Preseason

Hey Guys,

since I'm back from New Zealand, I spent most of my time with training, to get my strength back.
I worked with a training schedule and got supervised by the Bootcamp coaches.
The training schedule included a 2 times a week workout in the gym, a lot of running, climbing, stretching and exercises for a better coordination.
It was the first time I prepared myself  for the season that intensive, but I can really say I feel a difference at my skiing.
I think for free riders a good preparation is the most important thing to prevent injuries and start into a successful season.

at the Bootcamp

at the Bootcamp

at the Bootcamp

I'm proud to announce that the guys from White-World will support me in the future.
White-World is a new and innovative online shop, which offers everything you need as a skier.

Furthermore I signed with Komperdell which will support me with poles and protection in the future.
Check out their website and have a look at the very innovative freeride poles.

I also took advantage of the large amount of snow we got in December, to get some faceshots :)
Check out 2 pictures of a funny session I had with friends a couple of weeks ago:

 
I wish you all Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, with hopefully a lot of snow!

Cheers

Raphi

Goodbye New Zealand

It‘s always sad to say goodbye, especially in this case after having 2 awesome months in New Zealand.

I would like to give you a short review of my last 2 weeks after the NZ Freeski Open:

We left Wanaka right after the competition and drove our campervan all the way up to the North Island, where the last competition was held.

The Ruapehu X Treme is another 3 star Qualifier event and the only competition on the north island.

 Mt Ruapehu is an active volcano and the biggest ski resort in New Zealand.

I had a really good run with a 360 at the top and was really satisfied with ending up in third position.

After the competition we hiked to the crater and enjoyed the sunset up there. 

my Lines 1. run (red), 2. run (green)

scetchy conditions

hiking up to the crater

sunset on the top

small lake inside the crater

 After the competition we focused on one of our main goals, to climb and ski Mt. Cook.

The weather didn’t look too bad for the following days, so we drove back to Mt. Cook village to give it a try. We arrived at 11 pm at the village and decided to check out the conditions and talk to some guides the next morning.

When we had a glimpse at the Mountain range in the morning, we knew it would be really hard to even climb the summit because there was a large amount of new snow and the faces looked really loaded.
We talked to some mountain guides about the current conditions up there and what we heard didn’t make us happy at all.
“The only team who tried to climb Mt. Cook this season a couple of days ago had to turn around because it took them 16 hours to even get up half of the way to the summit.
After some discussions we figured that the summit wasn’t realistic anymore.
I spent a day of rock climbing before we drove to the west coast to enjoy the last days in New Zealand.

spending a night outside

bouldering at Mt Cook National Park

trying to hitchhike back to Christchurch..... didn't work out ;)

We hiked 5 hours up to a small hut which was located next to natural hot pools.

We stayed up there for one night before we drove back to Christchurch to catch our flight back to Europe.

enjoying the hot pool

 At this point I want to thank everyone who made this last two months to one of the best time in my life.
I’ll return for sure hopefully to find Mt. Cook in better conditions the next time. In the next months I’ll prepare myself for the upcoming season, do some climbing and hopefully enjoy some late summer days.

Cheers Raphi

TNF Freeski Open of New Zealand

Hey Guys.

I'm just back in Christchurch from the TNF Freeski Open which was held the last week in Wanaka.
I made it through the qualifications on Tuesday and got one of 12 spots for the finals, which should be held on Wednesday.

Due to strong wind and bad visibility they weren't able to hold the finals until Friday.
The waiting time wasn't that bad because we had lots of fun playing "Frisbee Golf", Ice Hokey and enjoying some awesome food.
 

On Friday midday it was finally time for the competition.
The conditions weren't that easy to ride so I picked a line threw the main shoot with 2 small cliff drops on the top, a big one in the middle and another one at the bottom where I wanted to do a 360°.

I was the first male starter, so I was quite nervous at the start.
After landing all my cliffs clean and stomping the 360° I was really stoked!!
I ended up at 5th place with just 0.2 points missing for the podium.
I am really happy with this result and looking forward to the next competition.
 

By the way thanks to Cam and the whole crew for this awesome event.

Keep you guys posted

Cheers Raphi

my Line

hiking to the start

360° at the bottom

New Zealand

Hey guys.

After 30 hours of travelling, Fabian and I finally made it to Christchurch (New Zealand) on the 13th of August.
The first thing I realized when I stepped out of the Airport was, that it was approximately 20°C colder than at home.

The next day we got  our camper van  and picked up the other guys from the airport.
The crew was complete: Christian"Gri"Reichenberger, Fabian Lentsch, Matthias"Hauni"Haunholder, Matthias Mayr, our Swiss photographer Jonas Blum, our filmer Simon Platzer and last but not least myselfe.

After some shopping, we drove our camper van to Broken River for a first day of skiing.
The conditions weren't that good, we had a lot of fun though.

The next day we drove down south to Mount Cook village to start the real adventure.
We took a flight with a snowplane and a helicopter to the top of the Tasman Glacier, which offers an amazing terrain for touring and freeriding.
The following seven days we spent with hiking lines, filming, cooking and melting water.
The conditions on the glacier were perfect, with a large amount of snow, good weather and a safe avalanche situation as well.
We got some really good footage up there, which caused, that we are planning to produce a "New Zealand Movie".
More informations about that later.

The plan for the next weeks is to participate at the FWTQ competitions all over NZ and hopefully bring some "points" back home.

Stay posted

Cheers Raphi

The last weeks of the season

Hey guys,

long Time since my last post.

Unfortunately contest season didn't end as expected.
After my 5th place in Fieberbrunn, I wanted to go "All in" in Verbier.
It didn't work out well, I had a bad crash at the first cliff because I was a bit to slow.

Anyway the "Freeride Juniors" where a great experience, which I will never forget, thanks to everyone who made it unforgettable.
I'm looking forward to the next season where I'll compete at the FWTQ.

After the competition in Verbier, I spend some time with my friends in the mountains to enjoy the last few weeks of the season.
Temperatures here in Tyrol are getting warmer and warmer, though I'll try to do some touring and even spend some time in the park.
Currently I'm planing my summer trip, which could also be a ski-trip ;)

By the way I got some Sponsor-News for you:
I signed with UVEX, who will support me with goggles and helmets during the next Season.

Check out two shots I got during the last weeks.


Keep you guys posted

 Raphi

Freeride Qualifier Chandolin

On Friday the 9 of March we (Jochen and I) started our journey to Chandolin. At our first stop we picked up Nadine and Geli. 3 hours later we ended up at a red sign: “Operalppass closed” Hurray, good work navi! We had to use another mountain pass which took us two additional hours just to be 25 km closer to our destination. So it all became something like a road trip. Finally we arrived at Dago’s place.


Day 1:
The Face was very wide but short so it offered a lot of possible lines and it was hard to chose the best one. After choosing our lines and getting up to the start we ended up in kind of chaotic starting situation. There was no starting order at all so you had to battle for your spot, so it was a little bit harder to prepare for our runs. Unfortunately one of Jochen´s binding ejected at his 360 so he got rewarded with zero points. After waiting for three more hours, Domi and I weren´t able to perform as planned, so to summarize the first day: Not good at all;-)
So the highlight of the day was the BBQ ;-)!



Day2:
Jochen had a really progressive run, but couldn´t stomp two tricks clean and finished the day with the third best score! Respect buddy! Too bad, that he crashed on day one. I also was a lot more satisfied with my run (Day2: 9th)
Nadine on the other hand, showed her skills with two awesome runs and took home the second place. Congrats!!

Here are the final results:


Although it was a really short trip, we all had an awesome time.
Thanks a lot to Dagobert for his support and the video footage. We look forward to ski another comp with you. Get well soon!!

Hope you like our small Trip-Edit: