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(cover photo: Peter Morning/ESPN Images)
It started with a bang, but didn’t quite end with a whimper: Jossi Wells just won his fifth X Games medal. This time it was finally gold, as Jossi cruised to victory in today’s Ski Slopestyle finals with unbeatable style and control from the start to the finish of the slopestyle course.
McRae Williams warms up during a practice session that featured far better weather than today’s flat-light finals. Photo: Tomas Zuccareno/ESPN Images
Gus Kenworthy battled his way to the silver medal in his third and final run—his second silver of this year’s X Games—while bumping Norwegian trickster Øystein Bråten into third.
The “bang” that started the competition came in the form of Swiss youngster Andri Ragettli, who made history on his first-ever X Games slopestyle run by landing back-to-back triple corks—a first in ski slopestyle. But they also happened to be knee-grab triple corks, which the judges, correctly, didn’t reward well—Ragettli earned a middle-of-the-road 80.00 points for his run.
Due partially to this judging decision, but mostly because of the low light and speed problems on the course, most of the competitors to follow opted to style out their double corks rather than “tuck for triple”—although it looked like many of them gladly would have taken the opportunity, if conditions had permitted. But most played it smart and safe, resulting in a variety of polished double flips in the jump section, while competitors tried to make their runs stand out in the rails.
Jossi Wells’ rail game was on point: his winning run included a perfectly executed right 270 on, 270 out; a skate-style hockey-stop switch 270 up onto the second rail platform, and a left 270 on to switch off it; and a flawless switch 450 onto the last rail.
In the jumps, his years of experience and ever-more-consistent style shone in a left double cork 1260 mute, a switch right double cork 1080 safety, and a switch left double cork 1440 safety, all stomped with authority.
Kenworthy nailed a technical rail transfer in the top section and a snappy 270 on, pretzel 450 out of the final rail to set himself up for his well-honed jump tricks: left double cork 1080 blunt, right double cork 12 mute, and switch right double cork 1080 japan, stomped well down the landing.
Øystein Bråten picked up his first X Games medal today. Photo: Peter Morning/ESPN Images
Bråten front-swap, front 270ed the top rail transfer before nailing all his doubles, with his first-run score of 84.00 still good enough for third place, three runs later. James “Woodsy” Woods narrowly missed the podium with an equally clean run and an 83.00.
Other moments of note included some insane rail trickery from Nick Goepper, uncharacteristic falls from Joss Christiansen, and a livestream feed that regrettably cut to an adaptive snowboarding documentary for much of the time that the ski slopestyle contest was taking place. Not that we’ve got anything against adaptive snowboarding—but if you’re going to take the time and effort to livestream a contest, we think it makes sense to show that competition in its entirety.
Final Results
Winning Runs
1. Jossi Wells (90.00)
2. Gus Kenworthy (87.33)
3. Øystein Bråten (84.33)
It’s an unusual and unforgettable moment: the sixteen skiers of the 2016 Mora Banc Skiers Cup stand at the bottom of the Tossa de Caraup face, watching in disbelief as the kids of the Freeride Junior World Championships, age 13 to 17, lay waste to the same venue that the pros will tackle immediately afterwards in their own event, the “Big Mountain” portion of the Skier’s Cup.
With the snow level at low tide in Andorra and conditions resembling spring corn at best, the Skier’s Cup riders aren’t very stoked to send it on this venue, especially after having enjoyed excellent powder conditions during previous years’ Skiers Cups in Zermatt. But after the kids of the Junior championships went so hard during their event, stomping flips, spins, technical lines and huge drops, the pros really have no choice but to step it up in an attempt to save face—nobody, least of all a professional skier, wants to get shown up by a sixteen-year-old kid!
Photo: Skierscup.com/Jeremy Bernard
Round 1
Loïc Collomb-Patton vs. Sage Cattabriga-Alosa
Round 1 kicks off with the two team captains Loïc and Sage attempting to bring home the first point for their team. Loïc opens the competition with an excellent technical line to skier’s left, lacing two big drops and a 360 to kick things off in style. Sage follows with a flowy, playful line to skier’s right that was pleasing to the eye, but not enough to beat Loïc’s performance. Europe 1, Americas 0.
Watch all the runs in the replay here: ( you can choose the runs you want to watch )
Seth Morrison vs. Sam Anthamatten
Next up is a much-anticipated matchup between an old legend and a newer one—Seth Morrison, big-mountain hero, against Sam Anthamatten, who’s rapidly been building his own legacy as a cross-disciplinary master: ski mountaineering, ice climbing, steep skiing, freeriding. Seth picks his way through the technical section to skier’s left, heading straight for Backflip Rock, but over-rotates his signature backflip, signaling an opportunity for Sam. What follows is simply mind-blowing as Anthamatten turns the contest face into his own personal playground: a little butter 360 right out of the start gate, followed by a massive cliff drop to perfect stomp, followed by a HUGE air over a natural rollover that no one else had spotted, followed by a cross-slope 360 on another sneaky natural feature: pure technical and freeride mastery. Europe 2, Americas 0.
Sam Anthamatten: large and in charge. Photo: Skierscup.com/Jeremy Bernard
Mathieu Bijasson vs. Grant Howard
After the legends comes a battle of the unknowns: France’s Bijasson versus America’s “secret weapon” Howard. Mathieu threads a double drop to skier’s left, but crashes on a 360 off Backflip Rock. Grand presses his advantage, stomping his own 360 on the same feature and adding a creative 180 up, 180 out on a cornice at the bottom of the venue to polish things off and bring home the first point for the Americas team. Europe 2, Americas 1.
Logan Pehota vs. Fabio Studer
A battle of blasters: Austrian Freeride World Tour performer Studer, versus FWT wildcard, rookie, and all-around loose cannon Pehota. Logan comes out firing, skiing hard and fast in World Tour style down the venue to skier’s right, but whirlybirding out of his final big drop—“Canadian ballet” the announcers called it. Fabio follows to skier’s right, lacing his airs including a 360 and a double at the bottom. Europe 3, Americas 1.
Markus Eder vs. Tim Durtschi
Another interesting matchup between freestyle-capable freeriders. Eder flows smoothly through airs and drops to skier’s right, and stomps a rodeo 5 on the same cornice step-up that Fabio Studer just hit. Durtschi opts for skier’s left and Backflip Rock, landing a 360 and crashing on a backflip before losing both his poles. Europe 4, Americas 1 and it’s getting time for Team Americas to put up or shut up.
Parker White vs. Nico Vuignier
P-White comes to the rescue for Team Americas, flowing through a 360 and a little switch skiing up top, and holding onto a backflip and a cliff drop to polish it off. Skiers Cup vet Vuignier surfs the top cornice to skier’s right and lands a 180 on the step-up, but this round belongs to Parker, keeping Team Americas alive in this competition. Europe 4, Americas 2.
Bene Mayr vs. Tanner Rainville
After a frustrating start to his Freeride World Tour season, Bene is looking to perform here at the Skiers Cup. He body-slaps a 360 up top but hangs onto his run, nailing two drops and adding in a flat 3 for good measure. Rainville heads to the tech skier’s left side, nailing a cliff in the top section but skipping most of the features below. A small 180 to close out his run isn’t enough to convince the judges that he wanted it more than Bene. Europe advances its lead: Europe 5, Americas 3.
Tanner Rainville keeps it smooth. Photo: Skierscup.com/Dom Daher
Nick McNutt vs. Sam Favret
The final match of Round 1. The Canadian comes out strong with a smooth 180 up the cornice, switch ski, and switch 180 off the top cornice to skier’s right, then doubles down with a flat 3 on the step-up and a smooth nose-butter 360 off a drop to cap off a very clean run. Favret can’t hang, backslapping on his first air, and opting out of a trick on Backflip Rock. Team Americas is still hanging in there at the end of Round 1: Europe 5, Americas 3.
Judges Arnaud Rougener, Philou Poirer and Sam Smoothy keeping an eye on the action. Photo: Skierscup.com/Dom Daher
Round 2
Nico Vuignier vs. Grand Howard
Nico opts for the same line of his previous run, adding a smooth 360 up top before surfing the cornice again, and 360ing the step-up down below. It’s a clean, flowing run, but Grant Howard is hungry. He also repeats his first run and improves on it, stomping a very clean 360 safety off Backflip Rock, and gets the nod from the judges—is this the beginning of an American comeback? Europe 5, Americas 4.
Nick McNutt vs. Fabio Studer
Nick sticks with the playful 180 up, switch 180 off the top cornice, the flat 360 and the nose-butter 3, but doesn’t stick the final trick clean. Fabio demonstrates his consistency, sticking his first run again and upping the ante with a flat 3 japan and a high-speed runout down below. Europe 6, Americas 4.
Fabio edges out McNutt for another European point. Photo: Skierscup.com/Dom Daher
Sam Favret vs. Logan Pehota
Favret goes for a 360 on Backflip Rock this time around, but can’t stick the landing. Logan nails his run with a little butter 360 off the top cornice, then bangs out a clean double drop at the bottom. Slowly but surely, Americas is catching up: Europe 6, Americas 5.
Tanner Rainville vs. Markus Eder
Rainville puts down one of the smoothest performances of the day with a 180 off the cornice to skier’s right and beautiful switch carves down the face underneath, and adds another 180 on the step-up down below. Markus heads skier’s left with creative line choice, surfing the cornice above the technical section before nailing a big 360 over Sam Anthamatten’s natural roll. It’s a clean run, but the judges reward Rainville’s polish and smooth switch control. It’s all tied up: Europe 6, Americas 6 and we’ve got a match on our hands!
Team Americas picks up another point – Smoothy disagrees. Photo: Skierscup.com/Dom Daher
Bene Mayr vs. Parker White
Bene is one of few skiers to mix up his line, heading to skier’s left this time. He nails the double at the top, then stomps a perfect backflip on Backflip Rock. Solid performance from the German. But Parker White’s got a trick up his sleeve—a film-worthy nose-butter 540 off the top skier’s right cornice, possibly the best freestyle trick of the day, and skis the rest of his line fast and clean with solid drops. For the first time Team Americas takes the lead: Europe 6, Americas 7.
Seth Morrison vs. Mathieu Bijasson
Seth Vicious goes for redemption on Backflip Rock, riding out of his signature trick with only a small backslap. The pressure’s on for young Mathieu, but he holds his own with a perfect backflip of his own, tying it up again: Europe 7, Americas 7.
Seth gets redemption on the backflip, but it isn’t enough to beat Mathieu Bijasson. Photo: Skierscup.com/Jeremy Bernard
Loïc Collomb-Patton vs. Tim Durtschi
It’s the second-to-last match-up, and things are getting down to the wire! Loïc shows why he’s team captain with a solid technical run, stomping two big cliffs perfectly to skier’s left and adding a little switch 180 down below for good measure. Tim Durtschi goes for a more freestyle run, landing a 360 and nailing a solid backflip on Backflip Rock, but it’s not enough to beat Loïc’s technical expertise. Europe 8, Americas 7.
Sage Cattabriga-Alosa vs. Sam Anthamatten
The final match of the day: Sage has a chance to even the score for Team Americas, but he’s up against possibly the most threatening competitor in the contest—the only competitor who was intently scoping the face through his binoculars before heading up for the second round.
Sage opts for the flowing run again to skier’s right, skiing cleanly and smoothly, but definitely conservatively as well. He tries to spice it up a bit with a tight drop at the bottom, but bounces off a rock and barely holds it together.
And then it’s time for the Sam Anthamatten show. The last run of the day is unquestionably the best: Sam blends technical big-mountain ability with freestyle finesse like no other rider in the field. He jibs the cornice across the top of the chute to skier’s left at high speed, then nails a big drop before heading toward’s no-mans-land: a grassy melted-out chute that no one else has bothered with. Anthamatten promptly straightlines down the grass as the crowd below roars its approval, then ollies at high speed over a massive cliff at the bottom, hip-checking but hitting perfect tranny and bouncing immediately back to his feet. Just about everybody’s mouth is hanging open—either mutely in disbelief, or screaming in admiration. It’s the last nail in the coffin for Team Americas today— Europe takes the win, 9-7.
“It was challenging today because the conditions weren’t great,” said Bene Mayr. “But it was still a lot of fun. We all pushed each other through the second round, and Europe won!”
“At first we had a bit of a discussion whether we wanted to do it or not, because conditions weren’t that great,” said Nico Vuignier. “We weren’t going to go big in that kind of snow, and the Skiers Cup has always had a really sick big mountain day, so there was a discussion of what we should do. We ended up choosing to ride. We took it pretty mellow but I think we saw some nice lines, and Europe took the lead!”
“The conditions were very springlike, but I really liked the guys’ creativity,” said judge Sam Smoothy. They didnt risk the whole thing, but just had fun and put on a good show. I think Sage put it best when he said, ‘We just want to show that skiing can be fun in all conditions.’ You don’t have to go 110-percent all the time.”
There were a few tough calls for the judges, Smoothy said, but it was clear who the most impressive skier of the day was.
“Sam Anthamatten—that little Swiss bastard was firing,” said Smoothy. “He always finds something that’s different and unique, and we saw a bunch of airs from Sam that no one else did. He was fired up, it was great to see.”
Fabian Bösch wins X Games Big Air under massive snowfallLet’s face it—last night’s X Games Big Air wasn’t the best ski big air final ever, but it had nothing to do with the riders, who did an amazing job considering the conditions. Persistent snowfall throughout the evening regulated the action on the big air jump, turning visibility and especially speed into major challenges.
With the snowboard pipe final running late, finally the livestream switched to the ski side, showing a 21-meter Big Air jump covered in snow, with a narrow ski track through the fresh snow created by the riders as an inrun, and eight riders in the start gate—a record four of them representing Switzerland.
Given the conditions, it would have been no surprise if the skiers kept their tricks simple—Swiss coach Misra Noto even resorted to pushing his athletes out of the start gate for an extra boost of speed. But as speed on the inrun improved, in no time the double flips started to get unpacked by some motivated riders, while Jossi Wells preferred to keep it simple and stylish for his first few hits, impressing the crowd with a perfect rodeo 5 safety and a classic Jossi zero spin shifty.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that the contest might have kept on at this level—but when Swiss X Games rookie Fabian Bösch unpacked the first triple of the night, a forward triple cork 14 safety, it was evident that the both the speed and the motivation were there to make this contest work. A wide variety of interesting tricks followed: Henrik Harlaut dropped a beautiful double cork 12 tweaked safety, but was stymied while trying to show off his brand-new rodeo 180 rotation (how he took that second attempt to 540 is a mystery). Vincent Gagnier was back with his screamin’ seamen antics, dropping bio 12 and 14s with a genie grab, Bobby Brown put down a clean triple 14 mute, and both Elias Ambühl and Bösch put down clean triple cork 16s—showing the insanely high level shared by this Swiss squad.
Bobby Brown on his way to another podium finish. Photo: Flip McCririck/ESPN Images
Then, tragedy struck—Ambühl went for the switch double misty 12, just bringing the rotation around, but landing awkwardly, his left knee buckling under the pressure. Ambühl went down hard into the piles of fresh snow on the side of the landing, clutching his knee in pain, and was promptly carted off to the medical center for evaluation.
Kai Mahler surfing the banners
While Ambühl was being helped off the landing, the snow continued to pile up on the inrun and lip, slowing things down again and holding the the riders to straight airs, knuckle tricks and knuckled landings for the rest of the evening. Kai Mahler got creative with a banner wallride at the bottom of the course, Luca Schuler tossed a nice rodeo off the knuckle, and Henrik and Vincent made last-ditch attempts to make the podium—but as time ran out on the 25-minute session, it was Fabian Bösch who had the night’s top scores, followed by Bobby Brown in second and Elias Ambühl in third; almost the same podium as last year’s Big Air, but with Bösch replacing Vinnie on the top rung.
What else can we say—congratulations to the riders who had to fight against the weather, and we send best wishes to Elias and hope your injury is nothing serious. Congratulations again to the Swiss Freeski Team, who managed to get two riders on the podium with a little push in the back from their coach.
The podium and highest-scoring tricks:
Fabian Bösch : triple cork 1440 safety / triple cork 1620 safety
Bobby Brown : Triple cork 1440 mute / Double misty 1080 double japan
Elias Ambühl : Triple cork 1440 safety / Triple cork 1620 safety
This years X Games Big air comp didnt feel too much like X….i was still out of breath after every hit…
Posted by Vincent Gagnier on Saturday, January 30, 2016
Fabian
Bobby
Elias
Forget about “juniors”—the riders at the Freeride Junior World Championships skied like grown men and women today in an impressive display of talent on the Tosse de Caraup contest face in Granvalira, Andorra.
Photo: freerideworldtour.com/Dom Daher
After exciting runs on all aspects of the venue from a field of 59 competitors from 15 different countries, Jackson Bathgate of Canada and Synnøve Medhus of Norway claimed the top men’s and women’s podium spots with scores of 91.75 and 74.5 respectively.
Originally scheduled for Thursday, January 28, the FJWC had been bumped to today after cloudy and cool conditions kept the thin freeze-thaw snowpack from adequately softening. But today the weather played along: a bright morning sun and no wind allowed the snow on the contest face to soften enough for the juniors to throw down in fine form—even if the snow was in spring corn condition, rather than the desired fluffy powder.
Photo: freerideworldtour.com/Dom Daher
The junior men came out of the start gate hot, spinning 360s on features across the venue and boosting big airs. Kevin Nichols and Xander Guldman, both of the USA, launched backflips off of the aptly named “Backflip Rock,” and France’s Tom Gratadour even went for broke with an attempted double backflip off the same feature! But the line of the day went to Canadian Jackson Bathgate of Whistler, who blasted a huge technical drop through the venue’s top section before stomping a massive 360 off a difficult cliff drop. Nigel Ziegler, also of Canada, took second place with strong skiing and a 360 of his own, while Guldman took third with his perfectly stomped backflip.
“It was super fun today,” said second-place finisher Ziegler. “With just a visual inspection, it’s kind of scary. All the airs were blind, so I just went as fast as I could off of them, hoping to gap the rocks, and it worked.”
“Every single person was throwing down sick runs,” he added.
Photo: freerideworldtour.com/Dom Daher
On the women’s side, Medhus skied fast and in control through several drops to nail the top spot. She was accompanied on the podium by Olivia Askew of the USA and Illana Carlod of France.
“I wasn’t that happy with my own run,” said Medhus. “I backslapped a little bit, so I couldn’t believe it that I got first. It feels like a dream.”
“When I saw the boys, it was like watching the seniors,” she said. “They are so good. And also the girls, they were awesome. It’s only getting better and better.”
Photo: freerideworldtour.com/Dom Daher
All in all, this certainly didn’t look like a “Juniors” competition today—these kids skied large and in charge, showing that a huge groundswell of young talent is on its way up the ranks of the freeride world. They were even more motivated by the presence of the riders of the Mona Banc Skier’s Cup, who watched the runs from the bottom while waiting for their own chance to hit the face later in the afternoon during the “Big Mountain” segment of their event (article on the Skier’s Cup happenings is on its way!)
“These kids are insane!” said Skier’s Cup competitor Parker White. “I don’t think the pros can ride any better.”
Photo: freerideworldtour.com/Dom Daher
Congratulations to the podium finishers and to all the riders who threw down today! The future of freeriding competition certainly looks bright.
If any further proof is needed that these kids are gnarly, I received it when I foolhardily attempted to ski the run out from the contest face back down into the valley on the advice of some of the competitors that the route “wasn’t that bad.” After half an hour of precarious bushwhacking through brush and grass in a steep, sketchy canyon, I finally made it down in one piece, much more enlightened about how crazy these kids actually are. Next time when asking whether something is skiable or not, I’ll be sure to consider the source of the information!
X Games Women’s Halfpipe – Maddie Bowman Wins Fourth Gold in a Row(Cover photo: Eddie Perlas/ESPN Images)
When the livestream started for the ladies, and Halo video game “athletes” departed, the first runs through the pipe were at an end. But to be honest, it didn’t seem like we missed much.
It was a huge pleasure to see the slopestyle competition of the ladies including solid grabs and controlled rotations, the show was simply not on the same level in the pipe. Witnessing it at 2am sitting in front of a screen in Europe was a little painful.
Photo by Gabriel Christus/ESPN Images
Maddie Bowman, back from knee injury, wasn’t even trying to grab her skis and claimed first place. Yes she threw back to back 900s. Yes there was the first switch 900 by a female freeskier but it didn’t have event the beginnings of a grab and barely reached the coping.
If you compare the evolution in halfpipe skiing between men and women, it appears as if the ladies are following a few years behind the progression of the dudes; in the pipe however, they are going different direction. When a few years ago men were skiing high with sick grab but low rotation, many girls and especially the winning ones, were going low, without grabs, but spinning a lot. It’s a sad way to go and hopefully something can change, because ladies are definitely able to ski well. They just proved it in slopestyle.
Hopefully some girls try to clean up their runs, with a little more amplitude and a focus on grabs. Ayana or Brita do it to a point, but only at the beginning of their run. Please can we stop the pin spin, the many feeble jumps that make the skiers go lower and lower, finishing pathetically under the coping.
All this is my point of view, so let’s hear yours…
X Games are over for the women, but the men’s Big Air and Slopestyle are looming.
Final Results
1. Maddie Bowman (89.00)
2. Ayana Onozuka (85.00)
3. Annalisa Drew (83.00)
(Cover photo: Peter Morning/ESPN Images)
The hype has been around for a while, and 13-year-old Kelly Sildaru lived up to it today, holding off a field of older competitors to claim the gold medal in her first-ever X Games slopestyle appearance while setting the record for the youngest-ever female X Games champion to boot.
Kelly Sildaru floated to victory with style. Photo: Matt Morning/ESPN Images
Sildaru’s winning run consisted of an absolutely dialed K-fed on the top rail, a clean switch 270 on, pretzel 270 out, and a polished performance in the jumps: switch 900 mute, a beautiful right cork 720 reverse mute, and a left 900 tail to round things out.
Former champion Tiril Sjåstad Christiansen didn’t let Kelly take the win easily, though. In her third and final run, the Norwegian competitor upped the ante on the rails with a front swap and a switch 2 on, 2 out, and cleaned up in the jumps as well, stomping a massive switch 1080 tail on the bottom jump. But it wasn’t quite enough to bump Sildaru from the top spot.
Sildaru wasn’t the only newcomer to make a splash on the slopestyle course today. Norwegian skier Johanne Killi also made the podium in her first X Games appearance, with a cork 900 trailing blunt on the final jump that could have been in a Tom Wallisch edit.
All it in all it was a fine exhibition of women’s freeskiing today on the slopestyle course of Aspen. Stay tuned for more X Games action this weekend including women’s superpipe and men’s slopestyle and big air—full event schedule here.
Final Results
Kelly Sildaru
Front swap, backside 270 out (K-Fed)
Frontside 270 out
switch 270 on, pretzel 270 out
switch left 900 mute
Rightside cork 720 reverse mute
Leftside 900 tail
Tiril Sjåstad Christiansen
Frontside 450 out
Frontside switch-up to switch
Switch right 270 on, 270 out
Left cork 720 safety
Right 900 tail
Switch right 1080 tail
Johanne Killi
Left 270 on to forward
Front 270 out
Switch right 270 on to switch
Switch left 720 mute
Switch right cork 540 safety
Left cork 900 trailing blunt
Sixteen top skiers have arrived here at Granvalira, Andorra for the Mora Banc Skier’s Cup 2016 — the annual showdown between top skiers from Europe and the Americas to determine once and for all which side of the Atlantic has the best riders on the mountain.
Team captains Sage and Loïc: a huge amount of skiing talent on either side of this handshake, but who will lead their team to victory?
After a brief introduction to the event by organizers Nicolas Hale-Woods, Sverre Lillequist and Kaj Zackrisson, who explained that the purpose was to “have fun, but still win,” team captains Sage Cattabriga-Alosa (Americas) and Loïc Collomb-Patton (Europe, replacing an injured Richard Permin) took to the board to pick their starters in tomorrow’s Big Mountain competition.
Nicolas, Kai and Sverre explain the rules.
Team Europe: Stacked.
Team Americas: Equally stacked.
The format goes like this: the teams will compete in two separate events, Big Mountain and Backcountry Slopestyle. The Big Mountain segment goes off tomorrow, while BC Slopestyle is slated for Monday, February 1. In both contests the skiers get two runs each, riding head-to-head against an opponent from the other team. At the end of each head-to-head challenge, the judges selected by the team captains—Philou Poirier, Arnaud Rougener, and Sam Smoothy— decide which skier won the match-up based on overall impression. At the end of the day, whichever continent has won more head-to-head match-ups takes that day’s competition.
The team captains decided which of their skiers would face off against the other.
Tomorrow’s showdown will kick off with team captains Sage and Loïc facing off, and it only gets more interesting from there on out: Seth Morrison vs. Sam Anthamatten, Logan Pehota vs. Fabio Studer, Parker White vs. Nico Vuignier…. the stage is set for a memorable battle between these two stacked teams!
A livestream of the Big Mountain contest will be available tomorrow at skierscup.com starting at 13:30 CET.
Sam Anthamatten vs. Seth Morrison: the ultimate showdown.
The coveted Silver Boot.
Team Europe has plenty of young freestyle/freeride talent.
All of the big mountain match-ups. (In Round 1, Markus Eder will face Tim Durtschi.)
Kevin Rolland Reclaims X Games SuperPipe Gold
(Cover photo: Flip McCririck/ESPN Images)
It seemed like a sure thing—Gus Kenworthy had skied immaculately all night, stomping with authority the down-the-pipe switch double cork 1080 that every other competitor wished they could land. He’d occupied the top spot since his first run, even improving his score on the second run with what he called “the best pipe run I’ve ever done.”
Gus Kenworthy on his way to second place in Men’s Ski SuperPipe. Photo: Christian Pondella/ESPN Images
But as a famous player from another sport once said, “It ain’t over till it’s over,” and Kevin Rolland of France proved that definitively tonight when he knocked Kenworthy off the top spot on the last run of the night with an equally smooth down-the-pipe switch dub 10, left and rightside double cork 12s, and a massive double cork 10 (I still prefer to call it a Whiskey Flip to switch) on the last hit.
It was redemption for Rolland, who’d placed second the past two years, and hadn’t won X Games pipe since his winning streak in 2010 and 2011. And the victory was even sweeter because he shared the podium with his countryman Benoit Valentin, whose absolutely massive amplitude and back-to-back double cork 1260s was good enough for third, narrowly edging out American Alex Ferreira.
After a four-year hiatus, Kevin Rolland is back on top. Photo: Christian Pondella/ESPN Images
It seemed like the switch down-the-pipe 10 was the trick to be landed tonight—every competitor in the top three had one in his run. American competitor Aaron Blunck took a different take on the trick, opting for a highly unique switch down-the-pipe double cork 9, landing switch—but couldn’t quite hold on to the rest of his run. Other highlights included Byron Wells’ ultra-creative drop-ins—are the Wells the most stylish family alive?—and American Kyle Smaine going for broke with his loose-cannon style, but who also couldn’t quite put the final punctuation on his run. Meanwhile, American halfpipe heavyweights David Wise and Torin Yater-Wallace—the former with a nagging shoulder injury, the latter recovering from an illness—simply didn’t look in top form, coming in eighth and fifth respectively.
That’s a wrap on the Men’s Ski SuperPipe – stay tuned for more action from X Games Aspen 2016!
Kevin Rolland
Switch left double cork 1080 safety
Right double cork 1260 mute
Left double cork 1260 mute
Right 900 tail
Left double cork 1080 Phil (Whiskey flip to switch)
Gus Kenworthy
Left double cork 1260 safety
Right cork 1080 blunt
Switch left double cork 1080 japan
Left alley-oop double flatspin 900 japan
Left double cork 1080 safety
Benoit Valentin
Switch left cork 1080 tail
Left alley-oop flatspin 540 japan
Left cork 900 blunt
Right double cork 1260 safety
Left double cork 1260 blunt
The doors of the ISPO trade show in Munich are open again, and of course the Downdays team is there. As always, well-known brands like Völkl, K2, Line and many more are here to give us a glimpse of their new products. Those who’ve been here before know the extent of the madness—brands and booths as far as the eye can see! Particularly exciting this year is the continuing development of women’s lines from many companies.
Line is back with several interesting new developments. The Tom Wallisch Pro Model, the Sir Francis Bacon and the Mordecai now feature a narrower tip. The new profile and weight reduction is intended to allow better buttering.
Once again the QParks Tour is unstoppable in 2016 and it won’t be long until the 4th tour stop takes place. On February 13, 2016 the Snowpark Kitzbühel is home to the Tour for the 13th time in a row when the Sick Trick Tour Open dominate the region. Freeskiers, it’s high time to get your skies and boards waxed and grab your chance to win loads of great prizes worth 2500€ and plenty of goodies by Anon, Neff, QParks and Amplifi.
Everyone who was there last year knows that the battle for one of the places on the podium can get quite rough in Kitzbühel. The riders are invited to prove their skills in the categories Girls, Men and Groms, in order to bag loads of prizes. Besides prizes and goodies worth 2500€, it’s also an opportunity to collect points for the FSA Tour and the TSV Ranking. Last but not least, the party crowd will get their money’s worth as well at the After Contest Party at the El Dorado in Kitzbühel.
SETUP
We’re looking forward to seeing you shred the obstacles of the Snowpark Kitzbühel. Show off your best slopestyle tricks on two different lines. You’re welcome to start practicing right away; here you can find all details on the current setup.
TIMETABLE
RIDER
REGISTRATION
The registration for the Sick Trick Tour Open is in full swing already. In order to secure yourself a place you better hurry up because the number of participants is limited. Boys, girls and rookies (born in 2001 or earlier) can sign up quickly and conveniently via the freeski tour website.
For an entry fee of 10€ you’re a part of this popular QParks tour stop and for a further 10€ you’ll receive a lift ticket which is valid for the whole day.
HOTTEST SHOT
Besides the tasty cash prize, the goodies and the tour points, there’s even more – take part in the Anon Hottest Shot competition and bag cool prizes by Anon. All you’ve got to do is to post your best pics from the Sick Trick Tour Open on Facebook or Instagram and mark them with the hashtags #hottestshot, #qparkstour and #anon. The best shots will be rewarded with various goodies and, additionally, an overall winner will be chosen among the winners at the QParks Tour finals. The grand prize is the participation at a professional photo session by Anon and Burton!
ANON ROOKIE SPONSORING
Rookies watch out – Talent scouts will be on the lookout for you at this tour stop as well. So unleash your most spectacular moves! Two Anon Material Sponsorings for the season 2016/17 are waiting for the best amongst you!
For further news and updates regarding the QParks Tour and the Snowpark Kitzbühel check out the website and:
www.qparkstour.com
www.snowpark-kitzbuehel.at
www.facebook.com/qparks.freeskitour
[caption id="attachment_141826" align="alignright" width="840"]
for further information please contact michael.putz@qparks.com, info@rolandhaschka.com
for further information please contact michael.putz@qparks.com, info@rolandhaschka.com
for further information please contact michael.putz@qparks.com, info@rolandhaschka.com
for further information please contact michael.putz@qparks.com, info@rolandhaschka.com
for further information please contact michael.putz@qparks.com, info@rolandhaschka.com
for further information please contact michael.putz@qparks.com, info@rolandhaschka.com
for further information please contact michael.putz@qparks.com, info@rolandhaschka.com
for further information please contact michael.putz@qparks.com, info@rolandhaschka.com
Words & photos: Ethan Stone
Over fifteen years as a ski journalist I’ve covered all kinds of events, from small-town rail jams to the Winter Olympics. But I have to admit one glaring flaw in my ski-event resume: I’ve never been to a freeride event, until now.
It is two in the morning when the bus from Barcelona finally arrives in Ordino, a small, posh mountain village in the small, posh mountain country of Andorra, a comfortable tax haven sandwiched between Spain and France in the heights of the Pyrenees where the first tour stop of the 2016 Freeride World Tour (FWT) is being hosted by the ski resort Vallnord Arcalís.
This is unfamiliar terrain for me—a new country to ski in, and a new kind of skiing event to experience. And as the sun peeks over the mountains to illuminate the Bassera Negra contest face at Arcalís, a brief six hours after my arrival in Andorra, it’s clear that today I’m going to see something quite unlike the slopestyle, halfpipe and big air contests that I’ve attended before.
Dawn breaks on the Bassera Negra.
The skiers warm up their legs while watching the snowboarders drop.
Plunging into the world of the Freeride World Tour requires a thorough re-calibration of my skiing knowledge. Here there are new names and faces to remember, and an extensive canon of past events, achievements, victories and defeats to be recalled and compared with at each new stop of the tour. There are new contest and qualification formats to understand, new athletes’ and judges’ considerations to be taken into account.
So my head is swimming with questions as the first riders begin dropping into their lines, but now isn’t the time to go seeking answers, because it’s time now to witness a FWT stop go down before my very eyes.
Lesson number 1: Bring binoculars!
The first thing I learn is this: bring binoculars if you want to see anything! As the snowboard men begin their runs, seemingly everybody in the viewing area below is packing a pair of binocs to scope the action. I’m able to manage via squinting and using my telephoto lens, but the advantages of watching the livestream feed from that Cineflex-equipped helicopter buzzing over the venue are rapidly becoming apparent.
Watching the snowboard runs and chatting with skiers in the viewing area, I’m picking up new facts at every turn. Occasionally the riders disappear from view, and I learn that their runs are only evaluated on what the judges can see directly from their viewing perch on the ridge above us. This is an important aspect for competitors to keep in mind—don’t plan a big air, a technical line or a risky trick in a zone where the judges won’t see you! In fact, many of the most experienced riders seem to pick lines that cater to the viewing perspective from the judges’ booth.
As the snowboarders wrap up their runs, another detail emerges: to paraphrase the livestream announcer, experience often pays off over youthful exuberance. Competitors only get one run, and they don’t even get to ride through the venue before the competition; so the ability to properly analyze the face from afar, using experience and intuition to divine how a given line will ride and what the snow will be like, is absolutely crucial. Any previous experience riding the venue is, of course, a huge advantage. With snow levels at a bare minimum out here, the competitors who know where it’s okay to send it, and where it’s wise to play it safe, are going to be best off.
By 10am the contest face is now fully illuminated, with clear conditions holding as the women skiers prepare to drop in. Warm weather is expected over the weekend, and the contest was bumped forward to today to take advantage of the existing snow cover before it gets fried by the sun. It looks like things are working out well—though the snow in the top section is firm and crusty, the turns are creamy in the lower half, though the sharks lurk in wait.
Jackie Paaso, a six-year American FWT veteran, is the first skier to drop in, promptly setting the standard for the women with a sizable cliff drop in the top section, stomping the landing clean and skiing calm and in control through the rest of her line. Two-time tour champion Nadine Wallner is next, picking her way through a technical section to closeout air in her first FWT appearance since a bad crash last year while filming in Alaska. Tour rookie Evelina Nilsson drops in third, skiing strong and clean in her first-ever FWT run.
Jackie Paaso shreds through the bottom of her line.
Another detail to learn: each year a select group of men and women qualify their way onto the tour via an extensive international system of Freeride World Qualifier (FWQ) events. Unless you pick up one of the coveted wildcard allotments, this is the only way to battle your way onto the tour. The rookies add an exciting new element to the competition—will they come out of the start gate charging, ready to prove themselves, or will they play it safe, watch and learn from the veterans, and gradually improve their game?
Today in the women’s field, the veterans retain almost full control of the podium—Jackie Paaso’s opening run remains unchallenged in the top spot, while reigning tour champion Eva Walkner of Austria slides into second with clean airs up top and a smooth, technical line choice through a central chute at the bottom of the venue. Rookie Evelina Nilsson from Sweden picks up the third podium spot.
Evelina Nilsson skiing hard and fast.
“I skied solid, and just tried to keep moving,” says Paaso. “I wanted to have a good start to the season. I had a really rough year with an injury at the end of last season, so it feels good to come back and gain some confidence, and stay on my skis the whole way down.”
Then it’s time for the men to take to the field—and my oh my, what a show it is. Over the next hour and a half I get to witness the incredible skiing strength of this varied group of competitors, while continuing to learn the tour lingo from the announcers. There’s all the nicknames to keep track of: Fast and Furious (Jérémie Heitz). The Mayor of Stomptown (Reine Barkered). The Flyin’ Hawaiian (Drew Tabke).
And then there’s the skiing slang. Here, a “double” doesn’t mean a double flip, but rather a double drop. The snow is at “low tide”, and if you don’t already know what a “shark” is, this photo should make it obvious:
Rookie mistake: Trace Cooke catches a shark at the bottom of his run.
There are too many highlights to keep track of: Spanish rider Aymar Navarro kicks things off with a highly creative line choice up top, but backslaps on a big drop exiting his line. “Fast and Furious” Jérémie Heitz lives up to his nickname, flashing the venue in about half the time it takes any other competitor to reach the bottom, lacing a drop into a tight chute up top, and turning a hairy steep closeout section at the bottom into a balls-to-the-wall straightline triple drop.
The hits keep coming: last year’s champion George Rodney goes absolutely massive off a central cliff, somehow managing to avoid exploding on the landing, but losing a pole, which affects his flow through the rest of the run. Wildcard recipient Bene Mayr of Germany gets robbed on his first-ever FWT run, as his ski gets ripped off by a rock on one of his first turns. Sam Smoothy also has trouble, misjudging an air and bouncing off the rocks on his way to a hard tumble.
“I stick up hill rock landings!” Smoothy reports later on Facebook. “Not quite actually. Got my takeoff angle wrong today and landed square on jagged rock, pretty stoked to walk away with just a bruised knee, time for some chilling!”
George Rodney goes absolutely massive.
Meanwhile the rookies are out in force: Canada’s Logan Pehota puts up an excellent performance in his first FWT appearance, and Swedish newcomer Kristoffer Turdell, the winner of last year’s European Freeride World Qualifier circuit, knocks Heitz off the top spot by perfectly stomping the biggest air of the day on a cliff in the middle section. On the final run of the day, Russian Ivan “Mad” Malakhov narrowly squeaks by Pehota to take third place behind Turdell and Heitz.
Kristoffer Turdell blasts through the bottom of his line. Photo: freeridewordtour.com/Tim Lloyd
“I didn’t really choose my line until the last minute,” says Turdell. “When they asked me at the top where I’m going, I thought, ‘Shit, I’m going to go for the hardest line that I looked at—straight down.’ I wanted to do some technical skiing in that steep triangle at the start, and then end up at the huge cliff band in the middle section. I found the entry and what I thought was a good landing, and I thought, ‘This may be possible.’ And then landing it and skiing out felt unbelievable.”
I ask both Turdell and Paaso about the challenges of riding a line without getting to set foot on the face beforehand for a closer look.
“People are really shocked that you’re not allowed to go onto the face and check it,” says Turdell. “You’re standing on the other side, looking at the mountain with binoculars. I would say that’s the hard part. You need to be really focused and plan where you’re going. Technical planning, looking at things from different angles—it’s a lot of work before your run.”
“It’s definitely something that i’ve worked on over the years, and it’s not always perfect, that’s for sure,” says Paaso. “Sometimes you end up on a feature and it’s a lot bigger than you thought, or it’s not the right entrance. It definitely makes it a lot more difficult than if you get to practice your line and check it out beforehand.”
At the bottom of the venue, as the riders relax after the high-energy happenings of the day, eating grilled sausages and swilling beers, I learn another thing about the FWT—this is really just a big family. The vibe is exactly the same as I’ve felt at other events in the skiing world: these guys are mostly all friends, and though a certain competitive element is unavoidable, the FWT riders celebrate the best runs of their peers as if they were their own. This once-strange world of international freeride competition turns out to be not so different from the freeskiing realm that I hail from after all. At the end of the day, it’s just another gang of guys and gals who love to ski—they just happen to ski better than most people on the planet. And now that my cherry’s been popped, I can’t wait to see more action from the tour.
The Andorrans are out to support their hometown rider, Lorelei Torres Hughes.
Rock on the inrun, and in the landing — low tide in Andorra.
Ready, just in case.
“It’s nerve-racking being on top with riders that you’ve looked up to—not just the riders, but the helicopter in your face and all the cameras as well,” says tour rookie Trace Cooke of Canada.
Jérémie Heitz preparing to launch into a tight chute. Photo: freerideworldtour.com/Jeremy Bernard
Loic Collomb-Patton nails a big, technical drop.
Sausages hot off the grill at the finish area.
Sam Smoothy – thankfully still in one piece after a brutal crash
Bene Mayr had some bad luck at his first FWT stop – better luck next time!
Jackie Paaso
Flo Orley and George Rodney
Trace Cooke
Kristoffer Turdell enjoys a well-deserved beer after winning at his first-ever FWT appearance.
The women’s podium: Jackie Paaso, Eva Walkner and Evelina Nilsson
The men’s podium: Kristoffer Turdell, Jérémie Heitz, and Ivan Malakhov
Enjoy the B&E Invitational for only €69 euros per day
The B&E Invitational isn’t an event just for the world’s most stylish riders—it’s also an event for you!
B-Dog, E-Dollo and the event organizers want to make sure that as many people as possible get the chance to come check out their signature event, so they’ve put together an awesome package with Les Arcs for the B&E Invitational weekend: €69/day to stay and ski! Considering the regular price of a ski pass is €50, this means you’re getting accommodation for only €19 per day.
Sound good? We think so too! See you there!