Ingemar Backman Claims The Air & Style Title
Dec. 6, 1998
Innsbruck, Austria
By Shanti Sosienski

Ingemar Backman won the sixth annual G-Shock Air & Style in Innsbruck, Austria taking home $30,000 in cash, a new surfboard from Quiksilver and a fire engine red Audi Quatro A3.

Ingemar Backman and Willie Yli-Luoma

Just before the finals he said, "I am a little nervous because I haven't done a contest in a while and this is a pretty big one, but I have done a lot of contests in my time, so that helps me know what I need to do."

It is undoubtedly the largest inner-city big air contest in the world and the second largest spectator event in Austria every year. With bands like Cyprus Hill and Therapy? riders from all over the world and MTV covering the event, the contest is quite fantastic easily rivaling something like the Superbowl or a Lollapalooza concert in the US in its showmanship.

This year was a little different than other years though, because most notably missing were Terje Haakonsen, Jamie Lynn, and Daniel Franck. Franck actually attended the event and jumped during practice, but decided it was too early in the season to compete with the lack of riding he has done this fall. According to Franck, Terje Haakonsen had also decided the same thing and that was why he wasn't at the event, however rumors flew around the event that he was injured.

Michele Taggart and Tara Dakides loving life at the Innsbruck Air & Style.

The event format also changed a bit with the quarterpipe standing separate from the contest allowing 24 more riders who didn't make the list for the big air to also strut their stuff. Also, the Air & Style added women to the show this year. In the men's division a local Innsbruck rider, Thomas "Noodle" Recheis rode away with $10,000 dollars by pulling the loftiest McTwists and American rider Andrew Crawford took second place and Finland's Mikko Rajakangas took third. In the women's division there was a North American sweep with Natasza Zurek from Canada taking first by stomping a solid McTwist with Tara Dakides following close behind and Michele Taggart taking third.

The big air jump is three meters high and riders drift about 23 meters down the slops when they jump. The contest arena is called the Bergisel and was originally used for Olympic freestyle ski jumping. Surrounding the landing area is seating for the 40,000-plus people who attend the event every year. Riders and spectators alike all seemed to agree that this is the best contest snowboarding puts on in the world because of amazing turn out for the event and the level of the riders competing. For a mere $22 US, spectators get the contest, live music, parachuters dropping into the event with flares attached to their feet and if that isn't enough there is free beer and hot Red Bull to keep everyone warm and smiling.

The temperature at this year's event was surprisingly warm, which was good for competitors and made jumping easier. Climbing the stairs in the arena to the top of the jump also seemed to help keep them loose and ready for action. The big air format gave the seventeen riders two chances to hit the jump with three riders advancing to the finals. In the finals the riders had three jumps each and then the winner was chosen. It was age over beauty in the finals when it seemed pretty close between Michi Albin and Ingemar Backman for first place, however, Backman's contest experience seemed to give him the edge.

Innsbruck Overview

Results Big Air

Mens
1 Ingemar Backman
2 Michi Albin
3 Thomas Eberharter
4 Peter Line
5 Frank Screm
6 Babs Charlet
7 Fabian Rohrer
8 Chris Brown
9 David Benedek
10 Stefan Gimpl
11 Max Plotzneder
12 Willie Yli-Luoma
12 Josh Dirksen
14 Akifumi Hiraoka
15 Sebu Kuhlberg
16 Roger Hjelmstatuen

Womens
1 Natasza Zurek
2 Tara Dakides
3 Michele Taggart