Finn Bilous and Lulu Laird take wins at the inaugural Treble Cone Backcountry Invitational, ahead of a stacked crew of riders.
New Zealand finally got hit with a delivery of fresh snow, right in time for the second Backcountry Invitational test event taking place in the southern hemisphere.
Held on Crags into Shooter, the build crew spent three days building take-offs, installing rails and shaping the terrain to create an enhanced playground that allowed the riders to put on a show. After a visual inspection, riders were allowed three runs, leaving plenty of room for progression and innovation. The riders then chose the best of their three runs to be judged by their peers—the other competitors.
On the women’s side of the draw, 18-year-old Australian Lulu Laird impressed the rest of the field to be crowned champion. Lulu linked left and right 360s into her run and punched a monstrous front flip off the main booter, giving shades of Parker White. She was joined on the podium by Brit Harriet Lucas and Kiwi freeride legend Jess Hotter.
“When I first saw the course I was drawn to the big money-booter because I knew I could do something pretty big. I have a bit of slopestyle background so having slopestyle take-offs in the backcountry is insane because it brings everything together.” Lulu Laird
The men’s field was stacked with some of the best freeskiers on the planet, from American FWT regular Ross Tester to X Games slopestyle winner Luca Harrington. With three runs to dial in conditions—on a course that included multiple hips and two rail features—the men threw down in mint New Zealand conditions.
At the end of the day’s riding, the athletes gathered together to review everyone’s run and vote for the winners. On home soil, it was a Kiwi sweep on the podium with Finn Bilous, followed by Luca Harrington and upcoming FWT rookie Fynn Powell rounding out the top spots.
See Finn’s winning run below.
“It was a unique format of an event, merging slopestyle and freeride skiing into one line – it’s been a bit of a dream of mine to put a comp run through there [Crags to Shooter] so it was super cool to get after it with all the crew.” – Finn Bilous
“It’s really cool to see the freestyle park and pipe style combined with freeride, it’s pretty cool to get a bit of a combination, Treble Cone is putting it on – this is the best place for it.” – Luca Harrington.
The success of the two southern hemisphere test events bode well for the Backcountry Invitational’s expansion outside of Switzerland.
