Story by Ian 'One Armed Piece of Cheddar Cheese' Watson
Photos by Cheddar, Peter Charaf, Yves Garneau

Last weekend saw the gathering of the worlds top competitive freeskiers along with a host of new talent and a handful of have-a-go hero's in the Swiss resort of Verbier. A long overdue dump had freshened the mountians a few days previous and the skies cleared for the finals. Unfortunately those in the qualifiying round weren't so lucky. High winds and poor visibility made life hard for competitors and judges. 40 men and 15 girls skied the Attalas face. Run of the day went Jonas Delonge. Canadians Ross Janzen and Brendan McLean both qualified comfortably for the first day of the World Tour event, as did Fernie based tele-skier Martha Burley.

Day 2...
The second of competition was delayed a day for weather, needlessly as it turned out, but a bonus night of partying ensued in lieu. When skiing resumed the big guns were on show and the show really began. The venue moved slightly left of the qualifier venue with variable snow from pow to slush and ice in the main bowls (the intended face of MtGele got destroyed by anti-freeride bomb-control... only a rumour). Plenty of grass/rock riding went on and to thier credit the skiers all kept themselves out of hospital and in contention. Coming off the top of the course with speed and perfect control then greasing the billy-goating central section before stomping a big cliff at the bottom gave 2nd spot to Adrien Corier. Olivier Mayet was the man of the day however. He flew through the upper section of the course linking turns between rocks before doing a double drop at on the last feature.

The girls put up a performance to challenge the guys. Jess McMillan from Jackson Hole skied quickly through a load of rock and grass before hucking a cliff. She then traversed to hit an air into straight line which took her straight to the top of the score sheet. The Norweigen Marte-Lise Karlsen came in 2nd with a technical line through the rocky exposed centre of the course.

In Verbeir they know how to put on a show. Before the 'Super-Finals' skiing on the 'muy infermo' Mt Gele even started, parapenters where in the sky and Ted Davenport was BASE jumping from the Mt Gele tram! Great for the spectators, but it did leave the competitors wondering why they had to hike up the mountian while the lift was 'closed'.

Women's Super Finals & Super Duper Finals...
Skiing began with Katrina Mihaljevic droppnig in from the lookers right ridge on an exposed line. "That chick is mental." said Matty Richard, adding "I was tweaking out with fear looking down and she dropped in to the untracked line and greased the hole top section before traversing out above a huge cliff." With fear of fractures reduced by Katrina's run the skiing only got more impressive. Marte-Lise skied the same line fast and smooth. Jess McMillan missed her intended line but still managed to join Marte-Lise and Laura Ogden in the Super-duper final. Laura led the way in super final with a display of powerful and controlled skiing held that place with a repeat proformance in the Super-duper final. To dispel the confusion: the second day of world tour competition was called the 'super-final' for the first run (19 men, 6 women). The top 5 men and 3 women were then taken up in the tram (after hiking twice already) for the 'Super-duper' final! Laura had sealed her victory but Jess gave her a close run. Finding her way into a funneling snow-field Jess skied a small exposed spine into the biggest air of any of the girls. If you missed it the huge cheer from the crowd told Jess stomped it clean.

Men's Super Finals...
The mens skiing was mind-blowing show of speed, power, cliffs and rock rides. On a face with a way higher gnar scale than anything seen in North American comps, the organisers showed full faith in the skiers by closing no area's. The crowd pleasing moves where plenty but we won't forget Justice Meyer who flew through a diagonal chute then a pepper field to an exposed traverse. What looked like a dead end snow patch led to his 50 foot rock-ride of the year followed by a windlip backflip... the noise on the balcony like it was a soccer cup final. (thats right, no sitting on your jacket at the bottom of spanky's. Here they provide a cafe/bar and huge patio in full veiw of the venue).

Kiwi Todd Dunbar created the next round of delirium on the terraces by flying switch into a higher variant of the most popular line. Amost falling to certain injury he saved it to destroy the rest of his line. Totaly stomping the 50+ footer in the midle of the course then finding another equally big cliff at the bottom that knowbody else considered, and stomping the piss out of that to. Whistler skier Mathieu Richard represented just as Whistler expects from its 'athletes'. He railed the top diagonal chute into the hanging-feild above the 50+ footer, and stomping it in a cloud of snow he shredded to the bottom, skiing into 7th position and 2nd in the world-tour at the half way point. Good luck Matty in Les Arc and Kirkwood.

Men's Super Duper Finals
The judges however are looking for different critieria than the crowd. They analyse the line, control, agresiveness, fluidity and style of the skiing to give a more rounded veiw of the comps best skiers. This left four frenchmen and Graig Gabriel (05 kirkwood champion) of the USA to get the tram for the super-duper final! Three time world tour champ Guerlian Chicherit was playing the jestor for the crowd as always, waving and bowing. But his skiing almost justifies the cockyness as he took 2nd place by fluidly billy goating his way down an exposed line no other skier tried. Cedric Pugin skied to third with a stylish run down the main chute line and airing a double out. Julien Gaidet has big boots to fill as his brother Manu has been World Champ for the past 3 years. He showed his own skills by not falling and skiing the exposed same exposed snow field as Jess McMillan and air out as well as hitting a bonus cliff feature low down on the venue. Olivier Maynet is the Ride 06 Champion by defending his lead from the privious run by destroying the same line for a second time, showing consistancy wins comps.

Whistler shredder 'le pitit C' Christain Boucher had another turn of bad luck. After leading in Snowbird untill a Super-final explosion, he missed this comp entirely by breaking his ankle the day before his first run. We wish him the best of luck with the recovery. If you need any more confirmation that the Quebecios are a hard-core crew here it is: 'le pitit C' plans to compete this coming week in Les Arc with one leg and some 'adaptive ski poles' with mini skis on the bottom of them! Look out for the footage cause this guy is keeping it really real!

When the skiing was over the party began. Apres at the pub Mont Fort flowed into the public drinking session in the main square where a huge screen showed the days action for an hour or so. After that free vodka in two different bars sorted out everybody's hangovers for the next day. Good times.

Overall Verbier Ride was a great week and Warren Smith (event organizer) and IFSA head judge Jim Jack's team need a big thanks for a successful competition and a real showcase for the sport.

RESULTS & MORE:
Visit the Verbier Ride homepage for: Qualifier Results, Final Results, & Super Final Results
Or, check out the story and photos from the BIG AIR.