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!

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.

Homeboy: Tell our readers who you are, how old you are and what you do for living etc.?

Kaisa: I am a 29-year-old (young!) woman from Joensuu in Eastern Finland. My family still lives in Joensuu, but right after graduating from high school I moved to Rovaniemi,  Lapland, to study. The Arctic Circle kind of fascinates me and Rovaniemi is a good location for getting outdoors in the fells.

I chose to study to be a sports instructor in Rovaniemi because there is a possibility to specialize in nature sports. In a way I have also used all my free time (and student loans) for studying my career, i.e. to passionately perform outdoor sports whenever possible. I graduated in 2004 and after that I have had temporary jobs all over in Finland and some abroad too. I have spent winters in the North, despite some riding trips to the Central Europe.

In the summertime I have worked in Southern or Central Finland and also done some summer sports too. I have done a great variety of different jobs: outdoor safari guiding, working on a reindeer farm, teaching snowboarding, and in the summetime I have worked as a sports instructor and as a sales person in an outdoor shop.

Doing only part-time jobs has been my particular choice for getting wide professional experience and at the same time, the only real option for maintaining my life style: to get outdoors as much as possible and to do what I really love.  All the jobs I have done relate to my hobbies, so I have at the same time gained knowledge of different sports.  This has also kept me somehow connected to “everyday work life”. Also, I did some additional studies in 2007 specializing in educational adventure. Those studies made it clear to me that I really like to work in the field of nature and outdoors in one way or another.

A year ago I started my winter job in Muonio, Lapland, as usual but to my surprise I also got a job as a teacher in Kronoby Folkhögskolan (in western Finland). Basically I was teaching outdoor guide students. Luckily I got a good deal so could manage to tour the Freeride World Tour Qualications and finally even got some nice results. Last spring was quite hectic though: I had a flat in three different locations and at the same time I travelled almost all the time.

Homeboy: Sounds like you don’t have any problem with too much spare time in winters, heh. In the summer time you must take it easy…right?

Kaisa: Well, summer wasn’t that busy; I only got to travel between two locations in Finland because of work. In addition to working I had some small-scale projects on all the time, like mountain biking or adventure races, arranging races and planning for future riding trips, etc.

I love to live in Jyväskylä. We have an old, red “grandma’s house” there by the lake. Still, when the fall comes I always want to go north.  Despite growing up in a small city, I really feel at home in Lapland, in its forests and fells.  I need some peace and lots of space around. Lapland offers plenty of both. Maybe it was my parents’ very down-to-earth philosophy and all the summers spent at our summer cottage that made me feel like such a “forest dweller”, heh.

Homeboy: Ok. Now, let’s get into the main subject of this interview – riding. How and when did you discover snowboarding?

Kaisa: If I remember right, I tried snowboarding for the first time in 1994. I got a racing board with plate bindings from the local hill’s rental shop (because there weren’t actually any other ones). At that time I didn’t realize how to turn but I just tried sliding the hill sideways with both of the edges. Naturally, there wasn’t anyone around showing how to do it and I didn’t have any idea how to made proper carves.  Well, as you can imagine, the prize for all that was a concussion and a broken wrist.

After that I continued a couple of years on skis, until my mom gave me some money to try snowboarding again. That time I had a friend to teach me and I figured out how to make some real turns. Then in the spring of 1999 I was going on a bus trip to Lapland and I was too ashamed to bring my antique skis with me. My mother loaned me a snowboard from some friends. I was stoked big time. And the board was quite big too – it belonged to the friend’s 2-meter-tall dad!

Despite the oversize board I was real happy to ride (being actually just a “passenger” on the board didn’t matter, heh), and I was hooked for good. The next fall I finally got my first own board. (For you Finns out there: the board belonged to the old school Koli-rider Juha Arponen and it was still quite long, a 162 cm purple Burton Supermodel with cool flames on the deck…).

The same winter (99-00) I also tried my first jumps on the icy gaps of Mustavaara, a local ski hill. That was another mistake again, as I didn’t know at all how to jump and I just landed on my back on the rock hard transition. The result was a hairline fracture on my lower back.  The injury itself wasn’t serious but it left a “nice” little mark in the form of a small pain every time I sit still for too long.

At the time, though, I was totally sold on snowboarding and wise enough to leave the floor bandy I played quite seriously on the national level. The season 1999-2000 was my first complete season and that season I managed to visit the Alps for the first time. I made a trip to Lyngen and Narvik too.  I guess I really took all the oppurtunities to ride back then and I fell in love with the soft snow and freeriding right from the start. I immediately knew this was my thing.

She is also a competitive mountain biker and adventure racer, AND she likes rock climbing and loves the outdoor life in general

Homeboy: Great answer. It is always nice to hear about people who have strong passions in their life. For most of the people there are just one or two. But you are a bit different that way – tell the readers a bit more about what other sports and activities you do. There are a few, am I right?

Kaisa: Yes. Mountain biking, rock climbing and adventure racing. One month ago I also did my first surfing trip ever (so you probably can’t call that a hobby yet).

From 2002 on I’ve done the Finnish mountain bike Enduro tour and every summer I do one or two adventure races. In the early 2000s I was a very active climber but lately I have climbed less because of all the riding (both snowboard and mountain bikes). But I believe I will put some more effort into climbing in the future again.

I also love kayaking but getting my own kayak will wait for some time now. As a part of my job I do trekking and camping all the time. I would especially like to do some more winter hiking and camping in my free time too.

Everything I do relates to nature and outdoors in some way and that is the whole point of my life style – being out in the nature just feels so good to me!

(Editor’s note: Wow – I can say I feel a bit of jealousy right now…being an aging, fulltime office rat…)

Kaisa’s take on the sport of snowboarding

Homeboy: How do you spend your winter snowboarding? Would you call yourself a “ski bum”?

Kaisa: There isn’t actually any given pattern to how I spend my winters. When I studied a few years ago it all depended on the studying schedule. In general I don’t like to plan too much. I keep options open as long as possible in order to sieze interesting opportunities spontaneously.

I’ve spent all my winters in snowy areas (expect one maybe) and that has made it possible for me to do winter sports in general. I mean, I have pretty good oppurtunities in my hometown too. For example, it isn’t a big deal for me to change my riding gear for a tight cross-country skiing outfit now and then and go cross-country ski a few laps. Actually I could ski some cross-country any day, probably. I love to do it now and then and it is also a significant part of my wintertime.

From 2000 on I have spent my winters in Lapland and from there I have made several trips to Northern Norway and Sweden (and some trips to central Europe too).  For example in the winters 2005 and 2006 I managed to avoid any real job and just rode. In 2005 I did the snowboard instructor examination, rode a few weeks in Verbier and LaGrave, did some teaching in Pyhätunturi (Finland), guided in Jasna, Slovakia for elamysmatkat.com and did some “traditional” spring trips to Kilpisjärvi (Finland) and Lyngen (Norway).  The next season was pretty similar but the cool thing was that I didn’t do a turn south of Finnish Lapland – I did all my riding in Finnish Lapland and in Tamokdalen, Northern Norway.

Then there are competitions. I have done several of them: The Finnish Freeride Championships in Kilpisjärvi, Riksgränsen Scandinavian Freeride Championships, Finnish Championship Boarder Cross, Nissan Arctic Tamok Freeride competition and last season I did the Freeride World Tour Qualifications. Last season brought some new locations and riding vibes: I visited The USA for the first time and rode also for the first time in Austria and southern Norway. I also did some pretty cool split-board touring trips with my boyfriend Teemu Tiiro in Lapland, and luckily I was also doing some job-related trips in Tärnäby-Hemavan area, Sweden.

Well, I can’t exactly call myself a “ski bum”. But probably I have been quite close at times, I guess. All in all I am pretty cheap and try to save all the money for trips and gear, and especially for riding. If you have enough drive to follow your passion, you will find plenty of options to save both money and time for your hobbies…

Homeboy: Tell us three reasons to snowboard and compete in snowboarding? What pushes you forward to progress?

Kaisa: Nature, fun and curiosity.

Snowboarding, freeriding especially, is a great way of being outdoors. It is fun and you meet new, interesting people doing it.  Competitions are all about curiosity for me, and also the will to progress as a rider (both mentally and physically).

At the time I make the decision to take part in the competition I will take a mental challenge. An after taking that challenge I am probably a bit stronger a person. In addtion to that I will meet new people, get great experiences and maybe also that rewarding feeling of success.

I got the motivations that drives me to train and progress from my dreams where I see myself riding huge powder lines better than ever, taking that “perfect” competition line or doing long expedition type riding trips to the mountains.  When I have that will to progress I also will get closer (step by step) to my dream of riding better than ever before. At the same time I will gain information about snow, nature and mountains. Knowing nature and the environment will make me feel more home in the nature and that, on its part, is just pure physical satisfaction for me.

Homeboy: That was a very good answer in our opinion. However, it can be also pretty dangerous in the mountains. What do you think about dangers (even the danger of dying) in the sport? (Too) many Finns have died in the mountains too… What do you think about possible accidents and dangers in riding?

Kaisa: I have a strong will and motivation to live and I try to avoid deathly danger in every situation out there. In my opinion I have a healthy fear and self-protection instinct – still, I want to control those to some degree, sometimes more, sometimes less. I won’t climb to the top of the mountain if I feel a bit of unsure about conditions or my own skills or physical capacity before the ascent.  I don’t want to defy death or try to get in to the life-threathening situations voluntarily. That said, I have to admit that I probably take more risks than people on average but then we are talking about the risk of an injury, not the risk of death. You can say an avalanche danger is the biggest risk in this sport and with that you have to evaluate the conditions every time case by case.

I don’t personally know anyone who has died or got lost in the mountains. So, I can’t take the aforementioned accidents that personally. It is always sad to hear about the accidents but on the other hand we talk about people that have followed their dreams and passions and died while doing that. The random act of violence out there or every traffic accident can be even more tragic in my opinion.

I would like to believe that by combining humility, knowledge, experience and respect for nature you can be out there safely, knowing that you have the best possibilities to spent time in the environment where you enjoy your life the most.

Are you ready for the Freeride World Tour?

Homeboy: Talking about risk involved action – You compete on the Freeride World Tour this season. Tell us a bit more about the tour…and explain why you will attend the tour.

Kaisa: The tour starts on 19th of January in Sochi, Russia. At the end of February I will compete in Squaw Valley, USA and after that in Tignes, France. The last part of the tour will be held in Verbier – the classic Verbier Xtreme. The Xtreme is an invitation competion, based on the results of the previous events. The four places in FWT snowboard women were given to the two best in the last year tour and two best in the qualification tour. In addition to us four, about four other people will be invited based on the results in the so called sister events or by “wild cards” given by the organizers.

Well, why I attend the tour is because I got some good results in last year’s qualifications tour – as I just explained.  The only reasons not to compete this year would be related to budget and work situation. But luckily I got all the things sorted out and I am free to compete on the tour! The opportunity is an enormous challenge for me, and a very interesting as such.

Homeboy: What do expect from the Freeride World Tour? Have you evaluated your chances to succeed?

Kaisa: I wait and hope for good runs and of course good snow conditions. At the same time I will get to ride and party with like-minded people. Meeting the best female freeriders all over the world is a really big thing for me; I already noticed that last season. Where I usually ride you get to meet too few female riders in general. I also anticipate progressing as a rider and good communications between the organizers and riders.

I won’t speculate on the exact results, I guess I have as good chances as any other rider in my class.  In my opinion there are a couple of really strong candidates to win and then the rest are pretty equally skilled.  It always depends on so many small issues: daily conditions, your current feeling, physical condition (and possible injuries), etc.

Homeboy: But can you name some of your biggest rivals?

Kaisa: Actually, everyone in the women’s board class are rivals. Verbier Xtreme winners Geraldine Faschnaht and Ruth Leisbach will be probably the favorites.

Homeboy: Who are your snowboard idols and why? Or do you have any idols?

Kaisa: Actually I don’t have any big idols. I know lots of good riders who I admire for their skills. And most of them are great people too. A good woman is always something to look for – because getting that good is a even harder for a girl and requires a strong attitude. The aforementioned Geraldine Faschnacht and Ruth Leisbach are pretty damn good riders, and also Victoria Jealouse of course. On the other hand my boyfriend Teemu Tiiro and Jussi Räsänen are both very skilled riders with great riding humour and good vibes. (Editor’s note: that is true!)

Homeboy: What do you think are your weaknesses as a snowboarder and competitor?

Kaisa: There are several: too little competition experience (on a snowboard), being born and raised in the flatlands, starting a bit too late – just to name some. Also, I haven’t probably “matured” as a rider yet; both my style and technique will change some all the time. I have had some feedback that my riding style is nice but that I need to add some more aggressiveness and big cliff drops to my competition runs.

Homeboy: Well, that sounds pretty challenging to us (knowing how you ride already!).  But how about the strengths – What are your best qualities as a snowboarder?

Kaisa: I am fairly critical towards my skills and myself. There is always something to strive for. My psychological strengths are probably lots of competition experience from other sports and the peacefullnes and the skill to concentrate through that experience.  I also know that I have both good physical condition and the ability to make solid, well-formed turns, which are the basis of any good competition run anyway.

Homeboy: How many seasons have you competed? Did you have any success earlier?

Kaisa: I already did some competitions back in 2002 but in reality I could call the 2007/2008 season the first real competition season. And looking at the results, the season exceeded all my expectations (Editor’s note: Kaisa won the World Freeride Qualifications tour).

Before that I have done some local competitions with varying success. All in all I can say that every competition has been a very important experience to me.

Homeboy: How are you going to prepare to the Freeride World Tour?

Kaisa: Well, I am preparing already. I started the riding season and try to maintain my physical condition as well as possible. Getting the budget together and making travel plans might be the most concrete things to prepare. Also, I have had that special excitement in my riding this season – usually I don’t get that exited about things way beforehand but now I have gladly noticed that I am pretty stoked already and feel very energetic for the upcoming tour!

Homeboy: Great to hear! We wish you all the best in the tour. Finally, a different sort of question: can you name the three best resorts where you have ridden?

Kaisa: LaGrave, Jasna and Narvik. In all of these I have spent at least two weeks and for example in Jasna about two months altogether. So, I see these resorts from quite a different angle than the resorts I’ve only seen for a few days. None of these resorts are big in nightlife, prepared slopes or additional services but when talking about freeriding all three are really good. At least I have enjoyed great powder, beautiful scenery and my own private lines in those resorts (without the crowds of the biggest resorts!).

Homeboy: Thanks Kaisa! Now those were some well though-out answers. It would be really nice to go riding again some day, like we did a few years ago in Jasna. Have a great season and be careful out there!

Kaisa wants to also thank her sponsors: City-Sport, North Face, Oakley and JKL Freeride

We’ve interviewed Fred about his drop and the interview can be seen here. His awesome drop and many other perfect moments can be seen in Nuit de la glisse movie. Check the trailer below!

But this time one could say there was even more luck than in Scott Macartney’s case. Even miraculously so, even though skills and experience played a HUGE role here too…read on, and you will find out how!

Norwegian veteran freeskier Fred Syversen unintentionally hit the world record cliff drop, got buried in the snow and skied away to the waiting rescue helicopter. At the hospital they found that he only had some minor internal bruising on his liver. This all happened in the Alps while filming for the new Nuit de La Glisse film. The cliff was said to be just a tad over 100m(!) high and Fred Syversen’s speed at take off was around 80 km/h.

Has Fred Syversen really jumped that high drop?

There is a lot of speculation going on about this whole event. Seems like there is no footage around yet (at least on the web). Rumors also say that they’ve only captured a part of the ride on film.

There is also a very long thread in TGR forum that contains very much (hilarious, as usual) off-topic talk. If you don’t have enough patience or time to scroll through it, here is the best part, the words from the man himself. I won’t speculate any further, here is the real deal:

Some facts for u guys

Hehe,

Somebody told me about this discussion (couldn’t read it trough, too much), and I like to add a few facts, the rest I will leave for the film and the pics. I can’t give you any proof, that’s not for me to decide.

My ski philosophy is that you should always stick your landings, that’s gonna progress our sport! Going this BIG we’ll leave to the BASE jumpers.

This was the warm up run at the beginning of the day during heli-filming, and it turned out that I missed the end of my line with not to many meters (difficult route finding cause of similar terrain features ). I let my skis go pretty much into the falline and picks up speed instantly, and just thereafter realized my fault and that I will go out something, probably huge.

The mind works amazingly fast under stressed situations; breaking or trying to stop was no longer an option, it simply went too fast. If I had tried that I wouldn’t write this. So that left one choice; go for it, and do it right!

For a fraction of a second I thought this is it, but managed to get in a slight right turn to avoid the cliffs on my left side in the landing area. Then comes the take off at an amazing speed (it felt like that), I see snow underneath, and I realized that it’s not over yet.

In the air I tried to keep a position as long as I could, but air pressure finally pushed the tips of my skis up. That’s what I wanted as well, because landing it anything else than horizontally was out of the question!

I had an ABS avalanche back pack, and for those who know, it has a little metal/aluminum bottle ? near the lower back, not good if you land on your back. So I tilted my body slightly to left before impact and that probably saved my spine.

I didn’t want this to come out, but with mobile phones around……

Nuit de la Glisse Films / Perfect Moment Clothing company, producer Thierry Donard
Photographer : Felix St. Clair Rénard
Measure of the jump 330 feet.

For the skiing watch Free Radicals : Rising and Snowblind and Nuit de la Glisse: Perfect Moment ”The Contact”.

And as far as I know; I am not 42 yet, but hope I will be.

Fred Syversen

I’ve read quite a lot about him, so just wanna share with you what I’ve learned…

Seth Morrison grew up in Wisconsin and started skiing in the age of six. His first skis were plastic and his ski boots were rubber boots. As his family moved to Colorado, Seth joined the alpine ski team of Vail. Six years in the ski team of Vail gave Seth a very good basis for his career in skiing. Every now and then the trainer of Vail ski team allowed kids ski freely in Vail, which lead to the invention of the word “freeskiing”.

During the early 90s Seth Morrison skied in the step slopes of Crested Butte where the first US National Extreme competition was arranged in 1993. Seth joined the competition and became second and won guys like Doug Coombs and Dean Cummings. According to Seth, the best achievements in his career are the three silver medals in US Extreme competitions.

Seth is like a rock star. He doesn’t care that much about being second in the races. He wanted to ski like his fans expected, not what the judges expected or wanted to see. Just like rock stars, Seth wanted to give fans what they came to see.

Seth Morrison became known from his co-operation with Warren Miller and Matchstick Productions. Back in late 90s many skiers were jealous to those who skied in Matchstick films. According to Seth Morrison, glamour was far from that job. It was not easy to make living by skiing, although nowadays it is much easier. Anyhow, Matchstick films made Seth Morrison an icon of the sport. Seth skied in places most of us could never even dream of. When I saw Seth making backflips while dropping from a 30-meter cliff, I though “how far this is going to be and where are the limits?”.

Few years ago Seth Morrison quit working with Matchstick Productions. He felt that Matchstick didn’t respect his work as he expected, and he felt like there is not even time to breath. According to Seth, some skiers also had their own agenda and were not able to work as a team. Now Seth is a freelancer who can ski in any movie. What really is an interesting point is that Seth doesn’t watch ski movies. Instead he likes to watch snowboarding and motocross movies.

Seth Morrison has traveled across the planet. He has skied in a number of interesting places and ski resorts. Seth’s favorite places to ski are Haynes in Alaska, Bella Coola in BC. Seth is a busy man and therefore has not much hobbies, but when he has time he goes mountain biking. Seth has no plans for his life. He just wants to ski as long as possible and listen to punk rock. That’s the attitude!