Profile “YMCA” - Mathias Weissenbacher (C) (AUT), Clemens Schattschneider (AUT) & Adrian Krainer (AUT)
Team YMCA stands for “Young-Mathias-Clemens-Adrian”.
We are three young guns from all over Austria and we first met in a school named Ski-Handelsschule at Schladming. Since that time we are learning new tricks together, travel around the world and enjoy good times on the mountains or at a party.
Everybody of us is competing on the biggest competitions around the globe, like Clemens competed at the Air & Style Innsbruck and Mathias & Adrian competed at the first TTR-World Championships at Oslo.
Watch out!!!
Mathias Weissenbacher:
Rider: Hias Weissenbacher Pic: Markus Rohrbacher
Rider: Hias Weissenbacher
Rider: Hias Weissenbacher Pic: Markus Rohrbacher
Clemens Schattschneider:
Rider: Clemens Schattschneider
Clemens Schattschneider
Rider: Clemens Schattschneider
Adrian Krainer:
Rider: Adrian Krainer Pic: Miha Matavz
Rider: Adrian Krainer @ Wängl Tängl 2011 Pic: Alex Papis
Is he Spanish, is he British or is he from planet ‘Moustachio’ – we are not sure, but what we do know is Captain of Team 1966, Tyler Chorlton, serves it up a serious main course and comes back for desert. His career mantle place boasts the three British Big Air Titles, a second place and Best Tick at the Wängl Tängl – almost the only event he religiously attends each year. He rides with two personal motto’s, “All in, no tomorrow… ” and “If you’re not eating shit, you’re not trying hard enough!” Tyler has both the experience, guile, determination and savy to guide his Team 1966 towards the top of the podium. Having been a major pillar in the Pirate Movie Production stables pulling down serious parts year in year out, Tyler has proven a strategist both on and off the mountain, launching ‘Slidewayz’ his own snowboard store at home in Andorra, and pulling together his own production company, ‘What we Want Films’. Firm friends and regular riding partner of the Ästhetiker, Tyler and crew spent a couple of weeks in the valley in insane powder, and even better Après Ski… Flying in from Japan after being a month in powder, he is guaranteed to have the stoke and the legs to put pressure on any of the teams they are matched up against in the head-to-head knockout main event.
Rider: Tyler Chorlton Location: Sölden Pic: Matt Georges
Tyler is teaming up with park specialist, rail ripper and backcountry protagonist, Tobi Strauss, who is taking a quick break from filming with Isenseven to test his wares in the Tängl Team Battle format. He is the consummate Dark Horse, hailing from Berchtesgaden, residing in Innsbruck while he combines riding and studying, which would leave most people’s head spinning – but Tobi takes that to the park instead. Solid in the midfield with a steady head, an eye for lines and legs of steel, he is renown for breaking out of the back line and kicking goals. Tobi guarantees a little Bavarian skullduggery masked in Tyrolean charm doubling the trouble with a twin brother to boot. He’s coming for the title, or for the ladies, or for both… we are not quite sure yet. What we are positive about is that he will have his eye on the ball!
Rider: Tobi Strauss Location: Wängl Tängl 2011 Pic: Alex Papis
Completing Team 1966, is the big man with the big heart, David Bertschinger, hailing out of Wädenswill on the outskirts of Zurich and coming through the impressive stables of the Hoch Ybig massive. DBK as he is affectionately known, is a park and party killer, all round rider and nice guy to boot. His personality is as big as his riding, pulling down ’Rock Star of the Year’ at the Swiss Snowboard Awards in 2010 against stiff competition, DBK is rock solid ready to take it down and blow it up every second of the day – or night – your choice. Pulling down some of the most consistent and all round parts in the Isenseven production, his back door plan is to warm you up at the bar before dropping your pants in the park.
Rider: David Bertschinger Karg
Team 1966 takes contest strategy to a whole new level, their main game plan seems to be to grind the opposition down with late and blurry, rum soaked nights. As Team Captain Tyler points out, “All in, no tomorrow…” At an event like the Wängl Tängl, it is such a cunning, cunning plan… it just might work!
Gallery
Tyler Chorlton:
Rider: Tyler Chorlton Pic: Tom "Beckna" Eberharter
Profile “Off The Wall” - Iouri Podladtchikov (C) (CH), Arthur Longo (FRA) & Eric Willet (USA)
Off the Wall by name, off the wall by nature, the 8th Official Tängl Team is packing all star punch and glamor to boot. Starting out with former Wängl Tängl pugilist and Team Off the Wall Captain, Iouri Podladtchikov, fresh off his Burton European Open and World Champion Halfpipe wins, I-Pod is quickly heading to the states to the US Open try and put the TTR World Snowboard Hapfpipe Tour Champion title under his belt before returning to the Vans Wängl Tängl to prove beyond doubt his snowboard skill are far greater than between two walls.
Rider: Iouri Podladtchikov Location: BEO 2012 Pic: Tom "Beckna" Eberharter
Joining him in Team Off the Wall, is the 2012 TTR Big Air Vice Champion, American Eric Willet, having US Open, Ante Up, Dew Tour Titles plus Gold at Europe X-Games and Silver at X-Games US under his belt not to mention 2nd placing at the O’Neill Evolution just after the new New Year. Eric has exploded on to the snowboard landscape over the past two season, considered by peers to be hands down one of the standouts world wide in the slopestyle format. You want it flat, corked, inverted or reversed, Eric has it all combined with a pop, stomp and style that makes the impossible look not only probable, but logical to boot. Show him a rail, and he will rail back – he simply kills every bump, hump or grind-able feature on the hill – a style which will thrust him into M.V.P territory, and is perfectly suited to the design of the multi-line Vans Penken Park set up.
Rider: Eric Willett
Finishing up the team is one of Europe’s most under rated rider, hailing from Les Deux Alps, France, a gentleman and a scholar, Sir Arthur Longo. Former winner of The Arctic Challenge Quarter Pipe, Pirate Movie Productions main protagonist and all round good guy, Arthur quietly treads where brave men dare not go. No stranger to Austria this season, Arthur spent a month on location in the Valley during filming with PMP during one of the biggest dumps and best conditions seen in Austria for over 20 years (Show du Longo – Click here). An all round rider, his pipe skills all but guarantee to see him destroy the all new design of the Red Bull End Section. Arthur is the quiet killer type, a man of few words and consummate style – he could see as a modern day D’Artagnan…
Rider: Arthur Longo Pic: Frode Sandbech
A team that has it all, and has nothing to prove… they are sure to turn heads and toast a jar of fermented kick arse all over the course…
Gallery
Iouri Podladtchikov:
Rider: Iouri Podladtchikov Pic: Tom "Beckna" Eberharter
Jammer: Iouri Podladtchikov
Rider: Iouri Podladtchikov Pic: Tom "Beckna" Eberharter
Rider: Iouri Podladtchikov & Friends Pic: Tom "Beckna" Eberharter
Rider: Iouri Podladtchikov Pic: Tom "Beckna" Eberharter
Iouri Podladtchikov winning the Halfpipe @ BEO 2012 Pic: Tom "Beckna" Eberharter
Profile “Triple Cock” – Janne Korpi (C) (FIN), Peetu Piiroinen (FIN) & Ville Uotila (FIN)
Hold on to your hats, lock up your women (especially with a team name like Triple Cock), and get prepared for a three man ‘bang-a-thon’… Bring on the Finnish big guns, boasting three time consecutive TTR World Snowboard Tour and two time Air&Style Champion, Peetu Piironen, former Wängl Tängl Champion, Ville Uotila, and the man with the plan, Team Captain, Janne Korpi. If you wanted an all round, complete snowboard team that ticks all the boxes and is proven for kicking goals, then you need to look no further than Team Triple Cock – roughly snowboarding’s version of Barcelona in the Champions League – al conquering, all powerful… and damn hard to beat!
Rider: Janne Korpi Pic: Lorenz Holder
The power of the Triple Cocks (so named for a ‘cocked gun trigger’) starts in the midfield with Captain Janne Korpi, who rips anything put in front of him with a smooth, stylish flow that often is missed as he puts everything on the ground while setting up everyone around him with consummate ease, skills that are so slick they are often missed and always underestimated, similar to Barcelona’s Inestia and Xavi dominating central midfield. A power forward, if there ever was one, Ville Uotila would frighten most people if he could actually get the smile off his face. It is said that weather systems change directions as Ville sets and starts to wind up to launch his next trick – which often leaves the local weather dazed and confused, as he loves to wind up spins in all four directions.
Rider: Ville Uotila
And then there is Peetu, the Lionel Messi of Team Triple Cock. How does he do it? We don’t know. But he has the pop, agility, slight of foot, and stomps the un-stompable more often than a Chuckbuddy on steroids. Taking the Lionel Messi analogy, Peetu Piironen is simply a freak of nature, there is no other way to explain him in the realm of snowboarding. Expect the unexpected – you may as well, as it just happened right in front of your eyes!
Rider: Peetu Piiroinen
The triple pronged attack, defensive cohesion and midfield dominance of Team Triple Cock will definitely test all of the other teams making it to the Tängl Team main event, guaranteed to send a chilly Finish winter blast down the spine of every team that draws the short straw and is match against them in the Team Battle knockout format…
More Pics:
Janne Korpi:
Rider: Janne Korpi
Janne Korpi
Rider: Janne Korpi
Peetu Piiroinen:
Rider: Peetu Piiroinen
Peetu looking forward to the 10th Anniversary of the Vans Wängl Tängl
Profile “F.A.T.” – Flo Heim, Alex Walch (C) and Tom Tramnitz
The F.A.T. Team… featuring Flo Heim, Alex Walch & Tom Tramnitz
We are three locals, who grew up together in the most beautiful playground, the Zillertal. We always had a lot of fun riding together and so we´ve decided to make our own team for the 10th anniversary of the Wängl Tängl..
This is not the first time that we´re part of the same project, since we all were part of the argon movie last season. It was nice to see how we can work together in good as well in bad times and so we hope we´re ready for the Wängl.
Alex Walch – Teamcaptain:
Alex is a real Allround-Snowboarder who can ride every terrain. Although he prefers to be in powder as much as possible, you´ll see him going big on the pro line at Penken, when the best snow is gone.
Rider: Alex Walch Pic: Roland Haschka
Rider: Alex Walch
Tom Tramnitz:
Tom is the youngest rider in our Team, but that doesn´t mean that he´s less experienced then the rest of us. Although he had some bad luck with injuries in the last years, he´s back on board and pushing it even harder then before.
Rider: Tom Tramnitz Pic: Roland Haschka
Rider: Tom Tramnitz
Florian Heim:
No matter if it´s on rails or Kickers Flo´s main focus is Style. Like the rest of the crew he is an all terrain rider, which fits perfect into our team.
Profile X-Double – Wolle Beer(C), Steve Grumser and Max Glatzl
Straight outta Innsbrooklyn! The infamous X-Double store in Innsbruck is a big influence in Snowboarding as well as in Skateboarding but also beyond the borders of Tyrol and Austria. For the Vans Wängl Tängl 2012 we are sending the total package to make the crowd happy with a team consisting of the legend Wolle “Beerwolf” Beer (Goalkeeper), youngster Max “The Glatz” Glatzl (Forward) and Steve “The Loco” Grumser (Defensive). These guys are ready to have fun on snow and if necessary with ice-skates in their backpacks they are all set for THE GAME.
Wolle Beer:
Wolle is a true Innsbruck-legend and famous for his board control, his love for trannies and of course his party skills.
Rider: Wolle Beer Pic: Johannes Sautner
Rider: Wolle Beer
Max Glatzl:
Max is a real allrounder and drops bombs on kickers, rails, pipe and pow. Nuff said!
Rider: Max Glatzl
Rider: Max Glatzl
Steve Grumser:
Steve’s biggest passion is riding rails and street but don’t be surprised if he is putting down some bangers on the kicker line.
Profile “The Collective” – Jamie Nicholls (C) (GBR), Boris Bühler (SUI) and Tor Lundström (SWE)
Transform Gloves had to change their team due to injuries but they are back with some friends to call themselves “The Collective”.
Boris Bühler (SUI)
Boris is a man of few words who let’s his riding do the talking. Sounds like a cliché but put him on a snowboard and watch him get loose. One of the most technically gifted riders on the gnarliest rails but equally at home on big booters in the park or in the back country. Winner of the Nike Stairset battle in Switzerland last season and frequently gets the ender part on the “Crap show” edits filmed in his Native resort of Laax. You are most likely to find Boris hitting the rail section o the Wangl tangl penken set up. Boris has just been awarded a place on 32, Transform Gloves and K2 Snowboards European teams.
One of the most recognized crews across Europe, the Homies have been putting it together and putting it on the ground for years now, producing a sublime French Connection across the Southern Swiss Alps and well into France. This year saw the release of their latest video ‘Homies Grounds’ which is yet another chapter in what is always an impressive output.
Homies manager and all round good guy, Nico Droz, took a bit of time putting the team together this year with the cunning and guile of a fired up José Mourinho looking at a Real Madrid squad. His preference for this year was to lean on experience and team work, rather than other options of fresh faced raw talent in the waiting.
Rider: TonTon Holland
No surprises in his choice of Homies Team Captain, Anthony ‘TonTon’ Holland. Apart from being recently married, he has been fired up all season claiming a qualification spot for the World Snowboard Championships and fine tuning his skills in the best snow season at his home resort of Leysin, Switzerland. TonTon’s knowledge of the Wängl Tängl, it’s set up and system, is second to none having competed at the even more times than any other rider outside of the Ästhetiker organization crew, and in many cases more. Last year he Captained the ‘Welsh Airforce’ team who were will on the way to claiming a possible podium position, before an injury cut their team to two, but they powered on anyway just for the love of riding the supersized Vans Penken Park.
If there was any proof that age is simply in the head, TonTon, for shits and giggles, landed all four 10′s in a relaxed training run recently at home. He told us by phone, “Dammit, I’m going to be the first rider to do a switch b/s 10 at the age of 40!”… Knowing TonTon’s determination and love of snowboarding, we can only wonder if he will go 12!
Rider: Jules Reymond
Teaming up with the cheeky dark horse of Jules Reymond, they have a spark in their forward line not many teams will boast. Absent from the contest scene for a couple of years while on filming duties with Absinthe, Jules’s command of the unexpected, his propensity to surprise, and his ability to pull off the impossible – all the while with an infectious grin broadly across his face – regularly leaves the defense bamboozled with his Ronaldo like footwork and subtle skills. There is no doubt with Jules Reymond, you are going to learn to expect the unexpected with daring and bravado… and a polite shake of the hand. Jules’s personality is infectious, which is translated into his riding style. Smoke and mirrors, tastefully counterpointed the stomp and thump… He would scare most people if he just could get that smile off his face!
Rider: Nico Tille
Making up the third rider in the Homies team is former ‘Welsh Airforce’ ripper, Nico Tile. Never the one for glory or fanfare, Nico is the business – point. Similar to a Paul Scholes, you hardly notice the control and command that Nico puts down all over the field in a quite yet dominant fashion, there is one thing we can tell you – he’s as hard as nails! Nico spends almost as much time at home in Leysin sitting in a cat building the very structures he is going to hit once he exchanges the pisten bully for his board, often exchanging them again once he’s tested what he’s built to fine tune his latest kicker creation into the perfect launch zone. The communication between his lifelong riding partner and Captain, TonTon, is all but telepathic, and that is reflected in their almost mirror like ability to adapt and control the timing and tempo of any combined feature they hit. Substance, not flowers is the name of the game, and Nico is about as solid as the Great Wall of China!
Rider: TonTon Holland
If this line up is not formidable enough, sitting in the wings ready to dust off his riding gear is the legendary Nico Droz who is enjoying a season riding with no commitments. “I’ll let the boys warm it up…” said Nico when announcing to us his team, “But, if there is any injury… well… let’s just call it a come back!” he concluded with a cheeky smile…
Rider: Nico Tille
Team Homies represent everything that a crew team should – talent, friendship, a love of snowboarding and the passion of shredding it all as a crew. Discount them at your peril, celebrate with them and their unique approach to you pleasure. The Homies are coming home to the Vans Wängl 10gl…
Last year, due to impending weather about to hit Mayrhofen and in the spirit of the “It’s On when it’s On (only it’s on a day earlier than we expected!)” ethos of the event, all crews were informed we intended to start the event a day earlier. Then, as now, captain of The Italian Connection, Stefano Munari. put out the battle cry, only to find a couple of his team were stuck without transport and therefore were unable to make it. Fortunately this year, Stefano does not have that problem as of “The Italian Connection” is powered by the FIAT Freestyle Team guarantees. So the transport will not be an issue!
Rider: Stefano Munari
Just like in the Football World Cup, “The Italian Connection” squad combines a talented, power and style in a balanced team. With Captain Stefano controlling play in the midfield, he can draw from the experience and sublime skills of Fillippo Kratter, with power striker, rookie Marco Grigis always unpredictable and dangerous. It is the sort of team that has it all, which looks dangerous on paper and always surprises come match day. One thing is for sure, they are backing their formidable offense to make their way through the knock-out stages!
Rider: Filippo Kratter
The perfect team for the perfect set up? We will have to wait to find out, but when you look at the Vans Wängl Tängl set up for 2012 and see the all new design for the Red Bull End Section, the combination of pipe, park, rail and backcountry skills may well see the FIAT Freestyle Team of “The Italian Connection” driving home in their usual style, with a wad of cash and more importantly their first Tängl Title trophy…
As the new designer (Wolle Nyvelt shaped & designed the Cradle from 2002-2010) of the world famous Red Bull End Section, the holder of the most Tängl titles than any other rider, and the Captain of the current defending champions, Team 99, we decided to examine his strategy for wining the Vans Wängl Tängl. Steve, although being a little elusive on the specifics so as not to give away to much of his strategy, gave us these four simple steps to Win the Vans Wängl Tängl by G-Shock:
Step 1: The CAD Design Phase
We’ve always said the Wängl Tängl was by shredders, for shredders, and the Red Bull End Section is the classic example. The CAD design phase involves turning your computer on, popping a couple of cold beers, and starting to mess around with the Newtonian laws of Physics – Snowboarder Version 101 – on a design program. As simple (or hard) as this may sound, Steve looks at it like this:
“Personally, I like to ride everything, and it’s pretty cool when you are given the support, the machines, an epic shaping crew and such a large pile of snow from the Mayrhofen Bergbahnen to play with. It means your imagination can pretty much go wild. Not too wild mind you. I’d look like an idiot if I couldn’t actually ride what we built!. Each year we focus on trying to make something completely new, fun to ride and something everyone is going to be stoked on. In the past we’ve had cradles, hips, rails, transfers and most importantly, as many optional lines as we can think of… At the end of each year you end up thinking, “Damn, what are we going to do next year…!” But there is never a shortage of ideas from the Ästhetiker crew, and actually I enjoy messing around on the computer – at least when it involves designing something like this! Getting the trannies right is not so hard, you sort of do that when you are building a kicker back country to get take off and landing in line anyway. The hardest thing is to make sure it’s challenging, that is has many different optional lines, and that it works for a 3-man team hitting it all at once. I sort of work on the “Make it and they will tear it apart…” school of thought.”
Step 2: The Mini Design Phase
A computer game, while it does a great job in modeling reality, is not in fact reality – all-be-it at times feeling awfully close. Steve, being the professional that he is, takes the time to head out into the great outdoors and re-make the idea he’s pulled out of his head, put into the computer, and test it in the real world – in a mini version to start out with.
“Actually, I don’t know if the modeling stage is really necessary… I think maybe I’m just a bit of a nerd! But once you have been sat in front of the computer, tested like twenty designs, it’s pretty cool to get outside for a bit and try to check out if it looks like it will actually work in real life. You can sort of see some things that you don’t see on the computer when you make the model because you can add or take parts away and you see straight if that makes sense or not .Like with the CAD design, you can take a look at it from every angle to see if it makes sense and looks fun to ride. It also means when we hand the design over to the shapers, the CAD model is definitely enhanced and makes more sense with the Mini Design photos.
Step 3: Work with Park Crew
The Mayrhofen Bergbahnen committed to making the best snowboard park in Europe over ten years ago, and has stuck to that mission ever since. The Vans Penken Park is world famous for it’s design, access, snowboarders shapers, and constant upkeep. The early years it was overseen by Stefan ‘Platti’ Plattner, and now in it’s second year with Q-Parks it’s overseen by Bernd Mandelberger, Sven Toller and the Vans Penken Park shaping crew.
“Well… I’d like to claim I had a lot to do with the finished product of the real deal, but it’s really the Vans Penken Park shapingcrew that do all the real work. I swing by a couple of times a week to check out the progress between backcountry booter sessions to check the line and the trannies. We have meetings almost every night leading up to the event, and there is nothing better than having a snowboarder sitting in the cat – that’s for sure. What’s really cool, is we are all pretty proud and totally stoked to be given the chance to take some crazy idea and bring it to reality…. When you can do that with people like Bernd, Sven and their crew it’s even better. A little secret not many people know – give the shapers a team at the event and it is crazy how good the features turn out because they all know they are going to get to ride it…. All I know is there is something really sexy about seeing the design come together in real life. Makes you want to shred it…!”
Step 4: Ride with Team
Designing it doesn’t necessarily mean you are going to win it… you still have to ride it! But Team Captain, Stevo and his Team 99 including Friedl Kolar and Rudi Kröll (formerly Team 96 which drew their name from the combined total of their ages) did just that. Is there an unfair home ground advantage for Team 99 as the Captain designs the Red Bull End Section?
“Nah. Maybe. Probably… actually, I don’t know… ha, ha, ha! I mean, in the design process I send out some of the early designs to the Ästhetiker Crew for feedback and ideas. They also get a look at the Mini Design to make sure everyone thinks it looks fun to ride. So, I suppose we have a couple of months to visualize the lines that we want to do. Maybe, subconsciously, you get it in your mind to pick out little transfers on the mountain as you are riding around that remind you of what we are planing to build. In a way, maybe that is a little form of training. But in reality, the first couple of runs on the finished End Section, I catch myself thinking, “Woooo… that’s way bigger than I was thinking… ha, ha, ha.” But in the end, that’s why we set up the Wängl format to allow training runs between the judged runs and try to give as much time as possible to ride the whole course. I think you could probably ride a whole week in the Vans Wängl Tängl park and in the end you still find some new lines in the park which you haven´t tryed out before. And that’s exactly why we build it this way. Adding to that, you have to get your own line down in coordination with the rest of your team. Anyway, if anyone starts complaining about home ground advantage, they don’t have to deal with the ‘Beasts from the East’ (Team Absolut)..or any of the other hot ,hungry youngun huck teams..so we take what we can get to keep up with them,hahaha!”
Stay tuned to this page, we will be looking at releasing this years Red Bull End Section design in the next couple of weeks – as soon as we can get Steve out of the powder and to finish his Mini Design for this year….
