Drivers Trophy 2010

A dream final in beautiful Switzerland

The Drivers Trophy 2010 final was held on April 16th in the still wintery Les Crosets, Switzerland. Over 400 participants took place at the 4 qualification rounds. They travelled from all over Europe such as from Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Germany, Norway and Sweden to participate at this years challenge. The 24 best snow groomer operators were able to prove their skills at the exciting final. Also two Norwegian operators and one Swede were supposed to travel to Switzerland to the final but unfortunately this was not possible due to the volcano eruption in Iceland.
The racing numbers for the final were drawn in the morning after the game rules were explained. The competition challenge was made up of the following 4 games: “Crazy Course”, “Pendulum”, “Clap Your Wings” and “Steady Hand”. The fans such as spectators waited curiously for the start of the last games. The host Silvia Fontanive, and DJ Dario from Red Bull had the audience really going for one last time. After an exciting race the end results were announced in the evening at the award ceremony before dinner. The winners of this year’s Drivers Trophy were nominated:

1. Place: Hans Wallner from the ski resort DAG Gosau - Austria
2. Place: Dimitri Goris from the ski resort Avoriaz - France
3. Place: Samuel Wälti from the Telemorgins Champoussin – Switzerland

Besides the demanded PRINOTH crystal trophies all three winners received travel vouchers. The award ceremony in the extravagant Hotel L’Etable enabled the drivers to meet colleagues from all over Europe. They had the chance to exchange experiences and to let the evening come to an end with good conversation, with a delicious meal and a tasty glass of wine.

The winner Hans Wallner from Austria commented his victory and the entire Drivers Trophy 2010 with two short words: Well done!

PRINOTH – Drivers Trophy in the land of the Vikings

The third international Drivers Trophy 2010 qualification was held on Scandinavian grounds in the ski resort Hafjell for the first time in the history of the PRINOTH Drivers Trophy on March 24th. The 50 participants were eager and excited to start already by 10am and were curious of the playful challenges that the Norwegian qualification had to offer.

You could feel the competitive vibes between the participants and everyone wanted to take home the special crystal trophies and then to take part at the final in Switzerland. The participants waited excited until all of them completed the three different games. Intuition and skill were demanded in order to control the PRINOTH snow groomers during the competitions. The first three winners that will be travelling to Switzerland for the final in Les Crosets (CH) on April 16th 2010 are:

- 1. Place: Sjur Ringstad aus Norefjell, Norway
- 2. Place: Kristofer Olsson aus Kläppen Ski Resort AB, Sweden
- 3. Place: Terje Karlsen aus Kongsberg Skisenter AS, Norway

The foggy weather of the Norwegian fjord countryside could not affect the good spirits of the participants and fans who were watching and cheering for the competitors. The easy going moderation of Per Chr Håvødegård, modern music beats and an exceptional catering contributed to the successful Drivers Trophy qualification in the land of the Vikings. All the enthusiasm was not unnoticed by the local media and therefore coverage of the PRINOTH Drivers Trophy was shown on local and national TV. The event was further broadcasted on the radio and a detailed article was published in the daily newspaper Gubrandsdølen Dagningen.

The management from the ski resort Hafjell was also impressed by this PRINOTH event and Ole Erik Aasen, responsible for the piste preparation in the Norwegian ski area, commented:
„The event was organized perfectly, the participants are thrilled! It was a pleasure for us to host the Drivers Trophy event for the first and hopefully not last time!”

Drivers Trophy Qualification Hochfügen (Austria)

The Austrian qualification of the PRINOTH Drivers Trophy 2010 was held in Hochfügen from March 9th – March 11th. This challenging skill competition seems to be made for the snow groomer operators. A total of 130 participants from Austria, Italy and Switzerland measured their strengths and accomplished the competitions with outstanding times and much skill. PRINOTH was proud to welcome a lady amongst all experts at the start! Sandra Laner proved her ability in the driver’s seat! The following 9 participants assured their qualification ticket for the final in Les Crosets (Switzerland) on April 16th 2010. Finalists: Johannes Biermaier, Hans Wallner, Manfred Trecksel, Andreas Mölgg, Stefan Schussmann, Georg Schwab, Robert Illmaier, Hermann Jakober und Daniel Tschol. Gorgeous weather, diversified entertainment as well as all-day catering completed the daily program. Moderator Silvia Fontanive showed herself once again from her best side and created a fantastic atmosphere. The closing comments before the trip home were concordant: “The Drivers Trophy was once again amazing. “We are looking forward to the next one”, “Way to go PRINOTH!” The new games were also a complete success. Especially the “Crazy Course” seemed to be one of the favourites.

Great success at the first round in Folgaria (Italien)

The first round of the PRINOTH Drivers Trophy qualification took place in Folgaria (Italien) from February 23rd – February 25th 2010. In total more than 100 proud participants from Italy took part at the qualifications that were held over 3 days.
The first three winners of each day qualified themselves for the final on April 16th in Les Crosets (Switzerland). The lucky winners are Roberto Paluselli, Mirco Civettini, Michele Benedetto, Manuel De Biasio, Franco Soppelsa, Kurt Lanthaler, Gianni Pedergnana, Patrick Tumler and Andrea Chizzali. The participants were not only enthused by the new challenging competitions but also enjoyed a diversified program on location. Good spirits, professional moderation by Silvia Fontanive and musical entertainment by Red Bull DJ Push completed the successful daily program.
The start of the 4th PRINOTH Drivers Trophy edition turned out to be a big success!