11.05.2011QParks Tour freeski finals – The ultimate showdown
In bright sunshine and pleasant temperatures 32 super motivated freeskiers met on Sunday, May 8th at the Horsefeathers Superpark Dachstein for the big QParks Tour finals. The riders of a top-ranked starting field showed massive head to head battles and did not only fight for the daily victory but also for the crown of the whole QParks Tour! The nice freestyle day found its cozy end with good music and a tasty barbecue at the Ramsau Beach where the winners of the day and tour celebrated their victory!
The first freeskiers already showed up at the Horsefeathers Superpark Dachstein at 8.00 o’clock in the morning and marveled at the contest setup which was perfectly prepared by the shape crew around park designer Andy Röck. At springlike weather with bright sunshine but some wind, more and more riders and spectators met in the chill area and waited eagerly for the announcement of the head to head battles! After all freeskiers had been registered, the names were made public by speaker and freeski legend Nico Zacek and the head judge Stefan Hörist gave the last instructions for the contest format.
And then the action already started: The riders shredded pair-wise in their head to head battles in the categories rookies, girls and men. A very strong starting field in the category men made the spectators marvel a lot: despite the wind the freeskiers threw some massive flips and spins in all variations over the contest setup, consisting of a treebonk or a Down Rail, 2 kicker combos, a Red Bull Funbox and a special wallride end section! The points were published on a board in the chill area to make the battles more exciting – the rider who was behind had to raise the ante in the second run!
In the category men the Austrian champion Patrick Hollaus won before Raphael Schweiger (AUT) and Max Brandauer (AUT). “The contest day was really awesome, the format was great, all top riders were at the start and therefore a sick competition was bound to occur. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t that good with some wind in the beginning and bad visibility later on – but it didn’t affect me that much and I could do my runs and ranked 3rd in the final contest” says Max. The best trick went to Felix Prankl (AUT) who showed a Double Cangaroo in the finals and therefore won 200 Euros as well as a one-year subscription of the Downdays Mag. In the category girls, the Slovakian Natália Slepecká showed some nice 540s and with her sticked 720, she clearly won before the two Austrians Monika Oberreiter and Maria Blersch.
Also the level in the category rookies was amazing: The young guns showed some nice 720s and 900s, where Julius Gerhard (AUT) could convince the judgest most and ranked 1st in the end: “Well, on Sunday the park was in good shape but the wind made some problems. I made my runs, rode clean and in the end I was super stoked about the victory.” He won before Daniel Walchhofer (AUT) and Marco Ladner (AUT).
After the contest, the action went on in Ramsau. At the Ramsau Beach recreational park, the riders relaxed despite the rain with a tasty barbecue and good music and waited for the prize-giving. After the winners of the day got their prizes, the whole tour winners got crowned. In the category freeski rookies the winner of the day, Julius Gerhard (AUT), also won the crown of the QParks Tour and therefore got a brand new mobile phone with a one-year cost free contract from Red Bull Mobile. He placed 1st before Daniel Walchhofer (AUT) and Lukas Eisl (AUT).
In the category girls, Maria Blersch was the winner of the Tour and was obviously very happy: “I am super happy to be the winner of the overall ranking, it was really a nice tour with cool tour stops and a breathtaking finale! The parks were always in top condition! Of course I want to say thank you for the nice prizes and I’m already looking forward to the next QParks Tour.” The second place of the tour went to Monika Oberreiter before Natália Slepecká, who got 90 points for her victory: ”First I was stoked to receive a wild card, now I am double stoked about winning the finals and placing third in the tour! I was a little gutted that we couldn’t jump the big kicker because of the strong wind, but I would like to thank the QParks crew for the great event!”
In the category men, the winner of the tour was already fixed – Max Brandauer was uncatchable at the finals and is the deserved winner of the Tour. He also got the most votes during the whole QParks Tour voting and won a two-weeks stay at the famous Balicamp for being the most popular rider: “Because my victory of the Tour was already clear I could start into the day very relaxed and therefore I could enjoy the whole hype as well. That I won the whole Tour and the Balicamp as well is just so awesome and I’m so glad about it. I can’t wait doing my first surf turns in Bali.”
But after the prizes were given, the day have not been over yet: in the evening the adidas eyewear after party went on in Schladming at the Friends Bar, where the winners partied hard! Thereby the QParks Tour 2010/2011 was officially finished for all freeskiers and everybody is already looking forward to a new QParks Tour in the upcoming season!
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