In the European Snowboard Cup

Shoe size 35! Carinthian looking for the perfect material

Jessica Pichelkastner has also had a taste of the World Cup.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Sabine Payer from Carinthia carved her way to second place at the Snowboard World Cup in Rogla. She then headed straight back home to compete in the European Cup at Simonhöhe on Sunday. Someone who will also be there has to go her own way in the search for the perfect equipment.

The Simonhöhe is in European Cup fever. A World Cup is held every two years, and in between there is an ideal race slope for the young athletes one level below. In the first parallel slalom on Saturday, Miriam Weis (Lower Austria) claimed a red-white-red home victory in the girls' event. Tommy Rabanser (It) shone in the boys' event in the absence of Carinthia's newcomer Werner Pietsch jun. - as the overall European Cup leader, he dislocated his shoulder and had to end the season

I'm by far the smallest and lightest member of the ÖSV team. It's not easy to find the right equipment to be fast.

Jessica PICHELKASTNER, Scnowboarderin

Wants to make it to the World Cup in the long term: Pichelkastner(Bild: GEPA pictures)

1.55 m and 52 kilos
Pia Schöffmann, the cousin of World Cup ace Sabine Payer, came 14th, while Jessica Pichelkastner was the best Carinthian in eleventh place. However, the flat slope doesn't really suit her at all due to her stature. "At 1.55 m and 52 kilos, I'm one of the smallest and lightest - there are few comparisons. I've been tinkering with my equipment for a long time recently in order to be fast again," says the 22-year-old, who celebrated her first European Cup victory in Folgaria (It) last year. On Sunday, she will try again with her new "weapons": at 1.80 m, the board is three centimetres longer than usual - and the "children's shoes" are an extra size 35.

Sabine Payer(Bild: Copyright by Miha Matavz)

Payer arrives as World Cup runner-up
The World Cup athletes Sabine and Alex Payer and Martina Ankele, who traveled to Simonhöhe on Saturday directly after the giant slalom in Rogla (Slo), will also be there on Sunday. Sabine comes home with a second place - in the final the Japanese Tsubaki Miki was once again faster. She is having a dream season among the parallel snowboarders: Leader in both discipline rankings and in the overall World Cup - out of twelve races, she was on the podium eleven times.

Miki is certainly not unbeatable. It was always extremely close. But she's really strong this year.

Sabine PAYER, Weltcup-Snowboarderin

Payer is closest to Miki this year, is the first runner-up in the slalom (134 points behind) and in the overall standings (276!). "She's not unbeatable. I'm certainly not giving up, but she's very strong - you have to realize that," says Payer, who celebrated her first podium since mid-December with second place. "It's felt like a long time coming - so it's all the nicer that it worked out on one of my favorite slopes."