fresh snow in the days before the contest weekend, park designer Stefan Plattner and his shape crew perfectly prepared the setup. On Saturday, all snowboarders met early in the morning at bright sunshine to try their first tricks on the medium line of the Snowpark. Meanwhile, DJ Masstricks let the day begin with smooth beats and the first spectators grabbed some deckchairs to relax in the chill area and to watch the circus.

Photo: Daniel - you guessed right! - Ausweger

After a brief riders meeting, the command was clear: Ride on! The snowboarders had to show their skills in a 2 ½h jam session on a Down Box or a Down Rail as well as on two kickers with 8 and 13 meters tables. The day turned out best for the Austrian Stephan Wimmer who could convince the judges with his super stylish tricks and cashed in the prizemoney of 900 Euros. “Well, it was a really cozy contest, no stress and enough runs for every rider to show his skills. The level was quite good as well ‘cause there were many shredders who showed 7s and 9s on the medium line. There should be definitely some more of these contests!” said Stephan after his victory. The second place went to Victor Szigeti (HUN) before the snowboard tour leader Jonel Fricke (GER).

In the category snowboard girls, Daniela Kaindl (AUT) extended her lead in the tour ranking with her win and got a goodie bag as well as 150 Euros cash. “The contest was really awesome! Five top motivated girls who fought hard until the end. After a hard bail on the big kicker during the training session I was really anxious but at the end of the jam session I did a quite good run!” She won before Lisa Veith (AUT) and Maria Teifel (GER). The two Austrian rookies Simon Reitsamer and Roland Tschoder battled hard to win the contest. Simon was successful in the end and won a brand-new Nitro Snowboard in Love edition. The third place went to Marc Schumy (AUT). Max Pölzl (AUT) was the happy winner of a one-year subscription to the Playboard magazine for his best trick, a One Foot on both kickers.

Photo: Daniel Ausweger

In the evening the first party location was the Kitsch und Bitter in Kaprun where the official riders’ party took place. Then, the big bash went off to the end-of-season party at the Kaprun Castle. Here mainly the snowboarders partied hard until the early morning, as the freeskiers had to be fit for their session on Sunday!

The morning started again at bright sunshine with Austrian freeski elite meeting for the freeski competition at the Central Park Kitzsteinhorn. Altogether 36 freeskiers showed up for the Ride On contest on Sunday, among them the tour leader Max Brandauer, Austrian freeski champion 2011 Patrick Hollaus, Tobias Gratz, Alexander Moser as well as Felix Prankl.

Their names promised massive tricks and all the expectations were met. The riders gave a high-end freestyle spectacle: during the jam session the spectators marveled at massive 1080s, high and stylish Flatspins as well as Underflips and Corks in all variations. The triple Austrian master Patrick Hollaus showed the best style as well as the best technical run and therefore won the contest ahead of Tobias Gratz (AUT) and Max Brandauer (AUT). “The contest was absolutely amazing! The park was perfectly groomed and even though only the medium was shredded, the level was extremely high and you definitely had to bring in your a-game to get to the podium. I’m happy that I was able to stomp my switch 10. Also the jam session format was really fun, as you have enough time to improve your runs – simply great!”, says Hollaus.

The men's winners as seen by Daniel Ausweger.

At the girls competition Maria Blersch took the victory before Marlene Gerhart and Anna Szymanowska. The best trick wasn’t assigned to one of the freeski men but a rookie! The only 13-year old Lukas Müllauer (AUT) showed a Double Backflip on the first kicker and earned 200 Euros along with respect of all the judges and the other riders. Lukas was also pleased about a one-year subscription to the Downdays magazine.

Also the other rookies competed on a super high level and as a spectator you couldn’t even tell them apart from their elder colleagues. The first place went to Daniel Walchhofer (AUT) ahead of Lukas Eisl (AUT) and Daniel Kratzer (AUT). After the prize giving ceremony a lot of riders stayed to watch the shooting of freeski superstar Colby West on the special obstacle, a 25 meters gap kicker that definitely rounded off this perfect freestyle day!

And so the whole freestyle community agreed on one thing: the first edition of the Kitzsteinhorn Ride On was a true success and definitely needs a second holding next year!

All Shredheads, who still can’t get enough of the winter can now be relieved, as the freestyle season at the Kitzsteinhorn is far but over! Still the Easy Park, Central Park and Superpipe offer perfect snow conditions and already on May 7th the Glacier Park will be opened and remain so until early June!

Furthermore all young freestyle fans are reminded of the unique Power of Ten campaign – here you still have the chance to enjoy the freestyle paradise Kitzsteinhorn on 2 Saturdays (April 23rd & 30th 2011) for incredible € 10,-. This offer is valid for all visitors under the age of 19 years. More information about this campaign on kitzsteinhorn.at

All photos and videos of the event, as well as further information about the parks you can find at www.snowpark.kitzsteinhorn.at as well as on www.faceboom.com/snowpark.kitzsteinhorn.