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to view 2005 Powder 8 Championships Press
Release |
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 Release
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday,
April 11, 2005
April 12-19, 2003
By: Mike Falcon
Blue River,
BC: Fresh winter snow
under blue skies presented perfect conditions
for the 25th Anniversary World Powder 8 Championships.
The annual event, held at Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing in Blue River, BC, is the penultimate
powder skiing competition.
Twenty-six teams from
ten nations compete to determine world
champions in three categories…open, women
and masters. Teams must win regional and
national events for the right to represent
their country at the world championships.
“Having the best powder skiers from around the world here
at MWHS is a real privilege. We are thrilled
to present them with deep, winter powder
(1m in the past week) and sunny skies”
said host Mike Wiegele. “Gliding through
deep powder is every skiers dream. Powder
8 competitions have been around since
man produced the second set of skis. .
“We access the glacial bowls of Mt. Albreda” (3,455m) say’s
chief of event Andy Aufschnaiter. “The
selection of terrain, deep snow and long
runs are a good test of each teams discipline,
technique and skill in a competitive setting”.
Using an elimination format, teams compete
head to head, carving out 100 or more
turns per run.
Austrian judge Josef Mallaun, a
two-time world champion explains. “Teams are judged on synchronization, technique,
turn shape and dynamics. Put it all together
and you move on. Make a mistake and you’re
out”.
The Powder 8 World Championships attract former world cup
racers, ski instructors, patrollers, guides
and celebrity skiers such as Wayne Wong the former world champion freestyle
skier who Skiing Magazine included in
its list of the 25 most influential skiers.
Austrian duo Christoph
Brugger & Siegfried Gruener stood
out again this year, skiing away with
their 4th
open title. Skiing together for 30
years, Christoph and Siegfried are best
friends who live for powder.
Two time European Champions, Caroline Melmer & Eva Schoerghofer (Austria) demonstrated precision
and grace to take the women’s title.
However it was the masters category that created the most
excitement when 6x world champion, Franz
Fuchsberger & teammate Pepi Neubauer
(USA) found themselves in a take no prisoners
fight to the finish battle with fellow
American’s Tom Riggins & Tom Truss. “After 15 yrs riding in Franzie’s shadow we
finally get our due,” said Riggins and
Truss.
Fuchsberger, displaying true championship
form stated. “It really hurts to give
up the title, but Riggins and Truss are
worthy adversaries. These guys are fighters.
They never give up”.
Results:
Open Category:
- Christoph
Brugger & Siegfried Gruener
Austria
- Hans
Peter Steiner & Host Simonlehner
Austria
- Nick
Herrin & Troy Nedved
USA
Women’s
Category:
- Caroline
Melmer & Eva Schoerghofer
Austria
- Jitka
Drizhalova & Lenka Erny
Czech Republic
3. Susanne Fuchs & Niki Oliv
Germany
Masters
Category:
1. Tom Riggins & Tom Truss
USA
2. Franz Fuchsberger & Pepi Neubauer USA
3. Greg Mainis & Dennis Bresnahan
USA
Winners share a cash purse of $20,000.00Can, extensive
sponsor prizing and an all expense paid
trip
to next years Championships along
with some post competition free skiing.
After all it’s all about the powder.
The Powder 8 World Championships are held annually each
April at Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing.
For more information and contest
photos please contact
Chief of Event: Andy Aufschnaiter andy@wiegele.com 250 673 8381
Media Contact: Marty Hansen
mhansen@wiegele.com 250
673 8381
Online at www.wiegele.com
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Mike
Wiegele Helicopter
Skiing
A
DIVISION OF CARIBOO HELICOPTER SKIING
(88) LTD.
|
Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 
April 16, 2003
April 12-19, 2003
2003 Yahoo! Sports Powder
8 World Championships end with the Knock-out
Final
Blue River, BC:
Mike Wiegele, Chairman of Mike Wiegele Helicopter
Skiing, in British Columbia, Canada is pleased
to announce the results of the Knock-out
Final held on April 14 and 16,
2003. The day before yesterday, the top
two teams from each pool in the Round Robin
Open Division (8 teams in total) competed
in the Knock-out Final on the slopes of
Dixon Glacier (9,000 ft on Mount Albreda
in the Monashees). First off in the awards,
familiar faces and 2000 World Champions
Christoph Brugger and Siegfried Gruener
from Austria powered to victory and finished
ahead of the US team of Jim Schanzenbaker
and Andy Docken who made the podium for
the first time.
2003 Open Division Champions:
Christoph Brugger / Siegfried
Gruener from Austria with 171.5 points.
Second place went
to the US team of Jim Schanzenbaker and
Andy Docken (157 pts.). Third place
went to the team from USA, Palo Razus and
Fred Fortier (164 pts).
As the weather did not
allow the competition to move forward on
Wednesday, the Women’s and Master’s Division
finally competed today in the Finals on
the lower Long Thunder Run (7,200 ft) in
the Thunder Lakes Area in the Cariboos.
The absolute cracker of a final for the
23rd anniversary of the event
was last year’s Bronze medallist team Susanne
Fuchs and Niki Oliv from Germany who returned
and denied last year’s Gold medallist team
Daniela Schuster and Michele Mistele from
Austria the repeat.
2003 Women’s Division Champions:
Susanne Fuchs / Niki Oliv
from Germany with 122 points.
Second place went
to the Austrian team of Michele Mistele
and Daniela Schuster (112.5 pts.). Third
place went to the team from Austria,
Caroline Melmer and Eva Schoerghofer (117.5
pts.).
The three time Open’s and
one time Master’s Champion Franz Fuchsberger
returned with last year’s fellow US based
Austrian Pepi Neubauer again to Blue River
and continued their winning reign against
newcomers Adam Ruck and John Hardyment from
the UK.
2003 Master’s Division Champions
(100+ years combined):
Franz Fuchsberger / Pepi
Neubauer from USA with 119 points.
Second place went
to the UK team of Adam Ruck and John Hardyment
(85 pts.). Third place went to the
US team of eight time Master’s Champion
legend Roy Cleghorn and Greg Mainis (85.5
pts.).
Stay tuned for Outdoor
Life Network, Western Living Magazine, Skier
Magazine, Fall Line (Britain’s #1 Ski Magazine),
Harpers & Queen, Spanish Solo Nieve
Ski Magazine and La Vanguardia Newspaper
for stories on the 2003 Yahoo! Sports Powder
8 World Championships.
Our special ‘Thank you’
goes to Mike Wiegele, Chairman of Yahoo!
Sports Powder 8 World Championships, the
competitors, judges and the sponsors in
alphabetical order: Albion Fisheries
Ltd., Ambler Mt. Works, Astrid’s Fine Food,
Atomic Sports, Avalanche Ski Wear, Brent
Harley & Associates, City Bakery, Dakine,
Ecco Il Pane, EEF Productions, Fairlead
Enterprises, Gravity Television & Sports
Marketing, Jytte, Kinesys Sport, Neptune
Food Service, Nestle Food Service, Norco
Products Ltd., NRG Enterprises, OLN, Ortovox,
Salomon Canada Sports, Schöffel, Skier’s
Edge, Smartwool, Superior Propane, Suunto,
The Coast Canadian Inn, The Grocery People,
Warsteiner, Worldwide Food and Yahoo! Sports.
The 2004 Yahoo! Sports
Powder 8 World Championships will be held
April 10-17, 2004 in Blue River. For more
details on this year’s event, please lock
on to www.powder8.wiegele.com.
Chief of Event: Andy Aufschnaiter,
(250) 673-8381 or andy@wiegele.com
Media
Contact: Dorte Benecke, (250) 673-2447
or dbenecke@wiegele.com
Reservations:
Carla Knollenburg at toll free (800) 661-9170
or (250) 673-2417 or carla@wiegele.com.
Box 159, Blue River, B.C.,
Canada, V0E 1J0
Tel (250) 673-8381 Fax
(250) 673-8464 reservations@wiegele.com
www.wiegele.com
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Mike
Wiegele Helicopter
Skiing
A
DIVISION OF CARIBOO HELICOPTER SKIING
(88) LTD.
|
Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 14, 2003
April 12-19, 2003
2003 Yahoo! Sports Powder
8 World Championships
move on to the Round Robin
Event
Blue River, BC:
Mike Wiegele, Chairman of Mike Wiegele Helicopter
Skiing in British Columbia, Canada, is pleased
to announce that the Round
Robin was completed successfully
yesterday on Paradise run (8,700 ft) and
today on Mount Albreda (Dixon Glacier, 9,000
ft) in the Monashees. After the weather
had moved in yesterday afternoon, it turned
into a blue sky day this morning and the
competition was able to move forward as
scheduled.
The Event consists of those
teams which have qualified through competitions
recognized by the Powder 8 World Championships
plus the top finishers from the Qualifying
Event for a total of 16 teams. The 16 teams
are divided into pools of four teams. The
members of each pool will ski once head
to head against the other teams in its pool.
The top two teams from each pool, as determined
by total points, will advance to the Knock-out
Round tomorrow.
In the MASTER’s DIVISION
four time World Champion legend Franz
Fuchsberger returned with fellow US
based Austrian Pepi Neubauer to defend
last year’s World Championship title. They
will go head to head with the UK rookie
team Adam Ruck and John Hardyment
for the Master’s title.
Defending WOMEN’s DIVISION
Champions Daniela Schuster and
Michele Misteli from Austria will
try to defend their crown against seven
other women’s teams.
Advancing out of the OPEN
DIVISION’s Pool A is the all American
affair with Nina Oequist and
Josh Lautenberg against Jim Schanzenbaker
and Andy Docken, tying with 474.5 points.
In Pool B the Canadian team Colin
Borrow and Casey Bouius (458.5 pts.)
will go head to head with the American team
of the two Tom’s Riggins and Truss
(442.5 pts.). In Pool C the Canadians
Jeff Larouche and Mark Impey (459.5
pts.) will team up against the Liechtenstein
team Marcel Heeb and Hans Burkhard (436.5
pts.). Last but not least, advancing out
of Pool D are Christoph Brugger
and Siegfried Gruener from Austria (486.5
pts.) competing against the US Team Palo
Razus and Fred Fortier (460.5 pts.).
Stay tuned for Outdoor
Life Network, Western Living Magazine, Skier
Magazine, Fall Line (Britain’s #1 Ski Magazine),
Harpers & Queen, Spanish Solo Nieve
Ski Magazine and La Vanguardia Newspaper
for stories on the 2003 Yahoo! Sports Powder
8 World Championships.
Our special ‘Thank you’
goes to Mike Wiegele, Chairman of Yahoo!
Sports Powder 8 World Championships, the
competitors, judges and the sponsors in
alphabetical order: Albion Fisheries
Ltd., Ambler Mt. Works, Astrid’s Fine Food,
Atomic Sports, Avalanche Ski Wear, Brent
Harley & Associates, City Bakery, Dakine,
Ecco Il Pane, EEF Productions, Fairlead
Enterprises, Gravity Television & Sports
Marketing, Jytte, Kinesys Sport, Neptune
Food Service, Nestle Food Service, Norco
Products Ltd., NRG Enterprises, OLN, Ortovox,
Salomon Canada Sports, Schöffel, Skier’s
Edge, Smartwool, Superior Propane, Suunto,
The Coast Canadian Inn, The Grocery People,
Warsteiner, Worldwide Food and Yahoo! Sports.
Chief of Event: Andy Aufschnaiter,
(250) 673-8381 or andy@wiegele.com.
Media
Contact: Dorte Benecke, (250) 673-2447
or dbenecke@wiegele.com
Box 159, Blue River, B.C.,
Canada, V0E 1J0
Tel (250) 673-8381 Fax
(250) 673-8464 reservations@wiegele.com
www.wiegele.com
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| Fuchsberger
outfoxes field at Powder 8 Championships |
| By
Ryan Slabaugh / April 23, 2002 |
When you add Vail's Franz Fuchsberger
to an 11-time Masters World Champion
Pepi Neubauer from Albany,New York,
then toss them into the deep powder
of Blue River, British Colombia, you
get eight.
Perfect eights, that is.
From April 11-16, the duo teamed up
for the first time and won the World
Powder 8 Championships in the Masters
Division, and would have won the open
division as well, had they entered.
Let Fuchsberger, who after winning
last year's open division with Vail's
Eric Archer retired, explain:
"I think this is one of those sports
- like golf - that you improve with
age," the 43-year-old Fuchsberger
said. "You can outfox the young guns
with age and experience. We competed
on the same hill as the men's and
women's open finals. We saw our tracks.
I know we would have won."
Fuchsberger and the 57-year-old Neubauer
were just four points off from a perfect
score of a 120 - meaning they made
only small blemishes in an otherwise
spotless run of 40 turns - and scored
better than any team regardless of
class. In Powder 8 skiing, five judges
observe head-to-head competition and
give marks based on turn shapes and
symmetry, as well as speed. The winner
advances. The loser goes home.
"For me to have Franz - I really have
to say this - as an instructor was
the difference. He was so positive,"
said Neubauer, who never competed
in any Powder 8 championship until
this year. "He kept saying, "We're
going to win, we're going to win.'
I started believing it. I had the
confidence going into the start gate."
In January, Fuchsberger and Neubauer
were talking about heli-skiing and
Neubauer said he had always wanted
to. A couple weeks later, Fuchsberger,
who has now won four Powder 8 World
Championships, called Neubauer and
asked if he wanted the chance. The
Masters division requires a team's
combined age be at least 100 and the
duo had the age exactly.
The Powder 8's were using Mike Wiegele's
Helicopter Skiing Resort as the venue.
Neubauer, obviously, said yes.
"It was better than I imagined," Neubauer
said. "I'm from Austria, and I've
never seen so many mountains just
full of powder. When he asked me,
it didn't take me long to decide.
I'm always up for new challenges."
After deciding to compete, the duo
practiced their technique in Vail's
back bowls.
"You could call that our training
ground," Fuchsberger said. "We only
skied together two days."
When the time came, they arrived a
couple days early and got the practice
runs they needed. They qualified in
first. At the end of the week, they
won the competition. All of that talk,
skill and experience added up to the
duo winning an all-expenses paid trip
back to British Colombia for next
year's World Championship.
"We knew we had a great run," Fuchsberger
said. "I told Pepi that everyone should
be happy we didn't compete in the
open competition."
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| The
World Powder 8 Championships |
| By
www.wiegele.com
/ April 2002 |
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Powder
8's News!!! Powder 8's News!!! Powder
8's!!
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The 2002 World
Powder 8 Championships were held on
Albreda.
The new Master's Champion
are Franz Fuchsberer and Pepi Neubauer
from the USA .
It was a very close call between 1st
place team Steve Dixon/Steve Smart
from Canada and 2nd Place Team.
Christoph Brugger/Sigi Gruener from
Austria. The Team from the Bundessportheim
St. Chriostph/Arlberg,
Andreas Weisskopf/Stephan Kessler
became 3rd.
The winners in the
Women's division are Michele Misteli
and Daniela Schuster from Austria,
2nd Clauadia Seisenbacher/Daniela
Schiestl as well from Austria and
3rd
Susanne Fuchs/Dominique Olive from
Germany
Congratulations
to all the winners!
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| Fuchsberger
& Archer take the field at Powder 8 Championships |
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By
www.wiegele.com
/ April 2001
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On a sparkling blue day on Paradise Glacier
in the Monashee mountain range, the teams
braved cold winds but reveled in fresh 30cm
powder to leave the closest-to-perfect Powder
8 tracks they could create. The competition
was fierce as 10 Men's teams and 6 Women's
teams competed for the coveted title of
2001 World Powder 8 Champions today, with
veteran winners Franz Fuchsberger and Eric
Archer, USA and Catherine Fortier/Nina Oqvist
Canada/Sweden emerging as the final winners.
Congratulations to all
the winners!
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| Vail
tandem bests defending champs to win U.S.
championship. |
| By
Jim Stanford / Jackson
Hole News |
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Franz
Fuchsberger is now the undisputed king of
Powder 8s competitions.Fuchsberger, a Vail,
Colo., skier who has been competing in synchronized
ski contests at Jackson Hole since 1986, teamed
with former NCAA racer Eric Archer of Vail
to win his third U.S. National Powder 8s Championship
on Saturday. Fuchsberger and Archer
edged defending champs Catherine Fortier and
Nina Oquist of Avon, Colo., by two points
in the head-to-head finals in Cody Bowl.
Fuchsberger, also the reigning world champion,
has now won the U.S. title three times with
three different partners, having captured
the 1994 and 1997 Nationals at Jackson Hole.
Saturday's victory gave him and Archer an
unprecedented "Triple Crown," as this season
the two have swept all three major Powder
8s competitions, including the Montana and
Colorado state championships.
"For us this is a huge confirmation that
we were the most consistent team out there,"
Fuchsberger said. "That's what Powder
8s championships are all about — consistency."
The two-day Powder 8s showdown attracted
23 teams from around the West. A qualifier
held Friday on Teewinot Face whittled the
finals field down to seven teams.
Last year's winners Fortier and Oquist received
an automaticberth in Saturday's finals.
Four Jackson Hole teams competed in the
qualifier, and only one advanced to the
steep and deep Cody Bowl. Ski instructors
Kris Lunde and John Lohn, runners-up at
the 1999 Nationals, had trouble with their
spacing and wound up eighth."Last year we
lost by one point because our turns were
too tight," Lunde said. "So this year
we changed that, but we hadn't had the opportunity
to see our tracks on a fresh slope."Lohn
started too close to Lunde, and although
the two skied in sync, their tracks were
asymmetrical. One glance at the tracks
told Lunde his team was out of contention.
"When you look up and see that spaghetti,
you just want to crawl in a hole," he said.
Organizers from Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
continued to tweak the format of the event,
which was changed last year to meet national
standards. This year all eight finals
teams skied head to head, with the winners
advancing to the next heats. Judges rated
the skiers on fluidity, synchronization
and speed as well as the symmetry of their
tracks.
Jackson Hole Ski School director Brian
Maguire teamed with former ski school head
Jim Kercher, now of Breckenridge, Colo.;
Joel Munn, a representative of the governing
body Powder 8s America; ski instructor Mark
Nakada of Snowbird, Utah; and veteran competitor
Hans Schernather of Big Sky, Mont., on the
panel of judges. Maguire said Fuchsberger
and Archer got off to a better start in
the finale than the women, who appeared
to carve more fluid tracks. "The girls
had better synchronization, but the boys
powered the skiing," Maguire said.
"With bigger, rounder turns, they got up
speed faster." Fortier said the women have
a natural disadvantage because they are
much lighter than the men and tend to ski
slightly slower as a result. "For
us it's really a workout," she said.
Conditions
could not have been better in Cody Bowl,
a north-facing powder stash located south
of the resort. Skiers competed in
light, knee-deep snow under bluebird skies.
"We like the powder up here," Oquist said.
"This was the best powder I've skied all
year." Jackson Hole ski instructors Rich
Lee and Jamie Mackintosh advanced through
several rounds in the qualifier but sat
out the finals after finishing 13th. Jim
Malcarne and Carol Viau and Doug Cook and
Rocky McMurtray were eliminated before round-robin
competition began.
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