Chamonix again provided the thrills of freeride, hosting the second stage of the Freeride Tour: the Nissan Russian Adventure by Swatch, initially planned to take place in Sochi/Russia, but moved to Chamonix for security reasons and difficult weather conditions. Only the men skiers and snowboarders took part of today’s contest, at the north east face of Aiguille Pourrie at the Flégère ski area. With an extremely high performance level, Frenchmen Julien Lopez and Xavier de Le Rue took victory. The multiple X-Games medallist skier Candide Thovex FRA and snowboarder Mitch Toelderer AUT are now at the top of the Freeride World Tour Ranking.

With the early 9 am start this morning, the competitors had, from the starting point at 2500 metres of altitude, to negotiate 500 vertical metres of cliff jumps, snow loaded spines, big wide open fields and steep chutes at an average steepness of 40 degrees. The experienced athletes put on a different show, than at the first FWT contest last Sunday, with bigger air, throwing off stylish tricks and fast lines in the great snow conditions and varied features.

The tendency in freeriding is that athletes express different style on varied terrain but not necessarily extreme. The face chosen today by the organisers corresponds exactly with this criteria. As Nicolas Hale-Woods, organiser and founder of the Freeride World Tour, comments:

“We choose as varied competition faces as possible, so that each rider can express their own style the best possible way. Some of the athletes origin from the alpine scene and some from freestyle. Our judging system is developed so that each style could be awarded the winning line. After a challenging competition on Sunday, the contest today showed a different face of freeriding, with many impressive manoeuvres in the air and a very tight line up. This shows the variety and the vivacity of our Sport.”

Martin Winkler AUT, Head Judge Ski, Comments on the Podium Runs
1. Julien Lopez FRA: “Lopez fulfilled all aspects of what we want to see in freeriding: Very fluid in the fall line, taking all the cliffs he jumped at the highest level, sticking every one. He did a huge backflip and stuck it perfectly. Then he entered the lower features in a different and creative way, stomping the big double cliff.”

2. Candide Thovex FRA: “Once again Candide showed us a very playful line, bouncing down the mountain. He took a more obvious line than Lopez and did not take the highest jumps but he was super fluid and executed all his airs with more speed and landed further down than the other competitors. In the end of the run he pulled off a perfect 360° (a complete rotation), taking about 20 metres of distance in the air, really spectacular.”

3. Tie: Seb Michaud FRA & Henrik Windstedt SWE: “Seb jumped every possible cliff, throwing off two massive backflips, one on the significant diamond rock in the middle of the run and one topping off his run.”
“Henrik Windstedt showed one of the fastest lines down the mountain today with several jumps and a really stylish drop into an open field, finishing off with a clean 360° and a backflip at the bottom section.”

Lolo Besse FRA Judge Snowboard Comments on the Podium Runs
1. Xavier de Le Rue FRA: “A superb choice of line, very fast, committed and solid. A true ‘Xavier de Le Rue line’! He was the fastest snowboarder down the mountain, really solid on the technical parts, and sticking a massive double cliff jump in the bottom section of the face”

2. Max Zipser AUT “Max Zipser really searched for the good snow, allowing him to ride fast and fluid integrating four great jumps”.

3. Gennady Khyrachkov RUS “Gennady was the surprise of the day, taking his first podium in the Freeride World Tour. He chose a very committed line on the steeper and more technical north facing part of competition face, and rode it clean.”

“Unfortunately Chamonix local Douds Charlet FRA (4th) fell when executing a big backflip at the end of his run. He would probably have been on top of the podium if he would have stuck it clean as he had a really creative line interpretation, with several stylish jumps, especially a massive 360°, the biggest snowboard jump of the day.”

Riders’ Quotes - Nissan Adventure by Swatch in Chamonix

Julien Lopez FRA – Winner Ski
“It makes a huge difference to start first (as Lopez did at the Sunday competition) or second last as today. I felt much more pressure today when seeing all my friends go down. But I felt good mentally and wanted to do a big backflip and a solid double cliff in the end – I got out my good old mogul race mode; the arms well in front and well, I stuck it!”

Candide Thovex FRA – 2nd Ski – And Overall Leader FWT
“I changed my line when I hiked up with Seb Michaud, and except for my 360° in the end I did not pull off any big tricks. But I am here to learn, and right now I guess it is going pretty well for me!”

Henrik Windstedt SWE – 3rd Ski
“I have talked about doing more tricks during competition and finally I got it all right. I wanted to step up my game a bit since the first FWT contest last Sunday. The snow conditions where perfect for that today - solid and consistent.”

Xavier de Le Rue FRA – Winner Snowboard
“This face was a great choice made by the organisers. There were possibilities for all type of riders. You could choose a steep but shorter Alaska style line, or a line with more freestyle elements, longer and with many possibilities for throwing off tricks. I chose a short and committed line with a clear goal to win and I am very happy of my run. Before the Olympics (boarder cross contender) these kind of sensations boost my self confidence even though it is not necessarily the same discipline.”

Max Zipser AUT – 2nd Snowboard
“I am happy with my line. I felt fluid and I really enjoyed it without loosing the objective to climb the ranking. I am not the type of person who discusses the line I rather stay really concentrated on my choice. It worked well for me and I hope it will continue!”

Gennady Khryachov RUS - 3rd Snowboard
“When I ride, competition or just with friends, my major goal is to enjoy. If you put pressure to do a line just to be on the podium it is the best way to fail. My philosophy is to always ride on feeling.”

Female riders

To replace Nissan Russian Adventure by Swatch the female FWT riders will be competing Saturday February 13th in Austria at the Scott Big Mountain Feiberbrunn, a Freeride World Qualifier event counting as FWT event for female FWT riders. http://www.bigmountain-fieberbrunn.at

Next Stop: Nissan Tram Face - Squaw Valley USA
The third FWT stage for both male and female riders will be held in Squaw Valley USA on the infamous Tram Face, February 27th. With two already executed contests the tension will be rising for the grabs of the World Champion title.

Freeride World Tour
4.02.2010

RESULTS

Men Ski
1- Julien Lopez (FRA)
2- Candide Thovex (FRA)
3- Seb Michaud (FRA) &
Henrik Windstedt (SWE)

Men Snowboard
1- Xavier de Le Rue (FRA)
2- Max Zipser (AUT)
3- Gennady Khryachkov (RUS)

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