Last weekend 159 highly motivated snowboarders and freeskiers travelled to the Kaunertal Glacier to compete at the Slopestyle Euro Cup not only for fame and glory, but also to win some valuable points for the AFP- and the World Snowboard Tour. On Friday all the riders met at the slopestyle-course to train for the main event on Saturday. The weather convinced with bluebird and sunshine and all athletes were absolutely thrilled by the setup. The international starting field included nations like Germany (a.o. with freeskiers Lukas Joas and Sebi Geiger), Austria (a.o. with Olympian Marco Ladner und Lara Wolf), Switzerland, France, Australia, South Korea, Norway, Sweden and Russia.
On Saturday the weather has picked up just as it had stopped after the training on Friday: with blue skies and sunshine. In the morning the riders started directly with three warm-up runs but by the time the first heat had started, the weather got progressively worse and it began to snow. Nevertheless, all participants were still highly motivated by this time.
Unfortunately the sky increasingly darkened and around noon the conditions got critical: the visibility got worse, the wind picked up and because of all the fresh snow the riders got too slow for the kickers. But even under these circumstances the athletes did not miss their enthusiasm. At about 1 p.m. the weather got so bad that the contest committee could no longer guarantee for the safety of the riders. For this reason the jury decided after consultation with the coaches to cancel the event.
Nevertheless, we are already thrilled for the competition next year at the Snowpark Kaunertal.
A heartfelt thank you to the Ski Club Arlberg for hosting and to our sponsors Yamaha, Leki and Zeal Optics.