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ItalianoUpdated on 13.02.2022
Strong performances from the young riders andperfect deep snow conditions were on show at the Open Faces in Alpbachtal. After a two-year break, the series took place again yesterday with the 1* FWQ and 2* FJT stop in the Ski Juwel Alpbachtal Wildschönau.
Alpbachtal - Freeride sport was given the stage it deserved last weekend. Wonderful pictures, the best fresh snow and untracked slopes on the Wiedersbergerhorn. The Ski Juwel Alpbachtal Wildschönau has always been behind the Open Faces series and offers an enormously valuable opportunity to establish yourself in the freeride sport at this beginners' event. The more than 80 riders and companions in and around the Face showed their gratitude with a great atmosphere.
Enormous developments in freeride sport
After the snowfall of the past few weeks, another 10 cm of fresh snow was added before the day of the contest. On the snow-covered Wiedersbergerhorn, the juniors and the general adult classes demonstrated the enormous development of freeride sport. High-quality runs, plenty of airtime, backflips en masse and an absolute "moment of the day" with the winner in the men's ski category.
Nico Partell wins 3 incredible backflips in the premier class
With Nico Partell, a new "Mr Backflip" is growing up. Partell repeated his 2020 victory in impressive style. With his usual fast run, he started at the top with a backflip never seen before in this position. On the first kicker in the middle section, he showed his parade trick, as he did in his last victory: a wide backflip that felt over 15 metres wide. He followed this up with a third backflip in the lower section, this time without even using the artificial obstacle - i.e. the additional kickers built into the slope by hand. One "wind lip" was enough for him. With 95 points, the Austrian beat the Italian Filip Rabanser and the German Alexander Bernhard.
Ski Women was won by Ulla Gilot from Austria. She also made the most of the perfect conditions with fast turns and wide turns, taking some of the rocky ledges and "wind lips" in between to collect valuable points. Second place went to Germany's Lena Kohler, who impressed with her exceptionally good technical skiing and came out on top against local hero Vicky Candlin, who managed a solid but not entirely flawless run today.
Themen's snowboard went to Germany. Carl Ziegler took to the slope with enormous confidence and utilised the upper rock, which is very difficult for snowboarders, to score valuable points. However, he didn't sit back after that, but took another jump over a rock and then added a frontside triple. Lorenz Noichl from Austria took second place with what livestream presenters Bernd Krainbuchner and snowboard legend Flo Orley called a "soul ride" - in other words, a fluid run and a focus on enjoying the incredible powder conditions. Third place went to Spaniard Arnau Carles Subirats with a super creative run and good airtime in the upper section.
Surprise winner in the women's snowboard category
In her very first contest, Olivia Riedl from Salzburg showed that great talent is also emerging in the women's snowboarding category. Having recently completed her snowboard instructor training, you could see her great self-confidence and she impressed with super fluid riding, perfect lines and safe smaller jumps. Second place went to Natascha Pirnbacher, also from Austria, ahead of Italy's Giulia Bertolotti.
Great junior sport at the 2* FJT Stop
One thing that stands out enormously in all competitions this year is the quality of the "young stars". U18 and U16 riders are now able to keep up with the adults in terms of riding ability. This is the result of targeted youth development work by various ski clubs and is mainly thanks to destinations that organise such junior stops. Of the 5 nations taking part in the men 's junior ski event, 3 Austrians came out on top in the U-16 men's competition. Simon Zwischenbrugger skied a sensational run and came out on top ahead of Nico Traxl and Laurin Falch. The enormous fluidity and perfect line choice of the young talents should be emphasised in all 3 runs.
In the U-18 men's ski category, two familiar faces from the freeride junior sport came out on top. David Burger ahead of Florian Michelini, both of whom recently took part in the Freeride Junior World Championschips, i.e. the World Championships. Elias Grander finished in third place.
Ilona Heckl, an Austrian, came out on top inthe junior women's ski event, ahead of Tina Bliznakova from Bulgaria and Tereza Novotna from the Czech Republic. The women's snowboard competition was won by Teodora Ilieva from Bulgaria and the men's snowboard competition by Australian Vaughn Hardwick.
If you would like to watch this special contest day re-live, you can do so on the Open Faces series website. The two top presenters Bernd Krainbuchner and former Freeride World Tour rider Flo Orley also clearly had a lot of fun on the day. The individual runs are also available to view. www.open-faces.com