Drew Tabke and Christine Hargin won the skiing contest and Ralph Backstrom (younger brother of famous freeride skier, Ingrid Backstrom) and Shannan Yates were the winners of the snowboarders at the first stop of the 2013 SWATCH FREERIDE WORLD TOUR BY THE NORTH FACE at Revelstoke (BC) in Canada on Saturday 12 January.
REVELSTOKE, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA – January 12, 2013
The first stop of the FREERIDE WORLD TOUR 2013 concluded on Saturday.
Revelstoke’s Mac Daddy face burst through a sea of clouds and was illuminated by crystal clear bluebird 🙂
The picturesque day started with men’s snowboarding on the pristine, snow covered
venue.American Ralph Backstrom from Squaw Valley (CA) defended his 2012 Revelstoke title, and said, “I was a little nervous we wouldn’t have good light conditions after the past few days but was so excited to have bluebird skies. The super steep pitch of Mac Daddy made it difficult not to go over the handle bars when landing jumps. I really like the big features that exist on that terrain.”
As the Freeride World Tour season continues, Backstrom is looking forward to competing in the coming events.
Continuing on the men’s snowboard podium was French Ludovic Guillot-Diat from Villard-de-Lans taking second place with a very fast and fluid run.
Also representing France was third place finisher Aurelien Routens from La Grave who aggressively charged down the fall line.
Topping the field for men’s ski competitors with an outstanding performance throughout the whole venue was American Drew Tabke from Crystal Mountain (WA). This was the first time Tabke got on the top of the podium with a second and third place finish in Revelstoke in the past.
“Mac Daddy is one of the most beautiful mountain we get to ski on the tour and the snow in British Columbia is amazing.” explained Tabke, “Some challenging conditions existed on the venue due to slides, but my line had great snow. The choice of the line was pretty strategic for me here. I wanted to avoid tracked out terrain and therefore went for a pretty original line. I think I am the first one to ever attempt this line on this mountain, sticking it from top to bottom.”
He further noted that his season goal is to win the overall 2013 Freeride World Tour title; “The title means more than ever before, but mostly, I want to have fun skiing with all of these incredible athletes from around the world.”
Rounding out the men’s podium in second place was Swiss Jeremie Heitz from Les Manecottes. Jeremie was one of the few skiers to successfully ski the fall-line high-speed double from the start confidently through exposure.
Finishing out the top three male skiers, Julien Lopez from France who strongly skied the riders right-hand side portion of the Mac Daddy face which consisted of multiple pillow drops and cliffs which rewarded him a good score.
In the afternoon, it was time for the women to put on the show.
Shannan Yates from Snowbird in Utah took the ladies snowboard podium with her smooth style and confident big mountain riding; “This is the steepest venue the female snowboarders have yet to face. The top of the run was variable and icy making it hard to go fast, but I managed to ride my line and land both airs.”
Margot Rozies of the French Pyrenees, managed to grab the second spot and Elodie Mouthon also from France joined the podium in third.
Female skiers were faced with the most difficult conditions of the day created by slough movement and tracked out terrain from all the previous competitors.
The 2012 Overall Freeride World Tour Women’s Ski Champion, Christine Hargin from Sweden once again placed herself on top of the podium with a well balanced polished run throughout the face.
Nadine Wallner from Arlberg in Austria took the second place, and finally, the effervescent Australian Natalie Segal, executed a smooth double pillow drop which was rewarded third place finish.
“It is difficult to describe what a momentous accomplishment today’s event was for the riders and sport of freeriding.” said FWT Americas Event Director Bryan Barlow. “Today officially marked the unification of the Freeride World Tour. We have set the bar very high here at Revelstoke and I look forward to watching the season unfold. See you in Courmayeur, Italy, next weekend!!”
The 2013 FREERIDE WORLD TOUR continues its competition schedule in Courmayeur on the Italian side of Mont Blanc on January 19th (Men’s Ski and Snowboard).
Then they go of the other side of Mont Blanc to Chamonix on January 26th (Men’s and Women’s Ski and Snowboard).
After the Alpes the Tour continues on the other side of the Atlantic, in Kirkwood, California on February 27th (Men’s and Women’s Ski and Snowboard)
Back to Europe on March 9th in Fieberbrunn PillerseeTal, Austria (Men’s and Women’s Ski and Snowboard)
And finally concludes as the recurrent finale in Verbier on March 23rd (Men’s and Women’s Ski and Snowboard).
Final results:
Freeskier men:
1. Tabke Drew USA
2. Heitz Jeremie SUI
3. Lopez Julien FRA
Freeskier women:
1. Hargin Christine SWE
2. Wallner Nadine AUT
3. Segal Natalie AUS
Snowboard Men:
1. Backstrom Ralph USA
2. Guillot-diat Ludovic FRA
3. Routens Aurelien FRA
Snowboard Women:
1. Yates Shannan USA
2. Rozies Margot FRA
3. Mouthon Elodie FRA
