By now Pow Wow Railbattle in Augsburg is cult within the snowboard- and freeski-scene as the season's upbeat. Snowboarders and freeskiers from all over and also from overseas came to battle for victory and glory. This year's event saw with more than 200 riders twice as many as in 2006.
The qualification heats could be still concluded on Friday without any big delays. The jam session format even allowed for an additional open training in the evening. On Saturday we saw some ferocious duel in the k.O. system between some well know favourites and some new faces still unknown in this country to gain one of the last 20 places in Superfinal. Even big names like the last year's second Mark Swoboda,the last year's third Severin Guggemoos and pros like Patrick Hollaus, Steffi Hamann and Flo Wieser had to wrap up their skis and snowboard respectively.
At 8 o'clock on Saturday evening neither the 20,000 spectators nor the more than 200 snowboarder and freeskier and the organizing crew could not be bothered by the freezing temperatures. The SUPERFINAL presenting the best 20 drivers at Pow Wow Railbattle 2007 had begun. The vibes rose high on the Willy-Brandt-Platz in Augsburg due to great performances by the 20 finalists and a super presentation. The level of the tricks had already been very high in the preceding K.O. rounds, however, now, above all, the Dutch delegation set the course.
The young 17-year-old Britte van der Pouw and last year's third Gerrit Verweij won the snowboard category with stylish and most notably very difficult tricks. Still, the result was so tight that the jury around Silli Mittermueller and Nico Zacek decided to award no last place in the snowboard-finals. The ladies' competition saw Swiss Helene Nadig and German Maya Gehrmann on the podium while Paz Gruber from Austria and German Chris Boehnke were to be found on the other podium places in the Men's category.
As the Dutchmen dominated the snowboarding, the freeskiing was rather in German hands. Roy Kittler from Pirna prevailed against compatriot Beni Mayr and the Finn Oskari Raitanen from more than 2,300 kilometres distant Jyväskylä. The ladies' competition went again to a "fridge driver" - with her 31 years the oldest participant, Belgium Katrien Aerts won ahead of Austrian Eva Patscheider and Caja Schöpf from the Bavarian Ohlstadt . With no mountains nearby she is keeping herself fit in ski halls, like some of the other skiers and snowboarder from the lowlands.. Results 2007
Freeski Women
1. Place: Katrien Aerts (Belgium)
2. Place: Eva Patscheider (Austria)
3. Place Caja Schoepf (Germany)
4. Place: Robina Romani (Netherlands)
5. Place: Kerstin Weibeler (Germany)
Freeski Men
1. Place: Roy Kittler (Germany)
2. Place: Benedikt Mayr (Germany)
3. Place: Oskari Raitanen (Finland)
4. Place: Szczepan Karpiel (Poland)
5. Place: Xavier Gehring (Germany)
Snowboard Women
1. Place: Britte van der Pouw (Netherlands)
2. Place: Helene Nadig (Switzerland)
3. Place: Maya Gehrmann (Germany)
4. Place: Andrea Lucht (Germany) & Mandy Langbroek (Netherlands)
Snowboard Men
1. Place: Gerben Verweij (Netherlands)
2. Place: Paz Gruber (Austria)
3. Place: Chris Boehnke (Germany)
4. Place: Marcus Bernhard (Austria) & Wouter de Lange (Belgium)
After the award's ceremony the party was getting started in the Cinemaxx, where finally more than 1,000 people celebrated on two floors. The DJs, Augsburg Locals like FORZAelectroniCA, DJ Stylopath, Grizu or also Roughmix delivered a vigorous battle with DJ Stylewarz from Bremerhaven and DJ Smart from Kempten. Not before five o'clock in the morning dance floors emptied and on Sunday tired but happy sportsmen strolled back home again. And everyone will return to Augsburg next year for RAILBATTLE 2008.
Pictures, videos and information about the Pow Wow Railbattle from 2005 to 2007 in Augsburg on www.powwowrailbattle.com.