Behind the scenes update from Wangl Tangl
Posted 03/19/2009 by Vans UK
Our man on the ground, Ian Sansom, Vans UK Snow Team Manager, has sent this behind the scenes update through from the Asthetiker Wangl Tangl sponsored by Vans.
Saturday
The Wangl Tangl is Austria's premiere snowboard event and grew out of a local's jam, so the emphasis is as much on fun as it is on competition - the week's event would feature a poetry slam, skate events, a photo competition as well as the main event itself, complete with one of the most insane parks ever built in the alps. After last year's success where Document Snowboard/Vans UK actually won the photo competition, we have entered a team again this year - James Bryant is handling the photos while British Big Air champ Richard Hooks and Mark Ruparelia will be riding. After driving for 14 hours from the UK to Austria, we arrived in Mayrhofen to the good news that Scott McMorris and Richard Hooks had both qualified for the team event during the Saturday that we were travelling. What's not so good is that Scott tweaked his knee during qualis and it's started to swell up. Sunday
With no on hill event after yesterday's qualifiers, today's focus is on the photo competition. Mark Ruparelia is having issues with his knee - a heavy landing last week is still giving him problems, so with regret he decides to pull out of the photo comp. As gutted as he is, it's the right decision. At the last minute we manage to draft Henry Jackson to take his place and James, Rich and him spend the day hiking and hitting a variety of crazy obstacles - Rich mans up and 50-50's the gnarliest bridge over a river, while Henry does about a million handplants for James' camera. Scott McMorris goes to the doctors to get his knee checked over where he gets the bad news that he's damaged his meniscus and needs to have a minor operation to repair it. The clinic in Mayrhofen is among the best in the world - within four hours he's had keyhole surgery and is sleeping off the anaesthetic. Monday
The good news for Scott is that he should be riding again in three weeks, so he decides to head back to Scotland to recuperate. His insurance is through the British Mountaineering Council and they have organised the surgery as well as a transfer to the airport and a flight home - it seems like it's worth paying for good insurance! It sucks that Scott is hurt, but he's had the best surgery possible and will be back on board very soon. The photo team head up to try and get some shots without heading into the park and I tag along with them. The day is filled with hiking and waiting for the sun to come out - in the morning it seems like the weather is teasing us, whenever we arrive at a spot, it clouds over just before we're ready to shoot. Frustration sets in. Even so, we manage to get some great shots and it feels as though we've ridden the length and breadth of the resort in the six or so hours that we're on the hill. We finish the day up tired but happy. Things are on course for a wicked event.
Saturday
The Wangl Tangl is Austria's premiere snowboard event and grew out of a local's jam, so the emphasis is as much on fun as it is on competition - the week's event would feature a poetry slam, skate events, a photo competition as well as the main event itself, complete with one of the most insane parks ever built in the alps. After last year's success where Document Snowboard/Vans UK actually won the photo competition, we have entered a team again this year - James Bryant is handling the photos while British Big Air champ Richard Hooks and Mark Ruparelia will be riding. After driving for 14 hours from the UK to Austria, we arrived in Mayrhofen to the good news that Scott McMorris and Richard Hooks had both qualified for the team event during the Saturday that we were travelling. What's not so good is that Scott tweaked his knee during qualis and it's started to swell up. Sunday
With no on hill event after yesterday's qualifiers, today's focus is on the photo competition. Mark Ruparelia is having issues with his knee - a heavy landing last week is still giving him problems, so with regret he decides to pull out of the photo comp. As gutted as he is, it's the right decision. At the last minute we manage to draft Henry Jackson to take his place and James, Rich and him spend the day hiking and hitting a variety of crazy obstacles - Rich mans up and 50-50's the gnarliest bridge over a river, while Henry does about a million handplants for James' camera. Scott McMorris goes to the doctors to get his knee checked over where he gets the bad news that he's damaged his meniscus and needs to have a minor operation to repair it. The clinic in Mayrhofen is among the best in the world - within four hours he's had keyhole surgery and is sleeping off the anaesthetic. Monday
The good news for Scott is that he should be riding again in three weeks, so he decides to head back to Scotland to recuperate. His insurance is through the British Mountaineering Council and they have organised the surgery as well as a transfer to the airport and a flight home - it seems like it's worth paying for good insurance! It sucks that Scott is hurt, but he's had the best surgery possible and will be back on board very soon. The photo team head up to try and get some shots without heading into the park and I tag along with them. The day is filled with hiking and waiting for the sun to come out - in the morning it seems like the weather is teasing us, whenever we arrive at a spot, it clouds over just before we're ready to shoot. Frustration sets in. Even so, we manage to get some great shots and it feels as though we've ridden the length and breadth of the resort in the six or so hours that we're on the hill. We finish the day up tired but happy. Things are on course for a wicked event.