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Windstedt Wins Nissan Russian Adventure

J Dogg — Mon, 4 Feb 2008 23:21:10 -0500

Rating

While President Vladimir Putin was skiing on the opposite mountain,the elite of the sport of freeride skiing and snowboarding put on a great show at the second contest of the Freeride World Tour, Nissan Russian Adventure, today in Krasnaya Polyana / Sochi, the Russian host resort of the Winter Olympics 2014.

The 43 participating riders proved their skill in a steep and committing first face in exceptionally beautiful scenery, and further freestyling the second section with front-, backflips and other creative riding.

From Mammoth, California to the West Caucasus in Russia in less than a week. And once again the world’s best freeride skiers and snowboarders experienced great powder for a part of the contest run that was held from the top ridge of the Krasnaya Polyana resort. The wide ridge with three different starting gates gave the riders the opportunity to choose many varied lines on the 350 vertical metre run. The top section was the extreme part with very steep, serious riding, narrow couloirs and big cliff drops. A lot of sluff was coming down making the route finding even more difficult but absolutely stunning to watch for the spectators. The second section of the run was more of freestyle in skied out terrain, where consistency and creativity awarded.
Henrik Windstedt from Sweden skied the most radical line, starting with around 55 degrees steep solid turns to then drop a ten metre cliff, stomp the landing into a steep narrow chute, topping it up with an impressive backflip and skiing fluid all the way to the finish line. This run was extremely spectacular and put the Swede on top of the podium. “I had decided to go for this line when I looked at it yesterday, but once up at the starting gate it looked really difficult. I decided to go for it anyway and it was just amazing. It suits me to start on smaller faces than for example the Bec des Rosses in Verbier [Nissan O’Neill Xtreme de Verbier], but I look forward to skiing some bigger faces for the next contests,” said a thrilled Henrik Windstedt, who was second at Nissan Mammoth Challenge last week.
Once again French veteran Seb Michaud impressed the judges and public with a great run, including an amazing "late back flip", flying probably more than 25 meters in length. Seb Michaud, who won the Nissan Mammoth Challenge split a well earned second place with young American skier Drew Tabke.
Snowboarder Flo Orley from Austria chose to start his line at the steepest part of the face, continued fast and fluid into a difficult couloir, and staying original all the way to the finishing line, winning the men’s snowboard discipline. Flo Orley was overjoyed at the prize giving. “I am so happy. From the top of the ridge the couloir looked so steep. It was probably around 55 degrees but the snow was so good. Here the snow sticks to steep faces and I rode it without mistakes. I got so confident after sticking the couloir that I totally relaxed for the next section of the run and really enjoyed it. The venue was short but I think we all agreed on that it was very challenging and really beautiful”. Second placed snowboarder Xavier de le Rue’s run stood out as the fastest most aggressive snowboard run of the day with a big cliff drop that he stomped right at the start in a very difficult area. Further down the French pro snowboarder took huge air but slightly missed the landing, which probably took him down from the top step of the podium. Alaskan skier Elyse Saugstad is used to skiing big, which she confirmed today with a strong, fast and solid line. She started off jumping a cornice and executing a double jump in the middle of the run. “The contest conditions were perfect today, putting a good vibe among the competitors. The other girls were skiing really well, and I aimed to ski fluid and fast. It was a great face to ski on. The bottom half was maybe less extreme but a lot of work, that some might not have taken into enough consideration, which I took advantage of. Very close in points was second placed Marja Persson (Sweden) who did a strong start and consistent skiing all the way. In the women’s snowboard discipline Bibi Pekarek from Austria had the cleanest run with an original, committing entrance, clean jumps and fast riding at the lower part of the run. Although Ruth Leisibach from Switzerland is not riding hundred percent of her capacity, because of a fall earlier this winter, she took second place with a stable run with two nice drops. All the rider’s concerns went to Swiss Geraldine Fastnacht, who hurt her knee landing a jump. Geraldine took first place in Nissan Mammoth Challenge last week. Earlier in the week it snowed heavily in Krasnaya Polyana on a very thin base, meaning high avalanche risk. The organisers of the Freeride World Tour had planned to execute a part of the contest on one of the big, stunning faces of the Caucasus mountain range, with a heli lift from Krasnaya Polyana. For safety reasons the decision had to be made to hold the contest on a shorter but still challenging face.

Next to come: Swatch O’Neill Big Mountain Pro

The next stop of the Freeride World Tourwill be in the Alpswith the Swatch O’Neill Big Mountain Pro, starting in Chamonix 24 February. The Big Mountain Pro is a unique one week mobile event, including three contest days, taking the riders to some of the greatest mountain faces of the Alps, depending on where snow conditions are the best. The eight highest ranked male riders of the Freeride World Tourand five world class wild cards of each discipline will battle for the 80'000 USD prize purse.

Freeride World Tour Stop #1 - Mammoth

J Dogg — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 22:37:15 -0500

Rating

After a difficult week with snow, wind, and poor visibility the first contest of the Freeride World Tour, the Nissan Mammoth Challenge, was finally held in California on Friday 25 January. With cloudy skies and light snowfalls, but enough visibility for riders and judges to carry out the contest, many of the biggest names in the world of ski and snowboard impressed the judges and local public with great action on fast, solid lines and huge air.

55 of the world’s best skiers and snowboarders contested in the first ever contest of the Freeride World Tour in Mammoth, California. With the massive snowfalls of the previous days, giving at least two feet (60-80 cm) of fresh snow on the face, the competitors rode fast and convincing and went for huge air with impressive cliff drops, landing in between the pine trees, cheered on by the thrilled local public at the bottom of the face.

The competition was as tough as it gets. The only chance for podium was to perform impeccable runs with no errors and perfectly executed jumps. Each rider carried out two different runs on a double face with two optional starts and many different line options, with interesting terrain and big cliff jumps. The accumulated points from both runs set the final result.

After a face inspection with binoculars at the bottom of the face, all the competing skiers and snowboarders hiked to the top of the mountain. The 16 participating women went down first alternating skiers and snowboarders, followed by 37 male riders. After the first run, the competitors took some time at the bottom of the face to exchange their emotions and feelings. While checking their second line they gave each other advice and helped their fellow riders to choose the best options.

The experienced and oldest skier on the World Tour, 34 year old Seb Michaud from France, was not sure what line to ski while checking the face through his binoculars, but apparently his long experience rewarded him as he finally had two awesome runs and ended up winning. Again this showman proved to the crowds that a good show is just as important as the choice of line, throwing off a backflip right before the finishing line. For his second run he chose an original line taking a double cliff in very steep terrain.

The Swedish wild card Henrik Windstedt impressed the judges and took second place. The Swede might not be as well known in the Freeride circles as winner Seb Michaud and third placed fellow countryman Aurélien Ducroz, but the former freestyler has a quiet reputation of being one of the world’s most all round skiers, which he definitely proved to his more well established freeride mates with fast, unexpected and nerve biting runs. Aurélien Ducroz, a solid, well known freerider, took a well earned third place ending one of his runs with a frontflip right before the finishing line to the public’s delight. The five American participating skiers put on a great show, riding very fast and dropping huge cliffs.

In the women skiers’ category the line up proved to be the best out there with a level that has improved rapidly over the last years. American Jesse Mc Millan draw a straight line from the top to the bottom, never hesitating and offering the fastest run of the day in the female group putting her on the top step of the podium. She was followed in the ranking by Caroline Meynet from France with a powerful but more classic style than third placed Marja Persson (SWE), who once again proved that she probably is the most explosive female rider at present, but had a small fall and lost some points which put her on third place.

On the snowboard side, local rider Steve Klassen had a huge fan club in the cheering public and was applauded during his entire run. He finally finished at 4^th place in a close competition just behind three re-known European snowboarders. Cyril Neri from Switzerland, who is ranked number 1 on the world ranking list, finished at third place with an impressive backflip starting his run.

His fellow countryman Alex Coudray took most points with the two most original lines of the day winning the men’s snowboard class and 10 000 USD richer in prize money. Flo Orley from Austria took second place thanks to a super fast and steady second run.

Famous snowboarder Géraldine Fasnacht from Switzerland landed her first jump in such deep powder that she had to crawl out of her hole. Besides that, the choice of her lines, her fluidity and solid runs brought her to the 1^st place, just ahead of local snowboarder Tiffany Noel on 2^nd place. French snowboarder, Bérangère Moroc, coming straight from the qualifying contest Nissan Mammoth Quest a week before, managed to take 3^rd place.

Legendary skier and mega star Glen Plake has been present in Mammoth since the qualifying contest, Nissan Mammoth Quest, last week, and was judging the skiers during the Nissan Mammoth Challenge. His fellow judge Dino Raffaud (FRA), co-organiser of the Nissan Freeride de Tignes, commented the high level of the contest: “The level on this first event of the Freeride World Tour is simply huge, it promises an incredible season in terms of suspense and show. What we saw today is a real pulse test of the high level freeride in competition, a tasty mix of pleasure and commitment…”

See the Final Mens Rankings HERE.

See the Final Womens Rankings HERE.

Next stop – Sochi / Krasnaya Polyana in Russia

The second event of the Freeride World Tour will take place in less than a week’s time on the other side of the planet, in Russia. The contest, with 44 participating riders, will take place in Krasnaya Polyana / Sochi, the host resort of the Winter Olympics 2014. Famous for its legendary heliskiing the contest will consist of two runs where the second one will be heli-lifted to one of the west Caucasus magnificent mountain ranges with the top half of the field (22 riders in total). The first possible contest day is the 31^st of January.