Freeskiing in Finland??? It's not the first place that comes to mind when we think of a ski competition, but hey, the photos look pretty pimp and this could shape up to be a cool contest. Here's the release...
PS- Editor's note, guess it's Norway afterall, not Finland.

Nissan ArctiX is an invitational big mountain freeride contest for skiers and snowboarders. The event will take place in Tamok, Lapland from 31st of March to 9th of April. Located 400km north of the Arctic Circle, Tamok is an undiscovered freeriding Mecca featuring spectacular natural wonders such as the midnight sun, northern lights and awe-inspiring landscape as well as the unique Sami culture.

Three days of riding will take place during an eight-day weather period to allow for the major snow dumps typical of the area. Riding will take place on three different mountains, some of which have never been skied or snowboarded before. Descents vary in height, steepness and exposure with virgin lines up to 1000 meters high and 50+ degrees steep.

The event will feature a completely new format, designed by experienced, professional freeriders with competitive professional freeriding in mind. Competitors will be taken deep into the exotic Arctic backcountry on snowmobiles before being lifted to the top of the mountains by helicopter.

Each rider will have the opportunity to do as many runs as they want throughout the day allowing the riders to study their lines and assess the snow conditions. This format also removes a lot of the stress from the competition and makes the day seem more like a normal day of freeriding with a super fun crew. Of course, this format will produce more impressive and safe riding as well.

There will be a panel of five judges who will judge every run with each competitor’s best run of the day used for the final results.

Nissan ArctiX is an invitational event but anybody over 18 years of age can leave their application at the official event website www.arctixtamok.com. Send in your application by the end of January and hope for the best!

This unique event is organized by two long-time, Finnish, professional freeriders and alpinists, Jarkko Henttonen and Ode Siivonen. Both have been competing in freeride snowboard events on a professional level since 1995. Key organizational duties will be provided by Lapland heli-ski, guiding and event specialists Cohkka Ltd. www.cohkka.fi in co-operation with a Tamok based tourism development company HuAs.