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Saas-Fee Freeride Just Wrapped

J Dogg — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 02:00:10 -0400

Rating

Story by SaasFreeride.com

Friday night was tense in Saas Fee. It was raining, and the glacier had been shut for two days because of the high temperatures and the adverse weather. But when we woke to clear skies on Saturday morning things started to look up. The park shaping crew have been known to perform miracles in the past, and this year was no exception. In spite of the slushy conditions they had managed to keep the park in tact.

The international competitor field soon went to work on the table top that was to be the setting of this years Big Air. After a while it became clear that this was going to be a tough competition. The standard was high; Arnaud Kugener (FRA) was pulling out some stylee spins, Henrik Harlaut (SWE) threw down a switch 9 effortlessly, while Brits such as the current national champion, Paddy Graham, looked strong as well.

Judges, Martin Carr, Nick Southwell, and Seb Lounis had seen enough and signalled the beginning of the qualifying rounds. The level of riding was soon announced as Paddy Graham flew out of the bottom of the park backwards having landed a switch seven. Murray Buchan (UK) responded immediately by landing a switch 5 well beyond the knuckle. The riders seemed intent on pushing one another, and James Woods (UK) took the prize for effort, by tweaking his tail grab so hard that he pulled his ski clean off.

The women seemed comfortable on the kicker too, and Virginie Faivre (CH) made a couple of the guys look bad by stomping a perfect corked three to kick off the girls qualifier. Teri Spencer (UK) went massive, and previous winner Marta Ahrenstedt (SWE) showed amazing confidence. It seemed like an instant before the 40 odd competitive field had finished their qualifiers, and the judges looked uncomfortable trying to work out the ten male finalists and four women. In the end they reached a consensus and the best went back for another round.

The wind started to pick up and the snow was softening, but it didn't seem to affect the competitors and it seemed they had been saving the best for last. Murray Buchan overcame the slushy take off and stomped a switch nine with ease, Paddy Graham decided to get technical and pulled a corked nine tail grab to late shifty with so much style even the riders at the top shouted in appreciation.

Stephane Vaillant (FRA) held his grab all the way to touch down on his switch nine, and Samuel Favnet (FRA) responded in kind with the biggest jump of the day stomping an enormous switch 720 half way down the landing.

Then Henrik Harlaut stepped up to the plate. Henrik was defending his Saas Fee ride crown, and with this guy it was bound to get interesting. There was an attentive, almost nervous silence as he dropped into the kicker switch. Flying off the lip, he tweaked a mute and sent a massive 1260 out of sight and well beyond the knuckle. When he popped into view seconds later, clearly having stomped the hell out it, everyone realised who this years champion would be.

		In the women's Virginie Faivre soon followed Henrik's example, by claiming the woman's title her title with a perfect cork 3 critical.

The night before it had seemed impossible, but everyone involved agreed that it had been another classic Ride Freesport event. The glacier had held up well, the park shapers had built a superb kicker, and as per usual the riding level was taken another step. Both champions vowed to come back to defend their titles again, and they will have to push the level even further to hold off the competition, so make sure you're there to see it!

FINALLY

Riders and organisers both agreed that the 5th edition of the Saas-Fee Ride was the best yet, especially considering the high temperatures this summer. The event pulled through the odds with the help of a few important factors; Europe 's best summer skiing glacier, the new design of the Snowpark and the extra efforts of snowpark shaper Nicklas Hoglund. Other thanks go to Prisca and Lars at the Saas-Fee Bergbahnen and Anja and the crew from Saas-Fee Tourism for hosting and supporting the event. Thanks also to all the people from the British Freeski Camps for working on the set up and break down.

Look forwards to seeing you all in October at the London Ride 07, 27th October 2007, Grand Hall, Kensington Olympia, London (part of the Metro Ski and Snowboard Show).

RESULTS:

Big Air

Men: 1st place - Henrik Harlaut (Sweden), 2nd Place - Samuel Favnet (France),
3rd Place - Stephan Vaillant (France)

Women: 1st Place - Virginie Favre (Suisse), 2nd Place - Marta Ahrenstedt (Sweden),
3rd Place - Teri Spencer (UK)

For RIDERS FINAL RESULTS, click here

For PRESS RELEASES in English, French and German, click here

For VIDEO CLIPS from Saas-Fee Ride 2007, click here

The Jonny Law Experience

J Dogg — Mon, 05 Jan 2004 00:00:00 -0500

Rating

Posted Jan 5, 2004

Photos by Bruce Rowles, Ilja Herb & JF Pilon

Last winter a no-name Whistler local took the freeski world by storm and ended the season 0.2 points away from winning the IFSA Freesking World Champion Title. At the US National Championships he became the only skier to ever win the coveted SICK BIRD belt and a first place title in the same comp. We caught up with Jonny Law to find out what he eats for breakfast, how he skis so hard, and what he's got lined up for this winter...

Name: Jonathan "Jonny" Law

Age: Twooty four

Grew up skiing: Age three-Wentworth, Nova Scotia

Currently reside: Squamish BC

Sponsors: Dynastar, The North Face, Smith, R.E.D.

Scrambled or sunny side up: French toast... I mean Liberty Bread

Daffy-Twister-Spread or D-Spin 720: What's a D-spin?

Bar stars or fast cars: You can have'em both.

I just saw a picture of a 'Monoboot' in the newspaper that can be used on monoskis. Is that the future of skiing?

Yes...There's no question about it...wait a minute...how do you walk around in a Monoboot?

How does a skier from Nova Scotia end up ripping with the best of them?

I guess I'm a product of my experiences and... genetics? Ski racing, supportive parents and great friends helped me develop the skills and frame of mind that a person needs to ski hard. This is definitely an abstract thought, but I like to define big mountain freeskiing as an attitude and not as a level of skill or a description of terrain. I was a big mountain freeskier long before I had even seen a real mountain. In the end it comes down to taking the hits, trial and error, learning how to fall but mostly spirit.

On the freeskiing scene, it seems like you came out of nowhere and annihilated the competition on last year's IFSA World Tour of Freeskiing. What's the secret? Training? Eating too many Wheaties? What?

Last summer I had an epiphany...maybe a breakdown. Whatever it was I found myself overhauling my lifestyle. I quit smoking, gained 15lbs, ran everyday and only left my room when I had to. Realizing my potential as a skier was all I thought about and I let nothing compromise my focus. There is a big difference between being a good skier and being a professional athlete. I did the math and figured out the difference.

After a good result in Whistler you must have been amped! What kept you focused and skiing hard for the other stops on the Tour?

The comp actually didn't go very well for me. Day one I landed in a bomb-hole, bending my ski and breaking my fullface over my knee. I was able to keep going but the incident really hurt my score. On the final day a young man took his life on the highway between where I was living and Whistler. The tragedy closed the highway and prevented me from inspecting the venue. I had no choice but to use binoculars to determine my line and improve to make it work. The 11th place result made me realize that I had a good chance of being competitive if I could pull it together.

In the end, you missed being the overall World Tour champion by the tiniest fraction. Frustrating or motivating?

I will admit that it was hard to swallow the final results. 86.8 vs. 86.6...0.2 points denied me of not only a victory at the World Tour Finals in France but the overall World Tour Championship Title. Nothing has ever tasted so bitter sweet...I'm stoked though because there's room for improvement, I have something more to accomplish.

I gather Dynastar has been pretty pimp-daddy nice to their new freeride team members, did this open any doors for you this winter?

Dynastar is really excited by the success that the entire team has been creating. From filming to competing, the team has represented and helped Dynastar re-establish its position among the elite in North America. Moss Patterson, Dana Flahr, Colin Puskas and I have been joined by Mike Stevenson and Karla Rizutto while team snowmobiles have been acquired that will aid in the movement and help maximize our efforts. Thanks to everyone at Dynastar who share the vision and passion.

What did you get up to this summer? Mad training or couch surfing and beer-gut farming?

Mostly training, eating and computing. Rope swinging, research and development with Dynastar, family time in Nova Scotia, Def Leopard and Rainbow Park filled in the _ _ _ _ _ _.

Should we watch out for you in any flicks this fall?

Nah-It was tough to film last season while balancing a job and dealing with competitive tunnel vision. This season will be focused equally on filming and competing though. My goal is to gain an understanding of my style and find out how to showcase it in film. In the meantime you will be able to checkout www.jonnylaw.com which is coming soon. There you'll find some eye candy. (It'll be a work in progress so don't be too critical.)

Now that the snow is falling again, we reckon you should go steal back the Tour Championship title for Canada. What do ya reckon? Give those boyz another run for their money?

You said it brother...It's on now... Last year I didn't even know what I was doing!!

Any shouts out/thanks?

I need to thank my family for giving me everything and for holding their breath. Big ups for my biggest fan and little bro Jeremy. You're doing it right. Mark, the catalyst, thank you for your unquestioned support and faith. All hail The Darkside... keep on keeping it real. Thanks to the author of this life story... for the introduction of strong supporting characters, for the development of suspense and for your sense of irony, humor and meaning. Peace.