Delaying the Hochkar Open 2011 to March 5th was really worth it: at brightest sunshine, 31 snowboarders and freeskiers met in the Senoner´Park Hochkar to show their best tricks at the Big Air Contest. A crowd of Freestyle freaks made themselves comfortable at the Chill Area next to the Moreboards truck and a nice Sport´ Senoner Barbecue to enjoy the extra class freestyle spectacle.
When the first riders entered the Chill area of the Senoner´park Hochkar, they didn´t know whether they´re dreaming or not: a huge truck stood in the middle of the park spreading the smell of a Barbecue for breakfast. However, at second glance the Moreboards truck was still there and Albert Senoner was already preparing the first sausages and steaks. The freeskiers and snowboarders met at the Chill Area accompanied by humming beats of DJ G-Dog before they made their first runs on the Big Air Kicker under a clear blue sky. Already at the training, the audience got to see a massive set of freestyle action with 7s and 9s in all variations. Throughout the whole day, local hero and speaker Felix Prankl entertained the crowd with witty charm and real insider’s information. After explaining the contest process at the riders meeting and the judges’ introduction, the qualifications eventually started out at 11:00 am.
Hochkar Open 2011 – It´s getting serious!
All snowboarders and freeskiers had three runs, wherefrom the two better ones counted. The rookies and girls made already clear at the qualifications who the winners would be. The judges didn’t have an easy job though after all riders completed the qualifying. They calculated and discussed quite a lot until the results were fixed. Freeski rookie Niels Preham (AUT) was able to celebrate his victory and a new pair of freeskies. Also snowboard rookie Stefan Hager received a new Burton Snowboard from Albert Senoner for his first place. At the snowboard girls, Daniela Kaindl (AUT) convinced with her switch variations above all others and her colleague Moni Oberreiter (AUT) won the Big Air Contest on two boards with a nice 540. “Totally cool, everything fitted. Nice atmosphere, Bluebird, perfect organization and heaps of motivated riders. What else could you want?” she comments on her victory.
In the meantime, parkdesigner Mike Aflenzer and his crew put the two Kickers in perfect shape again while all riders and freestyle freaks were relaxing at the Chill Area and allowed themselves sausages and steak sandwiches. Hochkar local Chris “Zuli” Zulechner was impressed by the setup and the good vibes: “Yeahh, Hochkar Open 2011, a nice Big Air Contest with good weather, lots of good riders, freaky crowd, a nice contest line and last but not least the tasty Barbecue of Albert Senoner.” Another highlight were for sure the stands of NITRO and Burton where the visitors were able to test the boards of the next season.
Big showdown in the finals
Finally the finalists of the Hochkar Open 2011 were definite: Six snowboarders and five freeskiers had three runs, whereas the two better runs of them counted. At the freeskiers, the Austrian Max Brandauer got the most points by the judges for his Switch 9 Mute, Switch Rodeo 7 Mute and a Big Switch 10 Mute. Markus Androsch (AUT) came in second and Alex Moser (AUT) on the third place. Thereby, Max could collect important points for the QParks Tour and increased his lead. Also he gained 700€ prize money and goodies by Sport’Senoner, Moreboards and Raiffeisen Club.
Kick-ass snowboarder in the males’ final: Snowboard Pro Michael “Stani” Stanschitz showed a FS 7 Backside Grab, a BS 7 Indy and a FS 9 Backside grab and jumped to the first place ahead of Marvin Salmina (AUT) on the second place and Roland Scharmer (AUT) on the third. After his victory Stani said: “Nice weather, great contest and I´m happy to be here again where I started skiing as a little child after a long time. I just came back on Wednesday from filming in Japan still having a little jetlag but everything went fine today though.”
After the prizegiving ceremony all riders enjoyed the comfy music in the last sunbeams before they headed off to the afterparty in the JoSchibar.
QParks Tour Riders Voting
Also for the third QParks Tour Stop some riders registered online to get more votes on their profile. But not only to get the most voted rider of the Tour but also to win a trip to the Balicamp. Even the Voters can win: At this Tourstop, Manuel Brandauer, the brother of freeski winner Max, certainly counted on his bro and thus has been drawn as the winner a highquality TSG QParks Helmet. At the end of the Tour, all voters have the chance to win a trip to the Balicamp including flight, accommodation and surf guiding – it definitely pays to take part!
