Supported by long-time partner Swatch, the Freeride World Tour enters its fifth season solidifying its position at the very top of competitive Freeriding. Alongside Chamonix Mont-Blanc will be Austria’s best kept big mountain secret, Fieberbrunn and a new Scandinavian stop – the tour will descend upon Røldal in Norway for the first time.

The world’s best Freeskiers and Snowboarders will then meet for the season finale on the legendary Bec des Rosses in Verbier which continues to stand alone as the world’s biggest and most prestigious Freeride competition. Competitive Freeriding has evolved rapidly over the last four seasons with the pros spinning, cliff-jumping and stomping with an ever increasing intensity. We’re expecting to see further progression in 2012 as the experienced big mountain riders compete against a new wave of young talent.

The men’s skiing line-up will feature big mountain specialist and two-time World Champion Aurelien Ducroz, the furiously fast and fluid Reine Barkered, Zermatt’s favourite son Samuel Anthamatten and the ebullient Henrik Windtsedt. The rapidly advancing female skiers will again be pushing the limits with reigning World Champion Janette Hargin battling it out with USA’s Angel Collinson and kiwi Janina Kuzma.

Rider Xavier de la Rue. Copyright © freerideworldtour.com.

Riders Aurelien Ducroz, Jérémy Prevost, Samuel Anthamatten. Photo by J. Bernard. Copyright © freerideworldtour.com.

Photo by J. Bernard. Copyright © freerideworldtour.com.

Xavier de le Rue, widely recognised as the world’s best all-round snowboarder, will no doubt be “charging down the Alps” to win back his title, although Austrian stalwarts Mitch Toelderer and Flo Orley as well as exciting newcomer Christian Schnabel might have a few things to say about that. Swiss rider Anne-Flore Marxer impressed everyone in her rookie season taking the World title at the first attempt but will face stiff competition from Germany’s Aline Bock and a field of contenders from both sides of the Atlantic.

The Freeride World Tour welcomes Swatch as its main sponsor partner alongside a growing array of ski industry partners – Scott, Dakine, Marker, Powderhorn, Kask, Snowpulse and Teko.

Rider Henrik Windstedt. Photo by C. Margot. Copyright © freerideworldtour.com.

Rider Gennady Khryachkov. Photo by D. Carlier. Copyright © freerideworldtour.com.

Photo by J. Bernardt. Copyright © freerideworldtour.com.

“This fifth season promises many things. The riders’ performance improves every year and we’ll undoubtedly see the bar raised even further in 2012. We have a first-ever Norwegian tour-stop, where we’ll be working closely with a very experienced group of local organisers and we will be launching an Expo and Test at three tour stops – Chamonix Mont-Blanc, Fieberbrunn and Verbier. We will continue to actively support the 30+ qualifier events around the world and encourage the next generation of riders with three Juniors stops. I’m also absolutely delighted to see Swatch alongside us as well as so many ski industry partners.” says Freeride World Tour founder and organiser, Nicolas Hale-Woods.

Freeride World Tour 2012 schedule

Freeride World Tour, Chamonix Mont-Blanc 2012 by Swatch

• Dates: 21- 27 January; Location: Chamonix (FRA)
• Disciplines: Men’s and Women’s Ski and Snowboard

Freeride World Tour, Røldal 2012 by Swatch

• Dates: 25 February – 01 March; Location: Røldal (NOR)
• Disciplines: Men’s and Women’s Ski and Snowboard

Freeride World Tour, Fieberbrunn 2012 by Swatch

• Dates: 09 -15 March; Location: Fieberbrunn (AUT)
• Disciplines: Men’s Ski and Snowboard

Freeride World Tour, Verbier 2012 by Swatch

• Dates: 24 March – 01 April; Location: Verbier (SUI)
• Disciplines: Men’s and Women’s Ski and Snowboard

Freeride World Tour stops in Rosa Khutor-Sochi (Rus) and North America are to be confirmed.

For more check out Freeride World Tour website.

Rider Adrien Coirier. Photo by M. Weiler. Copyright © freerideworldtour.com.

Rider Mitch Toelderer. Photo by C. Margot. Copyright © freerideworldtour.com.

Rider Sebastian Hannemann. Photo by J. Bernard. Copyright © freerideworldtour.com.

Riders will now travel back home, but will get together again in the end of January when Freeride World Tour lands in the legendary Chamonix. The Nissan Freeride de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc is scheduled for Saturday, January 30th, and the Nissan Russian Adventure by Swatch will take place the next possible day using the start list established in Sochi. This means that riders will meet in Chamonix for both events. The line up is as good as it gets with many interesting contenders for the Freeride World Champion 2010 title.

Freeride events are not anymore just one way to spend time, but serious competitions worth more than average yearly salary of most people. The Nissan Freeride de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc will offer the total prize money of USD 56,200 and the Nissan Russian Adventure by Swatch prize money is set at USD 35,200. The season’s prize money grand total exceeds USD 200,000. Although this is pretty good money for an individual, in general there is much less money in ski industry than in snowboarding industry. Hopefully we’ll see continuous growth, because money is needed to organize big events such as the X Games.

Current ranking in Freeride World Tour is as follows.

Ski Men:

1. AURELIEN DUCROZ (FRA)
2. REINE BARKERED (SWE)
3. SVERRE LILIEQUIST (SWE)

Snowboard Men:

1. XAVIER DE LE RUE(FRA)
2. ALEX COUDRAY (SUI)
3. MAX ZIPSER (AUT)

Ski Women:

1. ANE ENDERUD (NOR)
2. MARJA PERSSON (SWE)
3. JESS MCMILLAN (USA)

Snowboard Women:

1. SUSAN MOL (USA)
2. ALINE BOCK (GER)
3. G. FASNACHT (SUI)

It is a pity that Russian Adventure was postponed, but according to our reporter Jarkko Henttonen riders have had couple of very good powder days. Check out Glen Plake’s video reports below, and especially the last one in which you can see riders enjoying the last day. Not bad, eh? At least Tomas Diet (FRA) enjoyed a lot.

Last season we had our own boy Jarkko Henttonen working as a judge, and he reported directly from the battle field such as Sochi freeride event. Also our very own freeride ladies Anni Karvinen (made it almost to the podium) and Kaisa Härkönen toured all events. This year they won’t join, but Jarkko will continue working as a judge. Naturally Homeboys will follow and report directly from the mountains..

Freeride Elite United for the Freeride World Tour

A unique mix of the world’s foremost freeride skiers and snowboarders have all confirmed their participation in the Freeride World Tour 2010, with the prize purse of no less than $206 200. The athletes will see a new event on the 2010 Tour calendar, the Nissan Freeride de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, with scheduled competition day on January 30.

“The fluidity in the choice of lines, the perfection of technical jumps combined with speed, has pushed freeriding into a new era. Chamonix-Mont-Blanc hosted one of the first European freeride contests in 1994, and we have decided to continue our involvement in freeriding with the second stage of the Freeride World Tour 2010,” stated Éric Fournier, Mayor of the mythical freeride mecca of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc.

Copyright ©freerideworldtour.com / C. Margot

Professional athletes with a serious commitment to the sport and with different backgrounds such as freestyle, alpine skiing, boarder cross, or filming for important film productions, is pushing the sport of freeriding to even higher levels, promising an eventful season for the Freeride World Tour 2010.

A good example is snowboarder Xavier de Le Rue (FRA) – two-time Freeride World Champion (2009, 2008), and four time World Champion in boarder cross (2001-2003, 2007), competing for France at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, parallel to defending his World Champion title in freeride: “Freeride and boarder cross are really complementary; boarder cross develops technicality, speed and stability, which has meant a lot for my freeriding career, and in freeriding the depth of one’s mental capacity is probably one of the most exceptional aspects, the mind’s total focus when riding a difficult face. ”

Copyright ©freerideworldtour.com / C. Margot

Riders qualified for first stage of the FWT* (with Freeride World Ranking indicated or wild card/WC) are listed below.

Ski Men (20)
1. Aurelien Ducroz FRA
2. Reine Barkered SWE
3. Sverre Liliequist SWE
4. Matthias Haunholder AUT
5. Henrik Windstedt SWE
6. Thibaud Duchosal FRA
7. Raphy Gillioz SUI
8. Seb Michaud FRA
9. Thomas Diet FRA
10. Kaj Zackrisson SWE
11. Torgrim Vole NOR
12. Griffin Post USA
WC. Stefan Hausl AUT
WC. Adrien Coirier FRA
WC. Richard Permin FRA
WC. JT Holmes USA
WC. Phil Meier SUI
WC. Cody Townsend USA
WC. Tim Dutton USA
WC. Sebastian Hannemann GER
WC. Egor Srokin RUS

Snowboard Men (10)
1. Xavier De Le Rue FRA
3. Max Zipser AUT
4. Matt Annetts USA
6. Mitch Toelderer AUT
7. Flo Orley AUT
8. Will Brommelsiek USA
WC. Eric Themel AUT
WC. Cyril Neri SUI
WC. Niklas Hollsten FIN
WC. Egor Druzhinin RUS

Ski Women (9)
1. Ane Enderud NOR
2. Marja Persson SWE
3. Jess Mc Millan USA
4. Elyse Saugstad USA
WC. Rebecka Eriksson SWE
WC. Caroline Meynet FRA
WC. Janette Hargin SWE
WC. Stina Jakobsson SWE
WC. Crystal Wright USA

Snowboard Women (4)
1. Susan Mol USA
2. Aline Bock GER
WC. Vivian Aasen NOR
WC. Maria Kuzma NZL

*The first stage of the FWT10 for male riders is Nissan Russian Adventure by Swatch in Sochi, Russia, 21 January. The first stage of the FWT10 for female riders is Nissan Freeride de Chamonix in France, 30 January

The 2010 Freeride World Tour’s four stages

1. NISSAN RUSSIAN ADVENTURE BY SWATCH – SOCHI, RUSSIA (January 21st 2010)

2. NISSAN FREERIDE OF CHAMONIX-MONT-BLANC – FRANCE (January 30th 2010)

3. NISSAN TRAM FACE – SQUAW VALLEY USA – UNITED STATES (February 27th 2010)

4. NISSAN XTREME BY SWATCH – VERBIER, SWITZERLAND (March 20th 2010)

Who is going to follow in the steps of Aurélien Ducroz – FRA (ski/men), Xavier de Le Rue – FRA (snowboard/men), Ane Enderud – NOR (ski/women) and Susan Mol – USA (snowboard/women)? The pressure is already on. Most riders have already begun their physical and mental pre-season work outs.

“The level among the riders has increased constantly since the first edition of the Tour. It is no longer enough to be a great skier to take part of the Tour. Physical and mental preparation, thorough inspection of the competition face, and top gear, are all important elements that has helped develop freeriding to a professional sport, becomming more and more known by the broad public,” says Freeride World Champion 2009 Aurélien Ducroz of France.

Nissan and Swatch remain as FWT’s main sponsors. Click here for the Freeride World Tour website.

After visiting five different places we found a nice place to stay with a reasonable price: TahoeCityInn, a nice, small hostel in Tahoe City village  only a 15-minute drive from Squaw Valley ski center. At this hostel (with breakfast included during the weekends) you could stay 9 nights instead of staying 2 nights at a pretty expensive hotel in the center of Squaw. Maybe some folks would have solved this problem by using one of their top rated credit cards, but I found it reasonable to save money this time.

Awesome opening day at Freeride World Tour at Squaw Valley

The first competition day was held  on Friday 27th on the “Silverado” mountain face under a bluebird sky and with good snow conditions. Riders chose their lines in the competition morning by watching the face with binoculars. The face offered many different line choices and the first rider had to be ready at 10:30 am on the start. Men rode before the women. The 1st competition day gave a really spectacular show for audience and judges, but unfortunately I couldn’t see more than two runs of the men’s competition because I had to climb up to the start to get ready for my turn. Anyhow, I was lucky to see one of the best lines of the first day. Jeremy Jones and Xavier de Le Rue were absolutely the kings of the day on snowboard, while skier Reine Barkered took the victory in the men’s ski competition.

It was very nice to have a new young face on the men’s ski podium, and the media was fascinated for the same reason. The smile on this new winner’s face could have told a thousand things, but you could see him simply grinning: ”This is it!” I guess he had one of the happiest moments of his skiing career. I talked to Reine afterward and he was very stoked over his first big victory and he was really relieved that this victory increases his ranking on the Freeride World Ranking (FWR) and he will have a good chance to ride in the finals in Verbier ski resort.

Not a bad day for ladies either

The women had very strong riding on the first day too, especially US female skier Elyse Saugstad. Also snowboard winner Susan Mol was acting very strong that day. The snow was pretty good the whole day, so even the last riders were able to enjoy the soft fresh snow. Some male riders started from the roof of the ski cabin, which gave a good possibilities for tricks, and we enjoyed different variations of back flips and tricks.

Kaisa Härkönen ended up in 4th place. I had a really bad run on that day, because my fluidity was not good and I had to do some line checks by stopping two times on my run. Even the two clear jumps could not score me high on the ranking, and I ended up in 7th place, which means that I was totally last in snowboard class. I was really disappointed in my run and my result of course, but once again my very best snowboarding friend and the legendary Steve Klassen made my day better by saying: ”Competing is uphills and downhills. Some days you do well, some days you feel like shit. The most important thing is that snowboarding should always bring you good feelings and you should never lose that sense of why you want to jump on your board again and again”. I realized that my whole life should not be so dependent on results and competing, but it is hard when you define yourself so much based on how you do in comps and how you ride. Damn it is hard to accept bad runs and badly chosen lines!

Squaw Valley provides spectacular backcountry riding

After the competition most of the riders went riding powder, and we enjoyed the whole scale of different lines, couloirs, jumps, and tree runs with excellent company consisting of some pro riders and local legendary Dave Hatchett (from Hachett brothers, Starndard Films Production) who took us riding in the nice area of Squaw Valley. The Squaw ski resort differs a lot from European ski resorts in its profile and elevation. Americans are so fond of giving names to jumps and cliffs, so they made a ”guide book” called ”Squallywood” which tells the names of unique runs and cliffs and jumps. Like in Europe, you normally do not name the rocks, only the couloirs and runs. In Squaw Valley every little rock has a name. It makes sense some how, because the area of Squaw Valley is not that large compared to Chamonix for example.

It was nice to ride in Squaw Valley during those 10 days, except we were a bit unlucky with the weather. It was raining water three days after the first competition day and after that the big dump started. It snowed about a meter in three days and the snow was pretty unstable after the rain. The ski patrol paid close attention to skiers’ security in the Squaw Valley ski area and unfortunately one ski patrol guy died in an avalanche accident during the work day while  securing the area for skiers. This happened in the ski area and it did not have anything to do with our competition.

Serious powder hunting at Squaw Valley

After waiting four days for the second competition day, the organization decided to cancel the second day. The first day’s results were the final results of the FWT 2nd stop in Squaw Valley. The two last days in Squaw were dedicated to powder riding and nothing in the whole world could not keep the riders away from that!

The places were tracked very soon after the lifts were opened and the lines on the lifts were amazing in the morning at 9 am. The local guys told us that the most fanatic powder hunters come on the line at 6.30 am to make sure that they will draw the first lines on the faces that have a vertical distance of about 500m! Americans, I love them!

One thing I did not like in the Squaw Valley ski resort was that all the skiers were carrying avalanche beacons but no one had a backpack with a shovel and a probe (check also our backcountry ski gear list). I asked one of the locals why you even carry a beacon if you cannot dig your friend out of an avalanche. The answer was that nobody here carries  a shovel and you can dig your friend out  using your skis or snowboard, and that the locals pretty much trusted the avalanche security system made by the ski patrol. They believe it is only a minimum risk to be in an ”avi” like they call the avalanches when the lifts are opened for clients. Scary, in my opinion. I am used to a bit different riding culture after spending many seasons in Chamonix. Anyway we had a great week and a good show in the U.S., so thank you America!

Check out these trip report stories for some great information about skiing in Krasnaya Poliana and Nissan Russian Adventure freeride competition. Below is also an embedded video from the competition organisers – pretty amazing terrain and skiing/riding (combined with some “behind the scenes” footage, judging and guiding work,  and few crazy crashes from the competition runs! Backflips and frontflips too, of course…)

Freeride World Tour Russian Adventure, Sochi, Part I

Pro Female Freerider Anniina Karvinen Reporting From Russia

Freeride World Tour Russian Adventure, Sochi, Part II

Freeride World Tour Russian Adventure, Sochi, Part III

Pretty Amazing First Day at Freeride World Tour in Sochi, Russia

Freeride World Tour Russian Adventure, Sochi, Part IV

Very High Level of Competition at the Nissan Russian Adventure 2009 (the results)

My Feelings After Riding in FWT Competition in Sochi, Russia (Anni’s personal blog posts after the event)

The first day started early on Thursday morning waking at 6 a.m. for the breakfast. Then a quick check that you have all your riding equipments with you for the competition: helmet (this year full face is not obligatory), back protection, bacon, shovel, probe, back pack, some water and lunch and of course your Bib number. A minibus took the riders up to the ski lift and it was still dark when we left the hotel. The sun rose on the way up the ski lift, coloring the silent moment with a purple sky. The first day’s competition consisted of a face that had a steeper part of approximately 150 meters, and the rest of the run was natural hills, “half pipes” and freeride formations. The upper part was challenging and made some differences with the lines and runs between the riders. I had a good run on my first day, I ended up in 1st place in the women’s snowboard class, which even I really did not expect. I had the feeling of a “mellow run” but I guess it was my line choice that made the difference. I had a nice chute line in one steep part of the second starting point and okay fluidity during my run. The face surprised me, because watching the lines from below with binoculars, I did not expect the face to be that steep from the top. Finding your line through the rocks was a bit hard at the beginning, but once you had come down 10 to 15 meters from the top, the face was pretty OK to ride.

Eric Themel rocked in the guys’ snowboard class on the first day with an excellent run. A light après-ski with some crazy Russian friends, Vasily Kovalev and Pacha, made some riders crazy with Russian Vodka. When Pacha brought a big can of vodka to our table, I knew it is time to try to escape. I almost managed after a few shots, oh my goodness, Russians with vodka. Vasily is a good friend of mine from freeride events and he was in charge of announcing for Russian audiences in this contest. He has great experience for that kind of work, because he has worked for many years for MTV Russia in Moscow.

Second day in Sochi started with bad visibility

The second competition day was supposed to be on Friday, but the weather turned out to be too warm and the organization decided to hold the second runs on Saturday in colder temperatures. The second day was not as excellent as the first comp day. The morning started in flat light and the visibility really sucked in the morning. We had four possible starting points this time also, and the guides had to certify the riders’ hike on start points 3 and 4 with rope and harness. The ridge was pretty narrow and slippery to hike with ski boots. A big thanks to the guides and organization for paying such good attention to the safety of the riders. I really trust and appreciate the whole organization to make tight decisions about safety and rules in the competitions. They listen to the riders’ opinions and demands through the “riders’ board”, which consists of some pro riders riding the world tour.

The weather turned better before the runs started and I was ready to go. My second run was not very good. I had quite an easy line in a chute again but not any jumps on the way down. I did not want to risk my run with stupid butt checks, but I should have made different choices. I lost a lot of points with no jumps and my fluidity sucked. The chute was steeper and the snow was so light, that I had face shots all the time. I had to do many speed checks in order to see where I was supposed to ride. I was not happy at all with my second run, but I did not expect to get quite that low of points for it. It was very hard to compare one’s run to the others, because we could not see the runs since the goal was so low from the top. It would be excellent to be able to see your runs from the film after every contest, to be able to estimate your level compared to the others’ runs, and to learn how to ride better the next time and progress as a freerider. There is not usually any opportunities to see your runs afterward, because only the winners’ runs are shown. Also, the film guys have a really busy time with their work, so they really do not have time to edit individual runs for each riders. Verbier Xtreme is different, because of its big visibility and few riders. There you are usually able to get the tape of your run.

The winner of the women’s snowboard class was Aline Bock from Germany with a really fluid run with big jumps. She has been riding 12 years as a pro for Roxy and she is bringing some good tricks to the freeriding world from freestyle. Cyril Neri won the men’s snowboard class with two good, exact runs. Jess McMillan and Sverre Lilieqvist were the winners of the ski classes. I give my points to Sverre because he had had lots of pain in his leg just a few days before the comps, and he made his way up to the podium to first place. What a fighter!

I finished in 4th place in the final results when all the points of these two runs were calculated together. I felt really, really sad to have to pay the price of losing the lead and slipping to 4th place. All my friends were saying that it is a good position, but damn, it is not, after leading the competition on the first day! I became really angry at myself after riding like a girl at the second day!!!!! I hope to ride better in Squaw Valley on the 2nd stop of Freeride World Tour and at the 3rd stop in Les Tignes in France. My goal is to ride in the finals in Verbier and it will be a hard mission to accomplish, because only 3 best women will ride there. Kaisa Härkönen finished 5th in the final results of the competitions.

Professional freeriding is a hard job

Competing is very challenging, some days you are strong and you feel like you are in 7th heaven. Then the next day you ride like a girl with no fighting aggression and you fall back to earth with a thud, and you become really disappointed. This all furthers you as a rider and develops your mental skills in general, I believe. Next time you demand even more from your riding and ride more aggressively and fluidly. No matter what, the week in Russia was awesome and I did some of my best riding in a long time with some really good friends from far away. Steve Klassen is always my favorite rider from the USA and has been a good friend for many years. I can not wait to get some more powder turns with him in California soon. Jarkko was happy with the judging and said the 2nd day was easier to judge after getting some experience and that there were clearer differences between all the runs on the second day.

We finished the competition with a wild party in a Sochi nightclub. I saw some crazy riders dancing without shirts, actually I guess it is tradition to rip off the men riders’ shirts in the after party. That is what the guys did to each other at the party, but I guess, that is totally another story… Thank you Sochi and Russia for the great experience!

Learning new things by traveling to exotic places..

The weirdest thing about the whole trip was that you could not really use any credit cards, not even at the airport. The second weird thing were the toilets at the ski center. It was a bit hard to get used to Russian toilets compared to the toilets in western countries; the ladies’ toilets were just simple holes in the floor and in some toilets there was not even a door and you had four of these holes in the same toilet just in a line. It was a bit confusing to use them wearing a ski overall…But it is a good skill to learn something new in your life everyday and to have a good laugh at weird experiences when traveling.

Now I will go back to my veterinary studies in Tartu, Estonia and ride a bit too. Keep your thumbs up for this Finnish team in the USA in three weeks’ time. You will hear from us soon again!

Ski Men: Sverre Liliequist (SWE)
Snowboard Men: Cyril Neri (SUI)
Ski Women: Jess Mc Millan (USA)
Snowboard Women: Aline Bock (GER)

Amazing kick off for the Freeride World Tour 2009 in Sochi

After the first day of competition with fresh snow and sunshine with an enthusiastic crowd, the 56 riders had a day to recuperate as Day 2 was postponed due to warmer temperatures.

Surprising at that may be in Krasnaya Polyana, situated 40 minutes from the Black Sea, this future Sochi 2014 Olympic site for on-snow sports (all other sports will be in the city of Sochi) does not usually have such mild temperatures in the winter. However, the sun increased the temperature so much that the O°C point was at 3800 meters! With the summit chosen for Day 2 reaching 2200 meters (resort at 500m with lots of snow), the mountain guides decided to postpone the competition day (possible competition days spanned from January 21-24) so the riders could compete in better conditions.

On Saturday, the temperature has comeback down to the seasonal norms, and even with the cloud cover, the riders were able to compete.

On the crest of the top ski lift, after a one-hour walk there were 4 possible starting points (2 accessible with harness only) forming a circle facing the ski lift, the show was particularly spectacular. Suspense was in the air until the end as Aurelien Ducroz (FRA), leader of Day 1, and Henrik Windstedt (SWE) were amongst the last to compete (start list was in reverse order of Day 1).

Overall Results of the Nissan Russian Adventure

Placing 3rd both days of the competition, the consistency of Sverre Liliequist (SWE) pays off. This situation is a bit unusual for him as we have seen in the past; his powerful, aggressive ‘Viking’ style often causes him to fall. His intelligent line choice revealed his extreme agility on various terrains. Aurelien Ducroz (FRA) just missed the top of the podium with only one tenth of a point difference; these are the closest results ever for the Freeride World Tour.

This story of consistency was almost the same for Cyril Neri (SUI), as he placed 2nd and 4th; this proves he really studied his options to take the most impressive and smooth lines that played into his style of riding. This victory is undeniably thanks to his rich experience.

Jess McMillan (USA) is the undeniable winner of this competition with her fast and aggressive lines. Elyse Saugstad (USA) unfortunately fell when landing an impressive jump; she will get her chance to defend her title of World Champion on her home mountains in Squaw Valley USA.

Aline Bock (GER) is undoubtedly the revelation of this first stage of the Freeride World Tour. She broke away from the traditional runs integrating numerous jumps thanks to her début as a freestyler. Gaining confidence from this first victory, she will certainly continue to impress everyone throughout the season.

2nd Day Results

With an unfortunate fall in the first run, Henrik Windstedt (SWE), World Champion 2008, lead today with a perfect run, a line of true freeride expression full of power, fluidity and dexterity with a high level of difficulty.

In the women’s ski competition, Janette Hargin (SWE) lead this run with an aggressive start and impressive jumps including a cliff jumps of around 4 meters. She really used the terrain to her advantage.

In snowboard, the freestyler, Aline Bock (GER) made an awesome début in freeride leading today’s run with a fluid line using the terrain, especially with her jumps.

For the men, Flo Orley (AUT) brought together speed and absolute confidence for his line and magnificent jumps notably a 360° on a cornice and a back flip in the final area.

Next FWT-event is Nissan Tram Cham Face in Squaw Valley, USA, 27 February– 4 March 2009

The stages of the Freeride World Tour 2009 (FWT)
20 – 25 January: Nissan Russian Adventure- Sochi, Russia

27 February – 5 March : Nissan Tram Face – Squaw Valley USA – New event

8 -14 March: Nissan Freeride de Tignes, France

20 – 29 March: Nissan Xtreme – Verbier 09, Switzerland

The Freeride World Qualifier 2009 events (FWQ)
30 January-2 February: the North Face Masters of Snowboarding – Snowbird (USA) – Sister event of the Nissan Tram Face Squaw Valley USA

5-15 February: Scott Big Mountain Fieberbrunn (AUT), sister event of the Nissan Freeride de Tignes (FRA)

13-16 February: the North Face Masters of Snowboarding – Crested Butte (USA), sister event of the Nissan Tram Face – Squaw Valley USA

15-19 February: Freeride de Chamonix (FRA)

19-22 February: Winter Mysticxperience (ITA) Monte Rosa

20-22 February: The Monster Golden Ticket in Squaw Valley USA,sister event of the Nissan Tram Face – Squaw Valley USA

6-8 March: the North Face Masters of Snowboarding – Kirkwood (USA)

4-7 March: Salomon Extreme Freeride Championships – Taos, New Mexico (USA)

13-18 March: Nendaz Freeride (SUI), sister event of the Nissan Xtreme – Verbier 09 (SUI)

31 March-5 April: Jasna Adrenaline (SK)

22-26 April: Röldal Freeride Challenge (NOR), sister event of the Nissan Russian Adventure – Sochi 2010

*A sister event is a FWQ which will qualify the winners of each category to participate in the FWT event to which it is linked

What a day!

We woke up early, before six, for breakfast. At seven we headed to the lifts with a whole bunch of all kinds of gear necessary to build everything needed for the event. Soon all the riders and the crew were gathered together at the bottom station and the atmosphere was great. Everybody knew that it was going to be a very exciting day.
It took quite a bit of time to get all the way up, as the lift really is rather slow. It was great morning to enjoy the fresh mountain air, though, so the trip up was a pleasure, just like the rest of the day. Chatting away with people in good spirits made me feel even better still.

Once up, it did not take us that long to set up all the stuff, and we were ready to start the contest around 9.30 as planned.

Competition day one in Freeride World Tour Russian Adventure, Sochi

What followed was simply put an amazing show of sportive talent. Everybody ripped, some harder than others, and it was cool watching people giving their best.

Some of the personal highlights of the day were watching runs done by such guys like Seb Michaud, Xavier de la Rue and Cyril Neri, who really put the slope into good use. Unfortunately I did not see Aurelien Ducros´s run, as I had to write down my notes for one of the snowboarders that I was judging, but it must have been impressive, as he placed first.

Judging freeriding is not easy. There are so many things one has to think about when trying to figure out how well a rider did. A judge needs to look at line, technique, control and fluidity, among other things. It is also a must for a good judge to be able to remember how everybody did, so that it is possible to compare someone’s run to basically any other ´s run. And that most definitely is very hard, as in each run so many things happen. Thus, I’d say that judging is not fun – it is actually almost unpleasant. But still I think it is good to do it, as it’s also a way to learn about riding. Watching others intensively, trying to figure out everything from snow conditions of chosen line to the performance of the rider is a great lesson not to be missed.

Jarkko Henttonen scored some epic powder in the trees after judging the Freeride World Tour competition

As it’s hard staying still for many hours watching other people having a blast, I went for a couple of runs after the comp myself to burn some of the energy that I got from watching others. I hooked up with skier head judge Jon Örarback and another ski judge, Martin Winkler for the same run I did with the girls yesterday. We still found some nice snow there, even if the place was more tracked than yesterday, and had some really fun turns. After this run Jon had to leave to do other stuff, but me and Martin went for another one a little bit further away.

It wasn´t that far, though, as it took us less than 15 minutes to get to the top of the run. I had to hike some meters a few times, but mostly it was just a very easy traverse. To say that the run was worth the trouble would be a pretty damn huge understatement, as it would have been totally worth it even if it had taken hours. The run that Martin took me, which is called the magic forest, was totally nuts. As I previously wrote, one russian heliguide said to me that this place is the best place in the world for treeriding, and I must say that now I’m pretty convinced.

We rode down about 1000 vertical meters, in huge trees that were perfectly spaced for riding as fast as you wanted. The incline was just as perfect as the spacing of the trees, and the snow was good all the way down. The terrain in the forest is insane, it’s filled with fun features to make all kinds of turns and manouvers on, as well as rocks and what not to jump from. Pillows. I’ve had a few good treeruns in my life and this was definitely one of the best I ever had. I’m not much of a hippie, but I felt like hugging the trees a few times. Which I did not do, though, as hugging a tree riding 50+ km/h is not that bright an idea!

We finished our day at the bottom station where there was bit of event action going, namely announcements of the days results, and some partying of course. Except the day was not finished. We still had some things to take care of, like organization meeting et cetera, after which we headed over to Trikoni for a nice dinner and some more partying. As tomorrow is second competition day, partying was quite mellow, but nonetheless, or maybe because of that, the place was filled with very happy people.

Absolutely great day!

Wake up call is early tomorrow as well, just like today, so it’s bedtime. Most likely after tomorrows comp the partying won’t be as mellow as tonight, so it may well be that you won’t be hearing from me tomorrow night. Then again, who knows…

Everything was perfect to make this event a success, large amounts of fresh snow, blue skies with no clouds in sight and riders ready to take on an impressive face for the first competition of the season.

Visible from just about everywhere, there were 4 starting points at the summit of the ski area offering various choices in runs from open runs, rocky terrain, cornices and cliff jumps. After having accomplished the first section with a bit of sluff (small surface snow movement that can make it difficult to remain steady), there was an area of rolling hills that provided a playground for their creativity with jump options and line choices where all 56 riders were able to reveal their talent.

The face required a lot of preparation from the security team comprised of mountain guides. In the last few days, there was major snowfall at the starting points on the crest which created massive cornices. “Our work modified the terrain a bit revealing icy areas notably when we cleared some high-risk zones” said Stephane Dan. “The last inspection between 8:15 and 9:15 is so important that it is essential to win. There were numerous riders that were waiting for the last visual confirmation before making their tactical decisions even after discussions with other riders during the Riders’ Meeting conducted by the mountain guides Wednesday night.”

Results after the first day of Freeride World Tour in Sochi, Russia

Aurelien Ducroz (FRA) leads the men’s ski competition

Heading down with bib number 6, he has an incredible run. He started at the most difficult area with perfection beginning with a few fluid turns and a jump. With surgical precision, he maintained his ideal trajectory, whereas Henrik Windstedt (SWE), winner of the Freeride World Tour 2008, who took this line just a bit earlier unfortunately, fell. Ending this technical area with a 15-meter jump, he completed the run with ease. Maintaining an ideal speed throughout the run, he chose a run that came naturally for him.

On this mythical face for Russian skiers, Seb Michaud (FRA) was also applauded by the crowd in the beginning of his breathtaking run by choosing an aerial line with a high cliff in the middle where he remained naturally fluid. A truly impressive jump, the largest of the day of at least 20 meters, with a perfect landing. He said himself that the second part of the run, much less technical, was not so inspiring, but the crowd enjoyed the show. Second in the Freeride World Ranking 2008, Seb, at the age of 35, must be considered one of the contenders for the title in 2009.

Jess McMillan (USA) ranks first for the women’s ski competition

She chose the most technical starting point without hesitation mastering the first and most difficult section with fluidity and ease. The challenging zones revealed her notable agility and remarkable ski technique that along with her jumps and choice of line made her lead the competition.

By choosing a less difficult line than Jess, Marja Persson (SWE) skied extremely well in the first section, going almost as hard as the men, with impressive jumps. In the second half of the run, she chose a much more direct line thus speed became more important than control. She will, without a doubt, learn from this lesson and modify her strategy for Day 2.

Eric Themel (AUT) leads the men’s snowboard competition

Raising the standards high for the competitors to follow, Eric traced a magnificent line with perfect execution even with the sluff and mastered his jumps. On the second half of the run, he chose a unusual line through trees that no other rider attempted with perfect control, power and absolute fluidity.

Cyril Neri (SUI) proclaimed that he was riding for pleasure rather than put himself under the pressure of the competition; and this mind-set worked well for this 3-time winner of the Verbier Xtreme who was present thanks to a Wild Card. He had a fluid start even with a grab on two hanging cliffs and a spectacular jump near the bottom of the technical area. He then performed a back flip on a natural pipe which attests to his remarkable creativity on all terrains which leaves Eric leading only by a thread.

Annina Karvinen (FIN) ranks first of the women’s snowboard competition

She chose a difficult line and performed well which attests to her rapid progression. Close behind, Nathalie Zenklusen (SUI) headed down the slope with no hesitation and a perfect line; just a slight lack of speed made the difference.

Reigning World Champion of the Freeride World Tour 2008, Ruth Leisibach (SUI) unfortunately was injured while training the day before the competition.

A few quotes after the first day

Aurelien Ducroz, Nissan Sports Adventure athlete, current men’s ski leader “I had a lot of pressure after Henrick (Windstedt) fell taking the same line I had chosen. I had defined my line and I decided to take it without hesitation. Everything went perfectly. I jumped exactly where I had planned and I was able to pick up speed to continue the rest fluidly so I could play with the terrain notably with jumps. However, my story could have been different because I just got my equipment at midnight last night; I have been waiting for them for three days… they got lost somewhere between Geneva and Sochi. I was so happy to see my skis this morning that I knew nothing could stop me today!”

Seb Michaud, 2nd in the men’s ski ranking: “The top of the slope was everything I love about freeride…pure lines on fresh snow, technical difficulty. I chose this line and did exactly as I had envisioned it. The bottom half, less steep, was just not as fun for me. Ten years ago, I would have given all my energy to win, but today I didn’t do anything exceptional at the end. That probably cost me the leading position and I am fully aware of it!”

Looking out the window in the morning I saw that the forecast was right: it was perfectly clear sky, no clouds nor wind what so ever and I rushed to get ready for riding. I did not quite make it to the first chair, but there was not that many people going up when the lift opened, and only a few competitors made it up early. Aniina and Kaisa joined me and we rode couple of nice runs in the same trees I´d been riding earlier. Then we headed over to the same run that the girls did with Steve.

FWT Sochi contest slope is in good condition

What they had told about the run before, that it was super good, proved out to be true. The slope had nice steady 30 to 35 degree incline, perfect for going fast, and the snow was rippable. Even if the snow was somewhat more compact than yesterday it was still pure powder and even with a snowboard I was sinking into it a fair bit. At times it was plowing overhead, blocking visibility completely for seconds.

The descent was maybe about 400 meters high, and there was all kinds of fun features, like banks, lips and rocks that we could play on. As I´ve been held back by a pretty bad heel injury since 05 I haven´t had too many proper pow days, and it was great being back on the real stuff.

The bottom part of the route was a narrow river bottom with fairly steep wall above it, on the opposite side from our descent. The place is definitely a terrain trap of worst kind, and I´ve heard that there has been some serious avalanche accidents there. Luckily it seemed that most everything from above had slid during the night, as there was big piles of fairly fresh looking avalanche debris. The snow that had slid into the gully was still fairly soft, so I figured it must have slid only a couple of hours before. We only had to traverse the bottom for some minutes, so I felt pretty secure about the whole deal. Nonetheless, it was still a bit spooky, even if riding at the bottom was still a lot of fun, too.

Riding the FWT contest slope and hearing some bad news

Sometime around 2 pm Anni and Kaisa decided to go have a look at the contest slope. I hooked up with three other girls, Jamie Burge, Anne Enderud and Charlotte Hagen for one more run in the same place. For myself this last run was the best, as I did not fall once and managed to pick a nice way down through the trees with some fun jumps, I even managed to stick a nice little double jump line and made it to the bottom of the run through some really tight trees really fast. I was stoked.

I was beat too, and I had to call it a day. Which I would have had to do anyways as the lifts closed. It was rad to be able to do a whole day without any real rests and ride quite hard, and I felt really satisfied. What brought my feelings down a whole lot was the news that I got, about Ruth Leisibach. I learnt that Ruth had hurt her knee pretty badly. She´d been riding in the trees, of course, and had hit a branch hidden in the snow: her board went under it and she went over it, and the branch did not give in. Instead her knee did. Ruth had managed to ride, or rather slide down from the site of the accident without outside assistance, so it was not super bad, but it had been really, really painful. Ruth is a really strong girl and a rider, one of my favorite snowboarders for sure and it is all too bad that she got hurt, as she just had recovered from an injury. She was taken to a hospital in Sochi, and from there she will be flown back home to Switzerland where her knee will be operated. Let´s hope it is not really serious and that she´ll be back on her board soon.

From the mountain I, along with everybody, headed over to Hotel Vertikal, where we had judge´s meeting, PFB meeting and rider´s meeting. As the forecast for tomorrow is very good as well, and as all the security work on the contest face was done today by the guides, the organization committee had made a decision that tomorrow is game on! Meaning we have to wake up really early and head up to the mountain already 7.30 in the morning.

There still is a fair bit of all kinds of organizing work to be done in the morning, but the plan still is that the first rider drops in on the comp face 9.30. The weather forecast says the temperatures will rise quite a bit during afternoon, which has an negative effect on snow stability and so the contest must be over by 1 pm. This means that everything must run without a hitch, really smoothly, so we must be ready as early as possible. Hence, wake up call is around 5.30. Which in turn means that I gotta go to sleep more or less right now. Anyways, it is exciting to get to see and judge my first FWT event.

Unfortunately I forgot to charge the battery of my camera yesterday, so I could not take any pictures today. Luckily the organizers have hired Jancsi Hadik, one of the very best ski photographers in the world to shoot pictures for your viewing pleasure and they can be checked out at the Freeride Word Tour website.