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)

Kelly Sildaru becomes the youngest-ever female X Games Gold Medal winner

(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

Skier’s Cup: The Riders Have Arrived!

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

 

 

ISPO 2016 Part 1: The Skis

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

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.

• Line’s collaboration with Tom Wallisch has resulted in a pro-model park ski that’s designed to dominate big kickers.
• To keep the touring crowd happy, Line has packed their new Cloud Core technology into the Sick Day Tourist to reduce weight.

 

• New in the lineup and the most eye-catching ski in the crowd is the Honey Badger. Why’d they pick this color? Perhaps because the core and sidewall of the ski are made of bamboo, which in addition to being a renewable resource, also helps create a responsive and flexible all-mountain ski.

 

• The same bamboo sidewalls are built into the new Pescado ski as well. Probably the most obvious feature of this ski is the swallowtail. Designer Eric Pollard took influence from the surf community for this ski.

 

Atomic

• For buoyancy and boost in deep snow, look no further than Chris Benchetler’s redesigned pro model, the Bent Chetler. Meanwhile, Atomic’s new Backland FR series replaces the well-known Automatic Line for charging big- and all-mountain skis.

 

 

• The ladies can also get excited about a new Backland FR line just for women. Lighter and shorter versions of the Backland FR models are available for women, replacing the old Century line.

 

Armada

• Armada’s also got some attractive new highlights this year. The new VCTR line is targeted specifically for the Touring / Freeskiing crowd. Alongside color-matched clothes and skis, there are also several cool extras, for example the new Sampson Down Vest.

 

 

• The ARV lineup is also new, directed towards those interested in all-mountain platforms. The slightly wider ARV 106 leans more towards all-mountain/freeride, while the ARV 96 and 86 are more oriented for all-mountain/park.

 

black crows

• In addition to an awesome new collaboration with Downdays in the Innsbruck area (check out the Noctouring Society!), the crew from black crows also have some cool new skis to show off.
• New in the lineup is a true powder banana, the nocta 2. This black crow’s first full reverse-camber ski, which is lighter than the nocta air, and supposedly the lightest ski on the market in the category of 120mm+ underfoot.
• With the new double-rocker all-mountain ski called the captis, black crows has created a platform that feels at home everywhere. The captis also has a little sister, the captis birdie. This model promises a slightly lighter ski in shorter lengths that should appeal to the women’s market.

 

 

• The new ski for big terrain is the anima freebird. This double-rocker leightweight with alpine character was designed specifically for launching big cliffs and the modern freeride style, and nicely rounds out the black crows offering.

 

 

Faction

• When you think of Faction, you might think of Candide Thovex, and so it’s no surprise that this exciting brand has conjured up some cool new things.

 

• The bestsellers from past years are back again: the CT 2.0 is back with a new design and speaks to the all-mountain public who might find their way into the park now and again. The counterpart is the CT 3.0, which is also at home all over the mountain, though it’s more targeted towards the needs of freeriders.

 

 

• Candide’s backcountry favorite, the CT 4, has received several updates including a new sidecut shape.

 

 

• There’s good news on the women’s side of things as well. The ladies can get excited about the new Prodigy line, a freeride twin tip designed for women. The well-known Heroine line has also received several updates in the all-mountain category.

 

 

• The well-known Standard Series was overworked like the rest, and redesigned for high speeds.

 

 

Scott

• With their new Head-to-Toe concept, Scott’s got several new ideas in the works that offer unified designs across several product categories.

 

 

• Scott’s freeride ski, the Scrapper, now has a little brother. The new Scrapper 115 is markedly lighter than the previous model.

 

 

K2

• K2 has expanded its freeride sortiment with two new models. The 106mm-wide Marksman designed by Pep Fujas and the 96mm Poacher build the core of the brand’s freeski series; both feature Double Barrel Core technology. The All-Terrain Rocker Marksman also has an asymmetrical tip and tail designed to make buttering easier.

 

 

• The park-oriented Poacher is significantly more robust thanks to its Carbon Boost Braid, with even more pop than before.

 

 

• There’s also good news for female K2 fans: the new All-Mountain Luv Sick 80 Ti now features metal-reinforced sidewalls that provide better energy transfer to the edges. And of course, don’t forget the Pinnacle.

 

 

Völkl

• This year Völkl presents the new Confession ski. This “made in Germany” ski is a 117mm-wide freeride platform with tip & tail rocker.

 

 

 

• For the women there’s the new 90Eight W. The new model features carbon stringers in addition to Völkl’s 3D Ridge Technology.
• For the big-mountain tourers among us, Völkl offers the BMT 109. The new ICE.OFF topsheet surface promises no more ice and snow sticking to your skis. Like the 90Eight W, the BMT also includes the weight-reducing 3D Ridge Technology. This big-mountain lightweight stands out due to its carbon sheathing, which makes the ski as stiff as it is stable.

 

 

• The 100Eight lineup has been expanded with several new sizes.

 

Head

• What’s new from Head? The Flight Star series offers a wide spectrum of freeride models.

 

 

• The widest of all is the A-star with a 120mm waist. If you don’t like it quite as fat, you can take your pick of models down to 95mm underfoot. Softer material in the tips allows for flotation whether you’re heading up or down the mountain.

 

 

• In the freeskiing line, Head offers the Caddy as a halfpipe specialist, with specialized bindings to boot.

 

 

• The Framewall was developed as a rental ski — with its special sheathing, this ski positively beams with longevity.
• If you’re looking for an all-mountain ski, look no further than the Monster series. The specialized Graphene Technology allows for better energy transfer, saving weight with the help of a carbon lattice.

 

 

Fischer

• Fischer’s well-known Ranger line receives several new carbon variants. If you’re looking for a carbon-equipped freeride model, you’ll find several options to choose from.

 

 

• For the park rats Fischer’s got the Nightstick, while the Hannibal is oriented more towards the freeride & touring market.

 

Dynafit

• Dynafit has continued to develop its freetouring models, the Hokkaido and Chugach, while bringing out two new models in the same field.

 

 

• Now available are the Meteorite for men, and the Sphinx for women. Both models were designed with the downhill in mind, then optimized to reduce weight to improve touring performance.

 

 

• Another new model is the Dhaulagri. This ski is a touring-specific model that’s the lightweight of the Dynafit lineup.

 

Sick Trick Tour Open 2016 – The Annual Slopestyle Contest at the Snowpark Kitzbühel

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!

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!