Haha, this is just too stupid – his hesitation is the sheer reason for things going incredibly wrong..!! 😉
Seeing the ski hurdeling that far down the mountain may teach him to check his bindings before heading out next time 😛
Subsequently making things worse, hehe, when throwing down the other ski – attempting to jump the cliffs without skis 😀
How NOT to jump a cliff :-D
Torah Bright sets the gold challenge in Sochi!
After 13 years in the Roxy team, 2 X-Games golds, World Titles, and a 2010 Olympic Gold Medal, Torah Bright (AUS) continues to amaze us.
This winter Torah is taking on her biggest challenge yet, one that has never been attempted by any snowboarder ever before at the Olympics…
To line up at the start of 3 disciplines in Sochi: Boarder X, Slopestyle and Superpipe!! 😛
Quiksilver Ski presents new FURY PARK video with Thomas Krief
Quiksilver is launching today the FURY PARK video featuring french freestyle ski prodigy Thomas Krief.No less than 4 Red cameras (including 3 Epic and 1 one) handled by 4 pro filmers as well as 2 producers and 4 assistants were necessary to produce and edit this authentic short movie shooted last spring in a giant half pipe especially raised in the DC Area 43 snowpark in Méribel French resort.This monstrous and insane set up directed by 7 shapers requested 30 000m3 of snow and 1500 hours of hard work.
The result is a perfectly sized 130m long pipe enriched with wall-rides, steps up/step downs, big air, rails other funny stuff to ride… All of this to allow Thomas showing what he can do on various playgrounds.At the very start of an epic and challenging 2014 winter for Thomas, Fury Park raises the bar and announces a rich season for the Quiksilver skier already awarded by a bronze medal at the Oslo World Championships in 2013.All winter long, you’ll be able to follow Thomas on TKTV webseries which shows the backstage of freestyle and his performances on contests as well as his preparation for the Olympics. Next step is a new adventure at the end of the winter in his home resort of Meribel…
Quiksilver’s new outfit for Thomas Krief
This winter, Thomas Krief has chosen the Electron jacket and the Porter pant, a lightweighted and confortable outfit to dominate and ride the halfpipe. Design wise, Thomas has loved a coloured geometric design in blue and orange.Electron Jacket : 10K Quiktech jacket with fully taped seams, Durable water repellent 3M treatment on the fabric, warm insulation. TheLong Slim fit jacket includes many pockets (goggles, packs, radiosunder a centralized flap), comfortable Lycra cuffs and a powder skirt. 199 eurosPorter Pant : Quiktech 10 K pant with Dobby textured melange.Critical seams have a waterproof seal. Fabrics treated with Durable Water Repellent 3M, and Thinsulate Insulation. This regular fit pantalso includes ergonomic knee shape and internal leg-lift system in cargo pockets to avoid walking on them. 149 euros.
Check out the FuryPark video:
X Games Tignes 2013 Ski Slopestyle
Winter X Games Tignes 2013 åbnede officielt i går, onsdag, med Slopestyle kvalifikation for mænd og finale for kvinderne.
Desværre var vejret ikke med hverken arrangørerne eller riders, da den dominerende farve var hvidt-i-hvidt og snevejr…
Mændene lagde ud, men pga den dårlige visibilitet blev det ikke til de helt store og imponerende airs, som X Games bla. er kendt for.
Efter de 2 gennemløb lød top 3 på: Jossi Wells med, efter vejromstændighederne imponerende 91,33 point – Russ Henshaw med 89,33 points og Gus Kenworthy med skuffende 85 points.
At det var muligt at opnå en 3. plads til X Games med sølle 85 points, vidner heldigvis ikke om niveauet, men om den dårlige sigtbarhed – og med det sagt, så var det alligevel meget imponerende, at riders var friske på at gennemføre konkurrencen! 🙂
Et af de mere spektakulære, men kiksede runs, var Nick Goeppers ene kvalifikationsrun, hvor han på den anden kicker mistede den ene ski, og alligevel gik efter sin Double-1080, som han landede perfekt – på én ski! Geopper forsatte som intet var sket – uden om den sidste kicker – og ned til det nederste rail, som han afsluttede med at tage på en ski 😀
I løbet af dagen lukkede vejret mere og mere til, og sneen begyndte så småt at falde henimod slutningen af mændendes sidste løb.
Efter mændendes kval, var det kvindernes tur, men pga det få antal kvindelige topløbere i verden, blev der ikke kørt kvalifikation først, og alle var derfor direkte i finalen.
Efter en flok opvarmningsløb blev konkurrencen endeligt aflyst, hvilket flere af pigerne udtrykte glæde og tilfredsstillelse over.
I dag var så dagen, hvor både mændene og kvinderne skulle køre finaleløb, og morgenen stod knivskarp med blå himmel og sol 😀
I løbet af ugen, er det flere gange blevet nævnt af forskellige riders, at kickers ikke er så store, som nogle kunne ønske, og som de var i X Games Aspen.
Det betød også, at der desværre ikke blev budt på noget nævneværdigt nyt inden for nye tricks…
De tre vindere blev McRae Williams med 94,33 points, Jossi Wells med 93 og Gus Kenworthy med 92 points:
Hos pigerne dominerede og forsvarede canadiske Kaya Turski for tredie gang i træk, guldet med flotte 93,33 points over norske Tiril Sjastad Christiansen, der med 90,66 points skubbede konsistente Dara Howell ned på en tredje plads med 88,33 points, hvilket hun i målområden ikke helt kunne bære, og måtte trøstes 🙁
Sun after 50 hours of snow
The sun finally came through late, Tuesday morning after it had been snowing for more than 50 hours – since Saturday evening!
The day started out snowing, with poor visibility, and the mountains and the sky was one big whiteout.
Around 10.30-ish the sky suddenly cleared up, and the day very quickly turned into a fantastic bluebird 😀
The temperature arose throughout the first part of the day and ended around 10°C in the mid afternoon, before the sky slowly re-closed with a thin high-flying milky blur…
The snow was nice and cold – though, due to the windy conditions of the snowstorm, not as fluffy as one could have wished for.
Some places the new snow cracked and slid in plates, and the difference in snow density between the old and new snow was very evident!!
My day started out watching and watching the mountain, awaiting the announced clear up – the weather really wasn’t inviting for doing anything on the mountain…
After a long breakfast with the e-newspaper 🙂 I went down to Skimium Precision ski shop in Val Claret, where I borrowed some backcountry skis. I chose to try out their Zag ski – a French ski mark I’m not familiar with.
I only reached a few hours of skiing the fresh and deep powder under the royal-blue and sunny sky, before closed back in to a sad flat light…
Of course I brought out the GoPro cameras, and a few self-portrayed shots were quite nice 😉
See the pics below 😀
Video will come later – in the mean time you can also enjoy the video from January 2013 – also from Tignes / Val d’Isère 😉
First days in Tignes
Left from Copenhagen on a 836 DKK ticket with Norwegian – incl. 2 paid bags and ski equipment at 8.10, to fly over a frozen Europe into Grenoble, on time, 2 hours later!
The newly rebuild airport of Grenoble swarmed with chartered airplains, and the baggage hall teemed with tourists in baggage anarchy and holiday atmosphere 🙂
Outside the airport the tourist buses were nicely lined up and it was quick and easy to find the bus going to Tignes. The coach was modern, and the approximately 3½ hours up to Tignes didn’t seem long, among others due to the few stops in Moutiers, Aime and Bourg Saint Maurice for the tourists heading for Les 3 Vallées, Paradis Ski, La Rosiere and Val d’Isère – in all 8 of Europe’s largest ski resorts seperated by only a few hours drive!
The sun was out and the valley was nice and warm – clearly the spring is not far away now 🙂
Tignes offered bluebird and a nice few degrees cold – a perfect arrival day!!
In the evening the sky closed in and the snow softly started falling.
Throughout the night and the entire Sunday everything has been white in white! Though it has been snowing all night and day, I didn’t find it accumulated as much as I had expected…
Sunday evening the snowh has finally started piling up, and it could look like the the weather forecast might be right about the expectations for the coming night and days 😀
So far we’re looking at 55 cm in 2550 m altitude and up to 1 (ONE) meter!! between 3000 m and 3500 m – before we get BLUEBIRD on Tuesday afternoon 😆
After that, we’re expecting shifting between sun and snow during the X Games Tignes 2013 days, 20-22 March, with mainly sunny days – stay tuned for more in the days to come!!
Tomas Lollike riding in Tignes 2013
Tomas Lollike GoPro-riding in Tignes and Val d’Isère in early January 2013 🙂
Lots of thanks to Playground for provideing Armada Skis and GoPro3 Black cameras 😀
Margot Roziès wins the Freeride World Tour in Kirkwood
Margot Roziès won the Freeride World Tour Event 2013 in Kirkwood (California, USA) on the ladies 3rd stop of the FWT circuit out of 5.
The French snowboarder was runner up last year, and takes her fist win of the season – with a 64 points ride.
She was happy to finally nail the gold after ending second 2 times in Revelstoke and Chamonix!
She dominates Elodie Mouthon (FRA) and Shannan Yates (USA).
Margot is now the leader of the women’s Snowboard Freeride World Tour rankings before heading to Fieberbrunn (Austria) and the finals in Verbier (Switzerland) on 23rd March 2013.
X Games Tignes 2013 – Invited athletes & competition schedule
With the first event of the 2013 global expansion completed, X Games returns to the center stage in France with X Games Tignes 2013, March 20 – 22.
CANAL+ Events and ESPN will collaborate to host and televise the fourth iteration of the event at Tignes Ski and Snowboard resort in the French Alps.
X Games Tignes will welcome 150 world-‐class athletes competing in Snowboard and Skiing events.
In ski, American David Wise, X Games Aspen Ski SuperPipe winner, France’s Kevin Rolland, Thomas Krief, Anaïs Caradeux and young Torin Yater-Wallace (17) (USA), Bobby Brown (USA), Tom Wallisch (USA), Nick Goepper (USA), James Woods (GBR), Kaya Turski (CAN), Maddie Bowman (USA) all return to Tignes in hopes of winning gold.
Among them, snowboarders Mark McMorris (CAN), Iouri Podladtchikov (SWI), Louie Vito (USA), Torstein Horgmo (NOR), Kelly Clark (USA), Jamie Anderson (USA), Elena Hight (USA) battle to remain atop the podium, while three rookies ‐ Arielle Gold (16 y-‐o, USA), Yuki Kadono (16 y-‐o, JAP) and Max Parrot (17 y-‐o, CAN) make their debut in Tignes after successful Aspen events.
Also returning are 2010 Olympic champion Torah Bright (AUS) and superstar Shaun White (USA) defending his two X Games Tignes 2012 gold medals.
* This athlete list will be updated and is subject to change!
The event will feature eight different events for men and women over three days, including Ski and Snowboard SuperPipe and Slopestyle.
Schedule highlights include:
- Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th : training
- Tuesday 19th : X Games Tignes 2013 opening press conference
- Wednesday 20th : Two Women’s finals:
- 1pm – Women’s Ski Slopestyle Final
- 6:30pm – Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe Eliminations
- 8:30pm – Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe Final
- Thursday 21st
- 1pm – Men’s Ski Slopestyle Final
- 6:30pm -‐ Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe Final
- 8:30pm -‐ Men’s Ski SuperPipe Eliminations
- Friday 22nd : 4 finals
- Men’s (10 :30am) and Women’s (1pm) Snowboard Slopestyle Finals
- o Men’s (6 :30 pm) and Women’s (8 :30pm) Ski SuperPipe Finals
* Schedules subject to change!
Results of the 2013 SWATCH FREERIDE WORLD TOUR in Revelstoke
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