The Nine Queens event returned to Tyrol, Austria’s Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis in mid-March, and as per usual, provided the ladies of freeskiing a massive castle-shaped feature on which to throw down. After a week of film, photo and heli shooting sessions, athletes engaged in big air competition on Saturday, March 16 before a large crowd of curious spectators. From start to finish, the action matched the impressiveness of the perfectly sculpted feature, and event organizers are hailing the 2013 rendition as the “best Nine Queens yet.”

The castle feature, dubbed “the Chateau,” is the result of tireless shaping by the Schneestern crew. Forty-thousand cubic meters of snow were utilized for the construction of both the Chateau and the adjacent Jib Tower. When the women took a break from throwing down on snow, photogs and filmers were eagerly encouraging the ladies to get creative in the pursuit of captivating lifestyle images—an important aspect of the ongoing film and photo contests. The athletes happily obliged, and even went so far as to dress up in  traditional Tyrolean ‘dirndl’ dresses—a highlight of featured video above.

When it was all said and done, winners were crowned in both the big air competition and the various film/photo contests. The results are as follows:

 2013 Nine Queens results

Big Air:

1. Lisa Zimmermann
2. Zuzanna Stromkova
3. Camillia Berra

Ruler of the Week:

Coline Ballet-Baz

Best Style:

Maude Raymond

Best Trick:

Lisa Zimmermann

Photo Contest:

Best action: Jeremy Bernard
Best creative angle: Christoph Schöch
Best lifestyle: Eleonora Raggi
Best diptych: Jeremy Bernard

Video Contest:

Mathieu Mazuel