Power couple Schoeffmann and Payer claim Winterberg slalom titles
Dec 11, 2022·Alpine Snowboard
Austria’s Sabine Schoeffmann and Alexander Payer had quite the weekend in Winterberg (GER) on Sunday (11 December) with the couple both winning their respective women’s and men’s parallel slalom events. The pair celebrated claiming the first individual FIS Snowboard Alpine World Cup races of the 2022/23 season with a kiss on the podium.
Schoeffmann beat Julie Zogg (SUI) to claim top spot while another Austrian, Daniela Ulbing, came out on top in the small final to leave a frustrated Melanie Hochreiter (GER) off the pace in fourth in front of a disappointed home crowd.
In the men's edition, Payer was able to beat Slovenia’s Tim Mastnak in the big final in the men’s event with Stefan Baumeister claiming Germany’s only podium of the weekend in third, coming out on top in the small final against Edwin Coratti (ITA).
The first points on the board in overall rankings have been won with 100 points to the winner, 80 points for second, 60 and 50 for third and fourth, respectively, down to one point for 30th place. Schoeffmann and Payer will also take home prize money and the leader’s yellow bibs heading into the next race in Carezza, Italy on Thursday (15 December).
“Winterberg was always a very good place for me,” Schoeffmann told FIS post race. “I celebrated a victory here in 2017. After this event, Alex and me we came together so it’s also emotional place let’s say and together, yes, we are the first time both on the podium, both on victory in a single race. Winter wonderland Winterberg, I would say.”
“Always the first race is the most difficult one,” said Payer. “You never know where you are in the World Cup crowd and you’re always afraid for the races. With the qualification best time it felt already really, really good here on the hill, then seeing Sabine win, we never won together a single competition so it was a lot of pressure. I mean you never want to lose in our relationship so I had to hurry up a bit.”
The German crowd had little to cheer following yesterday’s team competition in which none of the four pairs made it past the quarter-finals. Baumeister’s third place today was some consolation.
However, the day didn’t start well for the home fans, with last season’s overall women’s crystal globe winner – the third time consecutively – Ramona Hofmeister unable to beat Lucia Dalmasso (ITA) in the first round.
The Italian would get knocked out by Zogg in the quarter-finals with Dalmasso's compatriot Ladina Jenny – who had claimed a debut World Cup win in the mixed team event with fellow first-time top stepper Gian Casanova – knocked out by Schoeffmann in the 1/8 round.
Third placed Daniela Ulbing (AUT) will be pleased with her points haul as the 24-year-old will likely be one of the main challenges for crystal globes this season, particularly with Hofmeister’s slow start and two-time Olympic gold medallist in snowboard alpine, Ester Ledecka (CZE) out injured until the new year.
The queen of parallel slalom, Zogg, a five-time winner of the crystal globe in the discipline – four consecutively – will be pleased to place on the podium as she aims for a fifth title in a row.
The seeding for the men’s draw brought a humdinger of a first race with Andreas Prommegger (AUT) up against Baumeister. Prommegger, a two-time world champion, was knocked out by the German but still came away from the weekend with a second place in the mixed team event with compatriot Ulbing, although straddling the final gate meant they were relegated from an initial top spot.
The second heat was also dramatic. The all-Italian tie saw Maurizio Bormolini beat legendary rider Roland Fischnaller, a six-time Olympian who has not ruled out competing on home snow at Milano Cortina 2026 to try to claim an elusive Olympic medal. The two couldn’t be separated, finishing in a dead heat, with Bormolini progressing due to his better qualifying time.
Another surprise saw Matthaeus Pink (AUT) beat compatriot and third-place finisher in parallel slalom last season Arvid Auner, while last year’s overall crystal globe winner, Sangho Lee (KOR) was annoyed after his mistake enabled Dario Caviezel (SUI) to claim the tie.
Coratti knocked out number three seed and one of the favourites for this race, Benny Karl in the quarter-finals before going on to lose to Mastnak in the semi-final. The 31-year-old Slovenian, an Olympic silver medallist, claimed his first slalom medal of his career, particularly pleasing for him as he’s more renowned as a parallel giant slalom specialist.
Riders now look to Italy as the first parallel giant slalom races of the season start on Thursday (15 Dec) in Carezza.
QUICK LINKS
Winterberg World Cup FIS data page (start lists, results, etc.)
