Nissan Montafon Freeride Comp
The Montafon Valley in Austria is home to the Mountain town of Schruns and four very large ski areas. A perfect setting for the 2nd stop of the Freeride World Tour Quest series. This represents freeride competitors ranked 15-100 striving to enter the top 14 and the Big dance.
Day 1 started with the open Qualifier on The Silvettra Nova, easily the biggest ski area in the Montafon. The open, where up and coming riders can just sign up, show up, and look to show the judges and spectators what they are all about. There is no Prize money involved, only the chance to compete against the Quest Riders. 20 male and 6 female riders entered for the opportunity where 5 men and 2 women would move on. A wide open 1400 vertical ft. venue with a one hour walk to the start gate, Versettla at 2372 meters loomed over the venue of deep fresh snow. The first competitor to go was a men’s skier who promptly sloughed a huge patch of the venue and went for a little ride. It was a Russian onslaught with Pavel Lvov and Konstantin Galat dominating the field. Sergio Aranjo of Spain stood in 3rd between the Swiss sandwich of Guillame Burkhalter and Mika Voiral. In the women’s side Aline Bock of Germany and Fanny Gras of France blew away the others to charge into the Quest.
For the 2nd and final day of Competition, the riders converged on the Hoch Joch 5000 ft above Schruns. Run 1 would descend from the top of Zamanspitze 900 feet above the runs and littered with rocks and cliffs. From the top you could not see past about 10 feet in front of you as the slope dropped out of sight to reappear again well down the hill. Pavel Lvov got an early start and took advantage of it stomping a front flip off the top. Laid down some nice turns and a solid air at the bottom to throw up back to back high scoring runs. Only American Will Brommelsiek would challenge Pavel, by sticking a double into some very questionable snow, come out clean, drop a couple of rocks and have his best comp run in years. Austrian Daniel Reitmann began to show his presence snatching the 3rd highest score and a nice set up for the final. The field was cut in half and 16 male riders got one more run. The level of riding in women’s division took it up a notch as Aline Bock and Fanny Gras continued where they left off charging the run and aggressively dropping features in front of them. Annina Karvinen of Finland had her best run of the entire series to squeeze between the two in 2nd.
The final run of the Quest took place just below the peak of The Hochjoch at 2320 meters and a 40 minute hike straight up its 45 degree slope. Situated directly across from a Bierhof it allowed ideal viewing for the hundreds of onlookers who were hanging out in lounge chairs, sipping beers, and watching the Action on a sunny afternoon. There were 40 riders left. 16 men ski and snowboard and 4 women ski and snowboard to determine who would move on to Rodol, Norway. Due to High Avalanche dangerthe men went first. As the men alternated it appeared very early that most riders were heading for the left side of the venue. A few tried to rock this little chute but all got caught up, wasting valuable time. Reitmann took control from the top with a nice air into the runand then an off the hook huge Backside three, stomped the landing and pulled the highest score awarded to a snowboarder in the entire series. Dave Watson then went skiers right to enjoy untouched snow. With a fast smooth style he made everything look easy. The Judges liked it and gave him the 2nd highest score tied with Gunthar Pluner of Austria whose solid aggressive line down the center of the venue would move him up. That left 8 ladies on the snowboard side. Having dominated from the start, Aline Bock came out fast, included multiple features and stood atop the podium. Fanny Gras sealed up 2nd and Elisabeth Paul Stuck her airs to move past Annina into third. After scores for the two runs were tallied Austrian Daniel Reitmann came out on top With Pavel Lvov holding on to 2nd after an outstanding run out of the open to the podium. Will Brommelsiek rounded out the podium, having put back to back solid runs together.
All that was left was to announce the riders who would be traveling to Norway in May for The Quest Championship and a spot in next years Challenge.
Men
1. Will Brommelsiek USA
2. Raphael Bullet FRA
3. Dan Regensburger DEN
4. Max Zipser AUT
5. Dave Watson USA
6. Olivier Favre SUI
6. Ralph Backstrom USA
6. Daniel Reitmann AUT
Women
1. Berangere Moroc FRA
2. Elisabeth Paul RUS
3. Kaisa Harkonan SWE 4. Annina Karvinan FIN
Day 1 started with the open Qualifier on The Silvettra Nova, easily the biggest ski area in the Montafon. The open, where up and coming riders can just sign up, show up, and look to show the judges and spectators what they are all about. There is no Prize money involved, only the chance to compete against the Quest Riders. 20 male and 6 female riders entered for the opportunity where 5 men and 2 women would move on. A wide open 1400 vertical ft. venue with a one hour walk to the start gate, Versettla at 2372 meters loomed over the venue of deep fresh snow. The first competitor to go was a men’s skier who promptly sloughed a huge patch of the venue and went for a little ride. It was a Russian onslaught with Pavel Lvov and Konstantin Galat dominating the field. Sergio Aranjo of Spain stood in 3rd between the Swiss sandwich of Guillame Burkhalter and Mika Voiral. In the women’s side Aline Bock of Germany and Fanny Gras of France blew away the others to charge into the Quest.
For the 2nd and final day of Competition, the riders converged on the Hoch Joch 5000 ft above Schruns. Run 1 would descend from the top of Zamanspitze 900 feet above the runs and littered with rocks and cliffs. From the top you could not see past about 10 feet in front of you as the slope dropped out of sight to reappear again well down the hill. Pavel Lvov got an early start and took advantage of it stomping a front flip off the top. Laid down some nice turns and a solid air at the bottom to throw up back to back high scoring runs. Only American Will Brommelsiek would challenge Pavel, by sticking a double into some very questionable snow, come out clean, drop a couple of rocks and have his best comp run in years. Austrian Daniel Reitmann began to show his presence snatching the 3rd highest score and a nice set up for the final. The field was cut in half and 16 male riders got one more run. The level of riding in women’s division took it up a notch as Aline Bock and Fanny Gras continued where they left off charging the run and aggressively dropping features in front of them. Annina Karvinen of Finland had her best run of the entire series to squeeze between the two in 2nd.
The final run of the Quest took place just below the peak of The Hochjoch at 2320 meters and a 40 minute hike straight up its 45 degree slope. Situated directly across from a Bierhof it allowed ideal viewing for the hundreds of onlookers who were hanging out in lounge chairs, sipping beers, and watching the Action on a sunny afternoon. There were 40 riders left. 16 men ski and snowboard and 4 women ski and snowboard to determine who would move on to Rodol, Norway. Due to High Avalanche dangerthe men went first. As the men alternated it appeared very early that most riders were heading for the left side of the venue. A few tried to rock this little chute but all got caught up, wasting valuable time. Reitmann took control from the top with a nice air into the runand then an off the hook huge Backside three, stomped the landing and pulled the highest score awarded to a snowboarder in the entire series. Dave Watson then went skiers right to enjoy untouched snow. With a fast smooth style he made everything look easy. The Judges liked it and gave him the 2nd highest score tied with Gunthar Pluner of Austria whose solid aggressive line down the center of the venue would move him up. That left 8 ladies on the snowboard side. Having dominated from the start, Aline Bock came out fast, included multiple features and stood atop the podium. Fanny Gras sealed up 2nd and Elisabeth Paul Stuck her airs to move past Annina into third. After scores for the two runs were tallied Austrian Daniel Reitmann came out on top With Pavel Lvov holding on to 2nd after an outstanding run out of the open to the podium. Will Brommelsiek rounded out the podium, having put back to back solid runs together.
All that was left was to announce the riders who would be traveling to Norway in May for The Quest Championship and a spot in next years Challenge.
Men
1. Will Brommelsiek USA
2. Raphael Bullet FRA
3. Dan Regensburger DEN
4. Max Zipser AUT
5. Dave Watson USA
6. Olivier Favre SUI
6. Ralph Backstrom USA
6. Daniel Reitmann AUT
Women
1. Berangere Moroc FRA
2. Elisabeth Paul RUS
3. Kaisa Harkonan SWE 4. Annina Karvinan FIN
posted by Sudsy at
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