NZsnowboard.com

27th January 2008

 
Mammoth Lakes, CA, USA ? After a difficult week with snow, wind, and poor visibility the first contest of the Freeride World Tour, the Mammoth Challenge, was finally held in California on Friday 25 January. With cloudy skies and light snowfall, 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 competed in the first ever contest of the Freeride World Tour in Mammoth Lakes, 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 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.
 
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 4th place in a close competition just behind three renowned European snowboarders. Cyril Neri from Switzerland, who is ranked number 1 on the world ranking list, finished at third place with an impressive back flip 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 G?raldine 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 1st place, just ahead of local snowboarder Tiffany Noel on 2nd place. French snowboarder, B?rang?re Moroc, coming straight from the qualifying contest Mammoth Quest a week before, managed to take 3rd place.
 
Legendary skier and mega star Glen Plake has been present in Mammoth since the qualifying contest, Mammoth Quest, last week, and was judging the skiers during the Mammoth Challenge. His fellow judge Dino Raffaud (FRA), co-organizer of the 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??
 
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 31st of January.
 
 
Check out news, updates, photos, riders? and events? information on the newly launched website: www.freerideworldtour.com