Švancer and Müllauer start a “pointless” world (cup) trip

2023-11-22 14:19:28

The Salzburg freeskiers want to show off slopestyle on the Stubai Glacier. The anticipation for the home World Cup is great, the rest of the calendar is tedious.

After the alpine races in Sölden and Gurgl, Tyrol will now also be the World Cup venue this week, when ski freestylers compete in their first slopestyle of the season on the Stubai Glacier. Austria is represented by a trio, including Salzburg’s Matěj Švancer and Lukas Müllauer, who have already sold themselves dearly on the international stage and now want to make a big appearance at the home event for the first time.

The season opener in October at Big Air in Chur didn’t go as planned for Müllauer (23rd) and Švancer (37th), so the two of them have now concentrated more intensively on slopestyle, the supreme discipline, in the Snowpark Stubai Zoo, which is located at over 3,000 meters above sea level the freeskier, prepared. The world elite are visiting Neustift for the seventh time. “I was always there and something was always wrong. It would be cool if we could drive better there. In any case, the course is extremely difficult,” says 26-year-old Müllauer from Saalfeld.

Švancer: “I have no expectations”

Švancer, in turn, was sixth in 2022, which was also the best domestic placement to date. The duo didn’t want to define a goal. “I trained well, but no expectations. Let’s see what happens. I’m very happy,” says Švancer. The ÖSV team is completed by Tyrolean Daniel Bacher, who sensationally came second in Chur. ÖSV head coach Martin Premstaller is convinced of the potential of his athletes: “All athletes have the skills to be at the forefront.” The competition is great. With world champions, Olympic and X Games winners, the crème de la crème of the freestyle scene is represented on the Stubai Glacier.

As great as the anticipation is for the competition, which was brought forward by a day due to the weather – qualification is scheduled for Thursday and the final is scheduled for Friday – the people of Salzburg are also very concerned about the rest of the season due to the World Cup calendar. From Tyrol we first go to Beijing, then on to Copper Mountain in mid-December, before heading to the USA a second time in January. “It’s really a trip around the world and unpleasant. The costs are high and it’s not good for the planet either,” says Švancer.