Event Check - The Quiksilver Spring Battle 2011
The traveling TTR circus arrived in town two weeks ago for the Quiksilver Spring Battle, a four star slopestyle event run by the Shuttleberg Flachauwinkl and the infamous Absolut Park shaping team. Even though I live in Flachau and the Absolut Park is my local stomping ground I couldn’t watch the competition because of work commitments. Not to worry, this year’s Spring Battle was different; the event was to be judged in-front of a crowd at the after party. I’m not one to miss a good knees-up so I grabbed some beer tokens and headed into town to witness the first ever competition with post competition video judging in-front of an audience.
The Official Quiksilver Spring Battle Competition Video
Before the video judging all of the finalists were asked to select one run from three filmed during the day. The run was played on the big screen and the riders run was scored by the judging panel which consisted of Zillertal ripper and last year’s winner Werni Stock who was out of action with a broken wrist, Tom Klocker who was out with the same injury, Pirates rider Lars Oesterle and Aesthetiker co-founder and one of the most experienced competition judges in Europe, Bernd Egger. The judges called their scores by holding up a chalk board in front of the crowd. Werni Stock received a bit of a ribbing from Britain’s MC duo Henry Jackson and John Weaver for consistently calling the lowest score and the judges were bombarded with ice by a slightly inebriated Chris Cab who disagreed with Clemens Schattschnaider’s score after sticking one of the most styled and tweaked bs1080 double corks ever stomped and failing to overthrow Ville Paumola’s switch bs9 to fs10 combo. It was taken in good humour by the judges. If you’ve already watched the video you’ll know that Ville sat in the winner’s throne from the start until the very last two riders. Marco ‘Grillionaire’ Grilc nestled himself between the two Monster girls perched on the arms of the chair for a very brief stretch until Belgian superstar Seppe Smits run was aired on the big screen, a rock solid cab12 to bs10 was enough for Seppe to take first and claim his first TTR competition win.
After the cheques had been handed out and contest organiser and Absolut Park head honcho Seppi Harml had said a few words and received a good few cheers from a local crowd, the party got underway. German punk band Cashless kicked off the tunes and were followed by DJ Teddy O who rocked the party with some old school hip hop, it was a refreshing change to be in a venue with a drink in my hand without even one bar of Après Ski Euro Pop entering my consciousness. Having sampled every spirit and Monster combination going I followed the riders and the rest of the rabble to Fire & Ice, Flachau’s flashiest nightspot for expensive cocktails and an extensive hangover.
The proof as to whether video judging takes off in a big way on the TTR circuit is in the pudding. In my personal opinion I felt it really helped kick off the evening’s partying. The crowd got a second (or first) chance to see the action; the judging was transparent and I got the impression had somebody placed higher or lower than they deserved the crowd would have kicked up a storm; and most importantly the riders looked like they were having a good time. For big events like the X Games and the Dew Tour, forget it, but for events like the Quiksilver Spring Battle where the agenda is more focused on progressive riding and fun times than gold medals and weighty cheques, it’s a great addition. Congratulations to everybody involved in creating such a fun event and unique format.
Posted by Rich Ewbank in Blog & News.
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