Words: Stefan Weitnauer

Photos: Klaus Polzer

Today was the official start of the Almdudler Nine Knights 2010 presented by Fiat, and it started off with a bang. The riders took off from Oberstdorf with an early cable car up to the Nebelhorn at 7am and enjoyed their first session on Nico Zacek's castle in the beautiful morning light. The mood amongst the riders was accordingly mellow.

Nico Zacek

The photographers appreciated the great selection of style tricks as much as the sunbeams leaking through the picturesque clouds. Notables included local hero Xavier Gehring with effortless cork 9 tail grabs and japans, Bene Mayr with cork 7's and 9's, Markus Eder and Nico Zacek with shifty 9's and Luggi Brucic, who seemed like he was having the most fun out of anyone with a great variety of tricks.

Markus Eder

Luggi Brucic

The session didn't last too long however. The wind picked up quickly, cooling down the session before it heated up trick-wise. A few people knuckled on the still icy table as the speed was pretty unpredictable coming down the sheltered in-run. Before somebody got hurt, Nico decided to stop the session. It wouldn't have gone for long anyway. The wind brought in clouds and in the afternoon it even started to rain down in the village. At least this gives all the riders enough time to prepare for the welcome dinner tonight in typical Bavarian outfits. For tomorrow morning, the weather forecast is not too promising either, so nobody needs to hold back. Stay tuned for more coverage on Nine Knights tomorrow, when the skies will be clearing in the afternoon as promised.

Check out http://www.nineknights.com for more news and photos.