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Stay tuned for the full report by our man in the field Ethan Stone. In the meantime, here are the results:
Mens Results
1. Kristofer Turdell – 90.50
2. Jérémie Heitz – 87.50
3. Ivan Malakhov – 86.62
Womens Results
1. Jackie Passo 70
2. Eva Walkner 68.50
3. Evelina Nilsson 66.75
RUNS
Womens
Jackie Passo – fast, fluid and solid controlled skiing.
Eva Walkner – good technique and well controlled
Conditions: Low tide, sharky, variable snow in spots,
Mens
Winner of the FWQ Europe Kristofer Turdell – 90.5 – Very technical line at the top with a big drop at the exit. Then he surprised everyone by dropping the biggest cliff of the day by far and stomping it beautifully. Skied fast, technically and smoothly the entire way.
Jeremie Heitz – 87.50 – Hard charging, super fast with a big cliff drop at the top and a triple line at pace with no turns drop at the bottom.
Ivan Makachov – 86.62 – Lots of sizeable drops throughout his entire run, taking a different line to everyone else. Slight hesitation but then a large drop and straight-line to finish it off.
Logan Pehota – 86.50 – Super unique triple line at the top, charging super fast and airing out of the first section. Clean 360 on the standard drop finished it off with a huge drop at the bottom.
Leo Slemmet – 86.00 – Very unique line with a huge drop at the top. Smooth skiing through a critical middle section topped off with a drop. Technical skiing through a tight chute a the bottom finished off with another large drop.
Fabio Studer – 84.00 – Super clean cork 360 at the top, always in control he threw down a fluid line with lots of style and a sizeable drop at the bottom.
Veteran Julien Lopez – 87.25 – two drops at the top and a solid backflip that was perfectly landed. energetic skiing and a solid drop at the bottom.
Stefan Häusl – 81.75 – super fast and clean skiing a the top, taking the drops larger than most and landing clean. continued with a fast double line at the bottom.
Reine Barkered – 78.50 – Fast fall line skiing with two difficult cliff drops in the top section and no hesitation on the bottom section.
Drew Tabke – 76.75 – smooth technical riding at the top, sent a huge 360 in the middle that was landed solidly but a little back seat. finished it off with a massive drop in the bottom section.
Defending World Champion, George Rodney – – Creative line choice in the top section, huge drop to major backseat landing, lost his pole, another massive drop in the bottom section.
Loic Collomb-Patton – 72.50 – Relaxed but smooth line at the top, with a few difficult drop, but then sent a gigantic drop out of a very difficult billy goat line.
Charlie Lyons – – 3 drops and a 360 in the top section. got massively bucked.
Defending event champion, Sam Smoothy got absolutely smoked on the first drop of his run. We hope he is’t injured
Scott Week 2016: The Right Place At The Right TimeText & Photos: Klaus Polzer
The Scott Week is a yearly event where retailers and lucky magazine people like us get a hands-on preview on next year’s hot products in the wake of ISPO, the big sporting goods trade show in Munich end of January. As Scott is a brand with focus on backcountry skiing, good snow conditions are almost a prerequisite for seriously testing their products. So, with the only reasonable snow fall happening in the Western Alps still far away from this year’s hosting resort of the Scott Week, famous powder haven Zürs in the Arlberg region, we weren’t too excited.
Arianna Tricomi
The outlook improved substantially when we started to pack our bags. By the time we were sitting in the car, our concerns revolved rather about whether we were still be able to reach our destination due to all the new snow rather than what kind of snow we would be skiing. At the Arlberg pass, road signs recommended snow chains—thanks to our 4WD we got away without them—and at our hotel in Zürs we had to dig out a parking spot from half a meter of fresh pow.
The next two days were sheer bliss. Of course, we had to consider a serious avalanche risk and therefore were limited to only a fraction of the enormous freeride terrain that the Lech-Zürs area usually offers, but we didn’t care. We had the chance to test ride some awesome new freeride skis and boots–for the details please wait for our ispo reports next week—but honestly we didn’t care much, either. The only thing that mattered was to ski some waist deep pow for the first time this season. What a sensation! A feeling we were missing far too long.
Dane Tudor
Our experience was enhanced by the presence of the Scott Pro Team—namely Dane Tudor, Jeremy Heitz and Arianna Tricomi, who we had the pleasure to ski with and who we interviewed for you, our readers; expect some interesting insights in interview articles to follow—and our powder excursions were safe-guarded by Scott mountain guides like Luca Rolli and Raphael Eiter. Thanks a hell lot, guys, for the great days! As always, the hospitality and the expertise of the whole Scott crew was outstanding but what we are thankful for the most, is to have been brought to the right place at the right time. We will always come back!
Jeremy Heitz
Jeremy Heitz
Jeremy Heitz
Scott Pro Rider
Words & photos: David Malacrida
Well, that’s a wrap: after almost one week on-site, the skiers who came to Val Thorens for the first stop of the SFR tour can finally go home. Due to really difficult conditions this week, the event schedule had to change almost every day to catch the right window between snow and fog. But at least we could enjoy some nice powder while waiting for the weather to clear.
Although the mood was pessimistic for the stormy qualifications on Wednesday, everybody was super enthusiastic for the final on Friday morning. In both cases, we were wrong: the qualifications were great, even though the riders only had one run to qualify; while the men’s finals ended up finishing on a minor note.
The kids’ and girls’ competitions fared better than the men, enjoying blue skies and fresh snow for their first real session of the week. In the kids’ competition, the level wasn’t that high if you consider two years ago when Lauri Kivari won with a single run and a huge double. This time around, the fifth-place finisher had two straight airs and one 360. “The kids are talented, but they didn’t ski for five days,” explained Julien Gourceaux, the Les 2 Alpes coach. “They don’t have enough experience to manage this kind of situation.”
Compared with the kids the women’s competition was more exciting, especially because of Kelly Sildaru’s run. Once again she was head and shoulders above the other girls (figuratively of course), while Isabel Atkin was the surprise of the day in second place. Giulia Tanno took third place, heeding her coach’s advice to play it safe, while the French favorite Tess Ledeux went too big and crashed in the kickers.
After a quick reshape, the men started their practice to be ready for go time at 1:15pm with the livestream. Sadly Luca Schuler got sick and wasn’t able to compete, and top qualifier Antoine Adelisse injured himself, before the finals got started in totally different weather from the practice.
The blue skies and perfect conditions suddenly disappeared as it turned into a socked-in afternoon, with speed issues changing the name of the game. While they fought against the cold weather on the side of the course, the spectators could watch a lot of crashes as the skiers fought against the slow snow, bad visibility, and themselves.
Experience and good advice ended up on top, with both Andri Ragettli and Fabian Bösch playing it safe on their coach Misra Noto’s advice. “we played it safe because of the weather, and the X Games in two weeks,” said Misra. “After they landed their first runs and we knew that they would be in first, I asked them to chill.” This team strategy made Fabian not try to take first place from Andri and take a risk in the process.
This is just one reason why the Swiss Freeski Team is so strong—talented riders and a wise coach. How will these guys be beat?
Well, despite the tricky conditions and all the last-minute changes, the SFR Tour in Val Thorens is a wrap, and though the conditions were frustrating, we can be glad that the competition happened at all. See you soon in another French ski resort for the next stop of the SFR Tour!
Here is the announcement
“The mountain guides and sports director Julien Regnier inspected the face of the competition today, and the covering of snow is not stable enough. Minimum safety conditions are not guaranteed to launch a backcountry free ski competition. The riders’ safety is our priority, this is why the organisation committee takes the decision to cancel the event in agreement with Tignes ski resort.”
The story of the first day at the SFR Tour is a beautiful story, not just about skiers flying through the air and grabbing their skis, but also about how people with a lot of motivation, determination and some help by the weather can make something happen in the worst conditions possible.
The story begins with a heavy snowfall that filled the balcony during the night and continued on into the morning. Fresh snow, as you know, is not great for holding a slopestyle competition. Thanks to the incredible effort of the shapers to clear the course, assisted by event staff and even the judges, the contest was able to take place—but not without some people being pessimistic, and for good reason.
Practice started around noon, and the weather started to play along. With the snow and cloud disappearing, the the awesome powder face right next to the snowpark lift was looking her best, a big white field of pleasure. While half of the skiers rode the snowpark the other half enjoyed some fresh turns and backflips into the powder.
Those who skied powder were wise to do so, because if the pow field on one side of the lift was all about fun, the slope course on the other side was kind of stressful. The first heat started off with clouds and knuckled landings, while the second heat ended with trashed landings from the earlier hits.
“It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever done,” one of the skiers from La Clusaz said to his coach.
“Be more aggressive if it’s dangerous,” the coach answered.
But mainly it’s the decision to have only four runs of practice AND only one qualification run that really makes things hard for the skiers, both physically and mentall. And to complicate things further, due to the weather, there’s a chance that the score from this one run might go on to count in the final… Don’t get it wrong, those decisions were the right thing to do, and we can be glad that the staff were smart enough to propose it, and the riders courageous enough to accept it.
“I know what I’m doing, so I didn’t try to do something to go crazy, but just land my run,” said Maxime Meunier, one of many riders who used this strategy including favorites Oscar Wester and Fabian Bösch. Hugo Laugier, for example, ended up sixth in the second heat with no doubles.
Around 5pm, the cold started to set in, and the skiers headed down to take a rest before this evening’s rider’s meeting, which will provide more information about the next mission—because what happened today was a real-life Mission: Impossible, and event owner Olivier Cotte (aka Ethan Hunt) and his team of specialists made it possible. Full respect for all who give so much to the sport!
Check the results and stay tuned, more news will come soon.
This just in—a unique new kind of urban skiing competition is set to place this coming February in Quebec City, Canada. Here’s the press release from Red Bull:
Red Bull Redirect 2016 – © Felix Rioux
Red Bull ReDirect is an urban freeski competition boasting the most innovative and challenging re-directional features in the sport today. On Friday, February 12th professional and amateur athletes alike will be invited to face off in the first major ski event of its kind to be held in Quebec City’s downtown core.
Leveraging the city’s iconic urban environment, existing landmarks and urban infrastructures will be lit and repurposed as the basis for the course in lieu of traditional scaffolding elements. This innovative approach will provide competitors a truly unique and genuine riding terrain.
A jam format will be used to replicate a more authentic urban experience and to allow for more innovation and excitement. Ten international skiers will meet 6 local skiers and 4 Stairsmaster wildcards in a battle for the Red Bull ReDirect trophy.
Wildcards will be announced in the coming weeks and posted here. The inaugural Red Bull ReDirect will open the annual Jamboree offering ski and snowboard competitions all weekend long. Attendance is free and open to all ages.
Don’t miss Red Bull ReDirect in the Place d’Youville parking lot in Old Quebec on Friday, February 12th starting at 7pm ET.
Make sure to follow @RedBullCanadaFR on Twitter and @RedBullCanada on Instagram to stay up to date with everything #ReDirect2016.
If you don’t want to miss any cool articles here on RedBull.com/Snow, LIKE us on Facebook!
GSTAAD MOUNTAIN RIDES OPEN – Contest-Action in the Bernese AlpsThe QParks Freeski Tour is back this season and also stops at the Snowpark Gstaad. A considerable cash price of 3600 CHF in total and loads of goodies from Anon, Amplifi and QParks are waiting for the best freeskiers. The young and motivated riders will be competing in the categories Girls, Men and Groms. As a special treat participants can bag an extra 150 CHF for the best trick. So get ready to battle!
Tricks performen. Get ready to battle!
Als Playground für Schweizer Contest-Action kehren die Gstaad Mountain Rides Open am 23. Januar 2016 zurück. Beim dritten Stop der QParks Freeski Tour werden Rider aller Könnerstufen ihre Tricks vor einer Jury und dem Publikum zum Besten geben. Der Snowpark Gstaad im Berner Oberland bietet die perfekte Location für dieses Event, das auch heuer wieder im Slopestyle Format ausgetragen wird. All jene, die eher auf der „relaxten“ Seite sind, können die Freestyle-Action in der Chill Area gemütlich vom Liegestuhl aus geniessen. Eines ist sicher, sowohl Rider als auch Zuschauer werden wieder ein grandioses Spektakel erleben.
On January 23, 2016 the Gstaad Mountain Rides Open will return as an essential part of the Swiss contest action. Riders of all skill levels will show off their best moves for the judges and the audience at the 3rd stop of the QParks Freeski Tour. The Snowpark Gstaad, located in the Bernese Oberland, offers perfect preconditions for this slopestyle event. For those of you who are more comfortable on the relaxed side of things there’s the chill area from where you can watch the freestyle action in a mellow atmosphere. One thing’s for sure – both, riders and spectators alike should expect a first-class freestyle day.
PRIZES AND POINTS
Apart from the prize money it’s also about the “best trick” of the day, which is rewarded with 150 CHF as well. Particularly aspiring young riders are given the chance to draw attention and to collect QParks Freeski Tour points.
CONTEST SETUP
The slopestyle contest offers tons of freestyle pleasures for all riders. Prove your skills on a diverse selection of obstacles, there are no boundaries set for your creativity and your personal style. All the details regarding the contest setup will be announced on Facebook soon. For further information on the Snowpark Gstaad and the directions just click here.
TIMETABLE
REGISTRATION
In order to register for the Gstaad Mountain Rides Open go to www.qparkstour.com. There you can choose from the categories “Boys”, “Girls” and “Groms” (born in 2001 or later). Since the number of participants is limited, you shouldn’t hesitate too long before you sign up. There’s no starting fee, so what are you waiting for?
#ANON HOTTEST SHOT
You always wanted to take part in a professional photo session? Sounds good to you? Well, it certainly is! All you have to do is to upload your coolest and most original pic from the event on Facebook or Instagram and tag it with #anonhottestshot and #qparkstour. At each freeski tour stop one Anon Hottest Shot will be chosen and the winners will be rewarded with cool Anon gear. Whoever wins over the jury with their shot at the end of the tour, is the proud winner of a professional photo shoot by Anon.
#ANON ROOKIE SCOUTING
The Anon Rookie Scouting for young and talented riders is going to take place for the first time this year. Alright boys and girls – it’s time to come up with your best moves and with a bit of luck you might bag one of two Anon Material Sponsorings for the season 2016/17. You’ve got the great one-off opportunity to be discovered by the scouts at each of the freeski tour stops.
Are you ready for a top-notch setup, loads of visitors, a mellow atmosphere, a decent cash prize and other goodies? On January 23, 2016 freeskiers will gather at the Snowpark Gstaad and battle each other for the cool prizes. For further information regarding the registration and the organizational matters of the contest, please visit the QParks Tour Website, www.snowpark-gstaad.ch and the Facebook Seite.
Once again an impressive group of international skiers has entered the battle for the two wildcard spots at the B&E Invitational. We’re proud to host the online voting for the European “BE @ B&E” wildcard (head on over to freeskier.com to vote for the Americas/Asia/Oceania aka “Rest of the World” wildcard).
Round 1 is now over after limiting the field to 15 skiers, and now Round 2 begins! You can vote through 17 January on your three favorite entries, and the top five entries at the end of the voting period will sent to Henrik & Phil for them to pick the final winner!
How does the judging process work?
– 4-10 January: First Round Voting. Viewers vote for their three favorite videos. The 15 videos with the most votes on 10 January will enter the final round.
– 11-17 January: Second Round Voting. Viewers vote for their three favorite videos. The 5 videos with the most votes on 17 January 17 will enter the final round.
– Henrik Harlaut & Phil Casabon will judge the final round and choose the two winners (1 EU and 1 ROTW)
Winners will be announced on February 1, 2015.
**Note: If your vote from Round 1 is still saved, just click on “Change my vote” at the bottom of the poll to cast your vote again for Round 2.
[socialpoll id=”2320362″][socialpoll id=”[socialpoll id=”2320362″]
Kevin Salonius – Finland
Jannis Hoffmann – Germany
Simone Canal – Italy
Simon Bartik – Czech Republic
Henri Juhani Salonen – Finland
Daniel Hanka – Czech Republic
Severin Guggemoos – Austria
Aleksi Patja – Finland
Grigory Fuzeev – Russia
Lauri Kivari – Finland
Laurent De Martin – Switzerland
Joona Kangas – Finland
Freddie Grann – Sweden
Juha Mourujarvi – Finland
Leo Björklund – Sweden
Does four days of skiing and surfing the pristine Norwegian Lofoten Islands sound like it might be fun? Then don’t dally — the deadline to enter the GORE-Tex® Experience Tour “Ride and Surf Lofoten” trip is on January 10!
Photo: Kristin Folsland Olsen
The latest highlight of the GORE-TEX® Experience Tour offers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to explore the spectacular fjords and peaks of Lofoten with a crew of top athletes ranging from Nico Zacek and Seb Michaud to Greg Hill and big-wave surfer Sebastian Steudtner.
Head over to experience-tour.com to apply now!
Photo: Espen Mortensen
X Games announce Real Ski StreetPress release
After a successful 2015 campaign, X Games will host five new Real Series competitions in 2016 as part of the expanded content offerings provided by World of X Games on ABC. HOT POCKETS® brand sandwiches, has signed as the presenting sponsor for the series. For the first time, the 2016 Real Series event lineup will include Real BMX. Additionally, the Real Ski competition will shift focus this year from backcountry riding to skiing in urban environments.
Each Real Series competition will culminate in a one-hour World of X Games show that will premiere on ABC and feature behind-the-scenes athlete interviews and selection of the medalists. Like past Real Series competitions, each athlete will have the opportunity to team with an editor on the production of a video part that will present each rider in their own unique style. Each Real Series event’s videos will premiere on XGames.com where fans can watch and vote for their favorite.
The Real Series Presented by HOT POCKETS® brand sandwiches schedule for 2016 is detailed below:
• Real Ski – February 20, 2016
• Real Snow – March 12, 2016
• Real Street – May 2016
• Real Moto – August 2016
• Real BMX – September 2016
The 2016 series will begin with Real Ski, airing February 20 on ABC. Each Real Ski video part will debut on XGames.com/RealSki to be judged by a panel of industry experts. A first place cash prize will be awarded to the winner, as well as gold, silver and bronze medals for the top three athletes and their filmers. Fans will also have a chance to view and vote on their favorite video in a tournament-style bracket with the Fan Favorite winning an additional cash prize.
The six Real Ski athletes invited to compete are: Ahmet Dadali, Cam Riley, JF Houle, Tom Wallisch, Will Wesson and Clayton Vila.
The Real Snow competition will follow, with never-before-seen edits from Anto Chamberland, Zak Hale, Frank Bourgeois, Dylan Thompson, Cole Navin and Jake Welch.
“Being involved in X Games has always been my childhood dream, and it is incredible that I can now fulfill that dream without even setting foot in a traditional halfpipe or slopestyle course,” said Real Ski athlete Clayton Vila. “Filming video parts has always been such a driving force in the progression of skiing, but often the people who solely make video parts get overlooked. This event brings a whole new level of legitimacy to our sport, and is an amazing opportunity to show the world how far street skiing has progressed. I am beyond excited to showcase my Real Ski part, and to see what the other amazing athletes have put together.”