Zogg and March take wins and PSL World Cup titles in Berchtesgaden

Mar 20, 2021·Alpine Snowboard

The final FIS Snowboard Alpine PSL World Cup race of the season went down on Saturday to kick off an exciting weekend of top-tier racing action in Berchtesgaden (GER). Switzerland’s Julie Zogg and Italy’s Aaron March finished on top of the podium in the respective women’s and men’s competition, while also claiming the season’s top World Cup honours by taking home the PSL crystal globes.

Despite challenging weather conditions and a demanding course, the sport’s best delivered an extraordinary showcase of snowboard alpine racing in first of back-to-back competitions this weekend. With plenty of tight heats through out the day and a handful of athletes still fighting for globes, the Saturday’s individual race concluded another highly entertaining PSL World Cup season on a high note.

In the women’s event it was Julie Zogg, who stormed to her second consecutive World Cup win in parallel slalom, while racing against some tough competition from the likes of Claudia Riegler (AUT), Daniela Ulbling (AUT), Tsubaki Miki (CAN) and finally Selina Joerg (GER) in the big final match-up.

By edging out Joerg in the final heat of women’s competition by just .06 sec, Zogg jumped into top spot in the final PSL ranking and thus repeated her PSL title also in 2020/21. Zogg took what was in fact her third consecutive, and fourth career PSL World Cup title on the strength of two wins and two top-5 results in four competitions this season.

The Swiss rider not only excelled on the tight track, however, as she also finished third on the parallel overall final standings with some strong PGS results throughout the season - including two top-3 spots in Scuol (SUI) and Rogla (SUI).

“This was a very tough season for me,” said Zogg, “I had some good results, always finishing in top-10, but not so many podiums. It’s so cool for me to wrap up the season with victory and the globe. I wasn’t very lucky at the World Championships, so to end the season with the PSL title makes me really, really happy.”

With Selina Joerg finishing in second place on the day, it was Carolin Langenhorst (GER), who snagged her first top-3 World Cup finish in over four years after coming victorious against Tsubaki Miki in the small final.

In the final parallel slalom World Cup standing Zogg led the way with 295 points. Sofia Nadyrshina (RUS) finished the campaign in second place with 249 points, while Selina Joerg completed the women’s podium in third place with 195 points.

The biggest winner of the season on the women’s side of things - and the most dominant rider of the year - is Germany’s Ramona Theresia Hofmeister, who recorded another spectacular season as she took her second parallel overall and parallel giant slalom crystal globes.

Hofmeister racked up three victories, as well as one runner-up and two third-place finishes for 6 podiums, wrapping up the season with 593 points. Nadyrshina took second with 532 points, while Saturday’s winner Julie Zogg rounded out the podium in third place with 512 points.

“Wow, it’s an incredible feeling to win the big overall globe two time in a row,” said Hofmeister, “I’m so thankful for this time in my life and I want to enjoy every moment and every single day. And to receive the globe here in my hometown make it just such a special day. I’m so happy."

Switching over to men’s event, it was Aaron March, who came with an impressive clutch performance to take everything there was up for grabs on Saturday in Berchtesgaden. March made his eight season of World Cup competition one to remember, as the 34-year-old veteran claimed a huge win for his career’s second PSL crystal globe, while also taking his first parallel overall globe.

March was on a mission on Saturday, stepping things up and confidently racing to his second victory of the season, while facing some tough match-ups against Shinnosuke Kamino (JPN), Andreas Prommegger (AUT), Edwin Coratti (ITA), and finally Alexander Payer (AUT).

In the big final it was Payer, who was leading the way through almost the entire race, but March managed to close the gap and out-stretch the Austrian on the finish line, snagging the win by just .08 sec and winning two World Cup titles in the process.

“I put myself under a lot of pressure today,” said March, “I was first in overall standing but I knew I had to have a really good race to have a chance to stay on top. After qualifications it was not great, but I knew what to do to be fast here. And that’s what I did. Against Prommegger it was all about who will win the overall globe and it was very tight. But I had a really good race and I’m proud that I managed to win today and take the title. It’s just perfect and I couldn’t imagine it any better.”

Payer finished the day in the second place, for his first top-3 finish of the season, while his teammate Arvid Auner claimed his career’s first World Cup podium after edging out Edwin Coratti (ITA) by .01 sec in an exciting small final match-up.

In the parallel slalom World Cup ranking March led the way with 258 points, with Dmitry Loginov (RUS) following behind in second place with 191 points, and Dmitriy Karlagachev in third with 187 points.

In the overall parallel World Cup standing March gathered a total of 424 points, with second Andreas Prommegger finishing the campaign with 339 points, and third Dmitry Loginov rounding out the podium with 333 points.

The 2020/21 FIS Snowboard Alpine World Cup season is set to conclude on Sunday in Berchtesgaden, with a parallel slalom mixed team event scheduled to go down at 9:30 CET.

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