See originally due to medical and schedule specific problems I thought that I would not be able to make it, but thnx to mother nature and a nice snowstorm that postponed the Mezzalama “marathon of the alps” I was able to spend three fun summery days at Podersdorf with my friends.

Podersdorf is one of my schedule classics and one of the best organised events I of the year. (Thou the Mezzalama beat it out in this regard :P) None the less this year the organisation was greatly improved making sure that the whole town does not turn into just another beer fest. The party area had been moved closer to the parking and just out of town and the middle parking was now off limits to everyone who did not have accreditation (more or less :P). Since the atmosphere is so great and the people are so nice Podersdorf is one of my absolute favorites and it never disappoints.

The event is part of the grander Seaside Festival. That itself is the begining of the summer activites in Austria and as such spans almost two weeks. Next to the main PWA event that saw stars like Gollito and Steven beat it out for the PWA points the second and for the public more spectacular event was the CHIMSEE TOW-IN Championship.

Surrounding all these are tons of things one can do all the way from surfing to sk8, slack line or just partying. We were there mainly for the show and with our friends Anja, Iva and Tanja from the Slovenian Surf Magazine and our buddies from all over the world even managed to surf. As I usually dont´t get around to surfing at Podo I was very happy even if my skills lacked… that I managed to do a little session for a few hours with a trusted shark 135 on a 4.2 sail 🙂 Hell I didn’t even seem to get a beach start going properly after a year :P.. still it was super fun and Iva scolded me for my incompetence XD.

We also hung out with our friends from Different, one of the main sponsors of last year and a really cool sunglasses brand. Wooden frames, handmade in Italy are there sigil. It was really nice to see all of them again and even manage to smuggle our self’s into the VIP area a couple of times 😛

One thing thou that was not as it used to be were the surf tests. It is true that Podo has a mass appeal with the beach flair going on but for me on the side it was always important to get a look at the new gear and even maybe take it out for a spin. Unfortunately that is changing a little. Sure you can get SUP stuff on every corner but trying the new windsurf stuff has become more of a thing for us press people and maybe a few invited resellers. That I think undermines the whole original idea as for example in Austria this would be for a possible buyer the only time one could try out new stuff form a wide range of gear. It seems that every year more of the hard good exhibitors are being exchanged for t-shirts and board shorts.

True that with most of the demo that is where the cash lies but I think that the organizers are going to have to watch that this aspect of the event does not come to short.

Next up a picture gallery from the Tow-in warm up and the results.