From 10 to 15 September, Sölden hosted the Swatch Nines and its 40 invited riders for the first time. From slopestyle stars to freeride legends and hungry talents: The riders gave it their all.
Swatch Nines Riders Awards: Austria and France dominate
As always at the Swatch Nines, the riders chose their own best riders. At the award ceremony on Saturday evening, it was mainly European riders who scooped the prizes. Dorian Macher (AUT) won the New Nine Award as best newcomer, while the High Vibe Award by GoPro on Peter Kaiser (AUT) went.
The innovative style of Tomas Lemoine (FRA) has been awarded the Creative Edge Award rewarded. The promising talent Lisa-Marie Blanc (FRA) secured the Women's Best Trick Award. Dylan Stark and Kaidan Ingersoll (both USA) fetched the Men's Best Trick Award, Freeride Hero Bienvenido Aguado (ESP) won for the sixth time in nine Nines appearances at the Best Line Award.
The MVPs of the week were Tim Bringer (FRA) and Patricia Druwen (GER) chosen.
Rider On The Storm - the Swatch Nines documentary
And now comes the 26-minute documentary on the premiere of the Swatch Nines in the Bike Republic Sölden.
The documentary shows how the riders make the best of the snow and wind and master the course with determination and style. Their spirit and love of mountain biking, as well as their solidarity as a crew, withstand even the most adverse weather conditions in the Sölden Alps.
It's crazy and incredible to ride this course with all the others. You can't have a better time on a mountain bike. - Tobey Miley
There's just a special energy here. There's no pressure to pull out your craziest tricks - but everyone wants to show off their craziest tricks because there's this energy to push each other, do cool stuff and push the limits. This creates a unique vibe at the Nines every time. We love that. Nicholi Rogatkin
For me, events like the Swatch Nines are really important. Competitions are great, but they're not ideal for everyone. It's often not an environment where you can push yourself to the highest level. A jam like the Swatch Nines is very cool for those who can perform at their best in a less competitive environment. Everyone supports each other to learn new tricks and everyone is totally stoked at the end. - Veronique Sandler
Swatch Nines Slopestyle this year in Sölden
New year, new luck - the Swatch Nines Slopestyle is taking place in Sölden this year. From 10 to 14 September, the world's elite freestyle pros will travel to the Ötztal for the ultimate jam session. The course of jumps and drops was carved into the mountainside with brutal effort. And now a roll of snow could ruin everything.
Do you know why the competition is called NINES? The mountain bike slopestyle in Neukirchen am Großvenediger started in 2011 as the Suzuki Nine Knights. It was modelled on a freeski competition with the same name. In 2011, professional freerider Andi Wittmann hosted the slopestyle jam session and built a course with the façade of a knight's castle made of wood and boards.
Nine knights, the Nine Knights, were invited. They were:
- Darren Berrecloth
- Yannick Grannieri
- Kurt Sorge
- Martin Söderström
- Paul Bas
- Niki Leitner
- Geoff Gulevich
- Timo Pritzel
- the host: Andi Wittmann
Even back then, we went on a track walk, saw all the lovingly built stunts, such as boner logs for dropping, wall rides, drops and hip jumps and thought to ourselves: we hobby freeriders need something like that too, but in a small version. Of course, that was a noble wish that unfortunately never materialised. The original Suzuki Nine Knights in Neukirchen moved to Livigno, returned after a break as Audi Nines, took place in the Ellweiler quarry near Birkenfeld, spent a year as Swatch Nines in the Greenhill bike park in Sauerland and is now taking place this year in Sölden in the Ötztal.
The 9 knights quickly became a whole host of knights. The list of starters now includes the crème de la crème of trick bikers, such as :
- Bienve Alba
- Casey Brown
- Emil Johansson
- Tim Bringer
- Erik Fedko
- Peter Kaiser
- Kaos Seagrave
- Alma Wiggberg
Also taking part: Austria's only Rampage participant to date, Clemens Kaudela. The freeride pro and trail builder confirmed that parts of the slopestyle and freeride line will remain in place. And here we are at the point where the Swatch Nines in Sölden can also change your life, indeed all of our lives as freeriders.
Parts of the Swatch Nines course to remain in Sölden
To develop further, you need the necessary practice course. There could now be one for all of us - which would mean that our wish at the Suzuki Nine Knights in Neukirchen would finally come true: a professional slopestyle for everyone. Whether it will get the "in small" rating remains to be seen. Because if you look at the following clips, at least we can hardly imagine daring to try the features. And you?
The slopestylers will be ticking over from 10 to 14 September, including the three newcomers Lennox Zimmermann, Sara Schieder and Dorian Macher. The three of them had fought for a starting place via wildcards. It's just too bad that the Indian summer is weakening right now. Snow is in the forecast, lots of snow. For this reason, the BIKE Festival in Leogang has already been cancelledwhich is taking place at the same time and the Enduro World Championship in Canazei is also in flux. As a result, the public day at the Swatch Nines has now been postponed from Saturday to Sunday.
Dimitri Lehner
Editor
