Spectacular premiere of the Wilde Grube Ride Stubai

Last updated on 07.04.2025

On Saturday, April 5, 2025, the Wilde Grube Ride on the Stubai Glacier celebrated its successful premiere. In fantastic spring weather, fresh snow and perfect slope conditions, more than 200 starters plunged into the adventure of the toughest giant slalom in the world. Despite the shortening of the originally planned route, the course was still spectacular and extremely demanding with a length of 6.2 kilometers, 920 meters of altitude and 158 gates. The first winners in the history of the event are Thomas Rainer from SC Leogang, Austria and Magdalena Maria Ranalter, the local hero from Neustift in the Stubai Valley. Both not only secured the prestigious title, but also the prize money of € 3,210 each.

Wilde_Grube_Ride_Stubai_Magdalena Ranalter-c-Sebastian_Marko — Magdalena Ranalter auf der Strecke des Wilde Grube Ride im Stubaital © Sebastian Marko

The course, which began with a flying start from the Wildspitz two-seater chairlift, meandered over six kilometres through the terrain of the Daunferner to the Fernau middle station on the Stubai Glacier. It demanded everything from the participants with its terrain profile and length. “Even though the course was shorter than planned, it was a real challenge and I have never ridden so many gates in a row in a race,” summed up Fritz Dopfer, former World Cup skier, who competed together with other greats of alpine racing such as Roland Leitinger.

Local hero from the Stubai Valley and European Cup rider from Salzburg won

In the women’s race, local hero Magdalena Maria Ranalter from the Stubai Valley triumphed and led the red-white-red winner’s podium. She beamed: “I’m overjoyed to have won here in my home ski area, where I grew up.” Second and third place went to Bianca Venier from Oberperfuss and Nina Gigele from Arlberg.

In the men’s race, Thomas Rainer, European Cup rider from Leogang, secured victory with a time of 04:13 min. Hannes Endstrasser from Kitzbühel and Tormis Laine from Estonia followed in second and third place. Rainer was enthusiastic: “At the end of the course, you had to really show how well you can ski.”

Wilde_Grube_Ride_Stubai_Endstrasser-Rainer-Laine-c-Sebastian_Marko_01 — Wilde Grube Ride 25 – Hannes Endstrasser (2.) Thomas Rainer (1.) Tormis Laine (3.) v.l.n.r. © Sebastian Marko

Picture-perfect premiere

The organizer, the Stubai Tirol Tourism Association, also draws an extremely positive conclusion. Adrian Siller, chairman of the Stubai Tourist Board, emphasizes: “With over 200 starters, a great team, the countless helpers on and off the course and a strong partner like the Stubai Glacier, the premiere of the Wilde Grube Ride was like something out of a picture book. The mixture of sporting challenge, magnificent scenery and the best atmosphere was simply perfect.”

The spectators experienced an event full of excitement and atmosphere along the course and in the finish area. In addition, the race could be followed online via live stream.

With this first edition, the Wilde Grube Ride has lived up to its motto “Epic Rides. Epic Valley.” and established itself as a new fixture in spring skiing. It will take place again in 2026.