After some unfortunate weather conditions that pushed the Slopestyle competition from Saturday to Sunday, riders who made their way to the Dachstein Glacier in Austria could not have asked for a better day. Finally, the outstanding winners of the Horsefeathers Pleasure Jam 2009 can be announced!

The level of the finals was as high as the finals of a TTR 4star event promise to be! Maybe even higher! The participants really prooved their skills and showed that they really deserve to be representatives Europes boarder-elite! And now to the facts:

After a terrific kick-off day loaded with action on the Dachstein glacier, the audience witnessed a fulminate spectacle on a dreamlike and sunny day. In the end, however, only one could win the contest: Splendid winner of the men’s judging was Elias Elhardt (GER) and Enni Rukajaervi (FIN) could come out on top of the ladies. But there’s also a victory to celebrate from the Austrian perspective, as Max Weickl was able to defend his brilliant third place from the qualification also in the SuperFinal!

In the morning of the finals, one could already feel the tension in the air on the Dachstein: The riders with the best placements in the qualifications took on the challenge and competed with the invited pros at a perfectly shaped Atomic Superpark Dachstein. The Austrian favorite Stefan Gimpl had to cancell his run-out shorthanded due to a bad sore throat. At first, the Austrian fans feared for a local placement. However, soon Max Weickl showed the audience what the situation was and made the great 3rd place with a terrific run. He commented in his own words: “I’m extremely happy with my placement. At first I even had to fight for the starting-place and now I’m the third! Maybe my strategy of taking it easy and not trying too complicated stuff paid in the end!”

After a rather unfortunate run in the semi-finale, the German Elias Elhardt stood on top of the victory podium. Not only could he impress in the main-category but also could he convince the judges for the Best-Trick-Contest with his special Backside 1080 Doublecork and won a trip to the surfers paradise Balicamp! He was really happy about the results: „This was my first TTR World Tour Contest and I would never had counted with taking the first place! Of course, I’m the more happy about it and literally in heaven now!“

The ladies-contest was ruled by Enni Rukajaervi (FIN) who really showed courage and finally convinced the judges with a strong cab 540, a backside 360 and a frontside 360. She commented: “The contest was awesome and the Set-up was just perfect. My style could have been better in my opinion, otherwise I’m satisfied with my performance and the result!”

The international significance of the Horsefeathers Pleasure Jam was underlined by the Czech Sarka Pancochova who overruled the competition by taking the lead of the TTR World-Ranking with a great 4th place on the Dachstein glacier.

All participants will come together at the legendary Pickings Fam Party at the Hofbauer Stollen tonight for celebrating and concluding a splendid and successful event! But remember – the winners of the Horsefeathers Pleasure Jam are Elias Elhardt and the Finnish snowboard-queen Enni Rukajaervi!!!!!

gallery by Qparks

Results of the Horsefeathers Pleasure Jam 2009

Woman

1. Enni Rukajaervi (FIN)
2. Cheryl Maas (NED)
3. Cilka Sadar (SLO)
……
18. Agnieszka Rusin (POL)

Man

1. Elias Elhardt (GER)
2. Torgier Bergrem (NOR)
3. Max Weickl (AUT)