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Event tip | Freeride Nights

Virtual Freeride Stammtisch!

by PowderGuide • 12/08/2020
The Freeride Nights in Innsbruck have become a popular monthly fixture for the Tyrolean freeride community in recent years. People meet up for a beer (or two or three), see the usual suspects, watch a few videos together and chat about the latest powder days. As this is unfortunately not possible as usual at the moment, the Freeride Nights are now virtual! Positive aspect: You don't have to be in Innsbruck to take part!

Organizer Christoph Schöfegger explains in an interview what the Freeride Nights are all about and how exactly the virtual format works:

PG: Hi Schöffi, tell us a bit about the Freeride Nights - who are you and what do you do?

CS: We are Christoph "Schöffi" Schöfegger and Christian Gaderer and have been organizing the Freeride Nights in Innsbruck, a monthly get-together of the Innsbruck freeride community, for 5 seasons now. The concept is still the same as it was in the beginning: We wanted to create a kind of regulars' table where the freeride community in Innsbruck can meet regularly, exchange ideas and review the past weeks together with videos.

Anybody can submit his or her video to us, no matter how professional. On the event dates, we will then show the videos on a screen at Moustache, a restaurant in Innsbruck. The audience will vote to determine the winners of the evening, who will receive prize money and qualify for the grand final in April. At the final, the motto is: "Winner takes it all". There will be €500 cash and a film slot at the Freeride Filmbase the following fall, where you can present your film in front of almost 500 viewers. This opportunity has already served as a springboard for one or two young freeride filmmakers. We are of course very proud of this, as our events are also intended to serve as a kind of stage for newcomers.

Visitors can also win something! Anyone who casts a vote in the voting automatically takes part in our free raffle with lots of great prizes from our partners! Oh yes: And of course we also know the common Skibum problems. That's why our entire event is free, from entry to the raffle. You just have to buy the drinks yourself.

PG: How did the Freeirde Nights project come about?

CS: We are both enthusiastic freeriders and are also involved in the scene accordingly. We noticed that there are hardly any community events of this kind. We wanted to create a setting where everyone feels comfortable, can watch great videos and spend an evening with like-minded people. With us, it doesn't matter whether you're a Freeride World Tour athlete or completely new to the city. All that matters is the shared passion. You can also feel that in the atmosphere at the live events. We really are a kind of regulars' table for Innsbruck freeriders! Demand has grown steadily over the last 5 years and we now have over 200 freeriders attending, from complete newcomers to FWT pros.

PG: How are you dealing with the lockdown, how have your events changed as a result?

CS: The lockdown and Covid situation has of course thrown us off course. Suddenly, our events were no longer possible within the usual framework. At first, we honestly had no plan B at all: an event in front of just 30 people was unthinkable. Allocated seats without a bar, unthinkable....

Canceling the event was never really an option for us. The demand for the event in Innsbruck was far too great for that. We ruled out an outdoor event because of the logistics. Fred from the Dachsbau Club then came up to us and asked if we wanted to stream it. And here we are, on the way to the 2nd Freeride Night TV Show presented by Dachsbau.tv!

PG: So everyone can now take part virtually, even outside of Innsbruck? How does that work exactly?

CS: Yes, on 22 December from 20:30 on dachsbau.tv there will be our 2nd TV show! EVERYONE can still submit films to us until 20.12. The easiest way is to send a download link to freeridenights@innsbruck.info!

We will also have 2 interesting guests on site again, who will answer our questions, give us an outlook on the winter season and also pack the most important information about freeriding and Corona into the stream. As usual, there will also be a free raffle and hopefully lots of great freeride videos!

The most important rule for the videos is that they have to be between 1.5 and 5 minutes long and filmed off-piste! If someone has a turn or two on the piste inside, or jumps a trick from the ski trail into the powder, that's no problem, but pure freestyle park videos are forbidden.

I can give a tip to anyone planning to take part for the first time: It's the audience that decides, not a jury! It's not about the perfect shots, the craziest action or the very best editing, but about convincing the audience. So be creative and dare, as already mentioned: you can only win at the Freeride Nights!

PG: Final question: What do you wish for the coming winter?

CS: Lots of snow, that the lifts are running and hopefully another Freeride Night event with a live audience soon! Until then, we will continue to stream our events to everyone's living rooms. We hope for lots of participants and cool clips!

This article has been automatically translated by DeepL with subsequent editing. If you notice any spelling or grammatical errors or if the translation has lost its meaning, please write an e-mail to the editors.

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