The 5th Natives Workers Challenge in St Anton saw the Rossignol Big Air hit new heights figuratively and literally...

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With a forecast of snow during the morning, competitors and spectators were delighted when the freezing cold wind turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it blew away the clouds and brought out the sunshine.

Perfect conditions greeted the start of this year's Big Air comp and a large crowd enjoyed the tunes from DJ Martin Staggl and a great view of the action from Rendl Beach.

And this year's action continued the high standard of last year, with entrants from a number of neighbouring resorts, as well as the host resort of St Anton.

Ultimately it was the locals who won the day, with five of the top six male spots going to Austrian competitors. Chris Haselwander and Marlon Holzmann were both clear leaders in the board and ski categories respectively, according to the judges Andy, Uwe, Manuel and Simon.

While the only Argentinian in town, Matty, called the moves for the benefit of the crowd, there were a number of hits that stood out. Among the skiers, Holzmann's 540 true nose grab pleased the judges, while Martin Rotner - 3rd overall - impressed everyone with a switch backflip.

Australian Luke Moffitt - 3rd boarder overall - probably pulled off the most technically challenging trick of the day, with a one-foot backflip in his last jump, after his binding broke. The wonderfully named Michael Macho also pulled a switch backside Indy 7 to push his way into 2nd place overall.

In the Ladies competition, Yvonne Murphy impressed everyone, by not only being the only female skier with the gumption to enter, but particularly as she was only on holiday in resort for that week. For her troubles, Yvonne walked away with a massive swag of prizes.

Lizzy Dalton, multiple previous winner at this event, did have a challenge from the German Silke Unseld, but successfully held her at bay to win the Ladies Boarder category for another year.

Prize giving took place in front of a lively and packed Scottys, where the winners walked away with some fantastic prizes from the Workers Challenge sponsors.

Season workers present (plus the hen and stag weekenders in town) also benefitted from free Extreme Drinks and Thunder Toffee Vodka, as the prize-giving doubled up as another date on the Natives Show Love Tour - with more freebie prizes being handed out to lucky folk not too drunk to listen out for the winning numbers.

So overall, another great event, and many thanks to everyone who helped make it so, including not just our great sponsors, but local partners Kirschbaum, Fly-In Rendl-Park, Scottys, Intersport Arlberg, and local team, Stu Freni, Catriona Morrison and Gunther Zangler.