A beginner’s guide to the Freeride World Tour

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.

 

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.

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.

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.

“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:

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!”

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.

“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.

(Did you miss the livestream? You can watch a full replay here).

The Andorrans are out to support their hometown rider, Lorelei Torres Hughes.

Rock on the inrun, and in the landing — low tide in Andorra.

 

 

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!

 

Grand Prix Mammoth – The results

Ayana Onozuka wins the Grand Prix Mammoth’s halfpipe

Kristofer Turdell & Jackie Paaso win the first stop of the 2016 FWT – Vallnord Arcalís

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 Time

Text & 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.

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.

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!

Swiss Freeski Team dominates at the SFR Tour Val Thorens

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!

Red Bull Linecatcher cancelled

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.”

SFR Tour Val Thorens: Qualifications

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.

Red Bull ReDirect is coming to Quebec City

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 Alps



The 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.

BE @ B&E Invitational: Second Round Voting Open Now!

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