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
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 😉
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.
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
6 FWQ competitions in Verbier in January!
6 Freeride World Qualifier competitions in Verbier in January
Come to Verbier between 14 and 20 January to participate in a full week of Freeride World Qualifier contests!
The highlight of the 2013 FWQ competition season is most probably the Verbier Qualifier Week organized by the Freeride World Tour between 14 and 20 January 2013.
This full week of freeskiing competitions will allow amateur freeriders the possibility to enter the FWQ ranking and seeding lists and to score 3 FWQ results – all in one week!
The Verbier Freeride Week is there to provide a solution to the growing demand.
6 competitions over 7 days will be organized – riders who subscribe for the full week will get a priority – even those who has never scored any FWQ points before.
Riders will be able to enter a maximum of 3 events;
either Monday, Wednesday and Saturday or Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
The spots not used by riders attending to the whole week, will be distributed as usual, using the seeding list, for riders willing to enter in only one or two events.
There will be 100 spots per competition day.
The entry fee is 80 € per competition (277 € for the full week) including ski pass and the evacuation insurance.
For those interested, accommodation at the below situated village Le Châble is as low as CHF 50.- including breakfast.
The events will unfold on faces in the whole Verbier St-Bernard destination, in resorts such as Verbier, Bruson, La Tsoumaz and Vichères.
Skis and snowboards will be available for testing during the week, with more than 10 different brands participating.
As riders will be competing only every second day, animations and parties are being organized every day!
Registrations are now open on www.freerideworldtour.com/
Contact:
Fabien Lienard
fwq@freerideworldtour.com
www.freerideworldtour.com/fwq.
Ny fælles Freeride World Tour!
Swatch Freeride World Tour, Freeskiing World Tour og The North Face Masters of Snowboarding har netop offentligtgjort, at de tre tours fusionerer til en fælles global championship serie.
Den nye world tour får navnet Swatch Freeride World Tour by The North Face og vil have freeskiing og snowboarding ved alle begivenheder!
De fleste stop på turen er fundet, og vi kan glæde os til at følge med i Revelstoke (BC, Canada), Chamonix (Frankrig), Kirkwood (CA, USA), Fieberbrunn Pillerseetal (Østrig).
Endnu en europæisk begivenhed mangler at blive bekræftet, inden der (som traditionelt hos Swatch Freeride World Tour) afsluttes med finalerne i Verbier (Schweiz) sidst i marts 2013.
Her er kalenderen:
SWATCH FREERIDE WORLD TOUR BY THE NORTH FACE 2013
1. Revelstoke (BC, CAN) 7-12 jan 2013
2. Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (FRA) 26 jan – 1 feb 2013
3. Kirkwood (CA, USA) 27 feb – 3 mar 2013
4. Fieberbrunn Pillerseetal (AUT) 9 mar – 15 mar 2013
5. Stop No5 in Europe – Location To Be Confirmed
6. Verbier Xtreme (SUI) 23 mar – 31 mar 2013
“Foreningen af de tre tours er et stort skridt i sportens udbredelse.” siger Nicolas Hale-Woods (Freeride World Tour Managing Director Europe). “Ikke kun på World Tour (FWT) niveau, men også til kvalifikationen med events i New Zealand, Nord- og Sydamerika og Europa. Alle kommer til at tælle i en fælles Freeride World Qualifiers (FWQ) ranking, hvilket gør atleter fra alle active områder i stand til at kvalificere sig til næste års Swatch Freeride World Tour by The North Face.”
“Big mountain freeriding har en lang og rig historie med utrolig talentfulde atleter fra hele verden,” siger Adam Comey (Mountain Sports International President og Freeride World Tour Managing Director Americas). “Nu hvor to store brands som Swatch og The North Face samt to dedikerede arrangører i Europa og Nordamerika ser fremtiden for freeride skiing og snowboarding særdeles lovende ud.”
Startlisterne i 2013 vil have kvalificerede atleter med fra alle tre 2012 tours, ligesom der også vil være atleter med fra 4-star events.
Derudover vil der være et begrænset antal wild cards fra begge kontinenter.
“Sammenlægningen af de to ski tours er et stort skridt for vores sport.” siger 2012 Swatch Freeride World Tour Champion Reine Barkered fra Sverige. “Det vil skabe endnu mere opmærksomhed verden over. Selv ser jeg frem til en vild sæson med mange nye ansigter.”
Udover 5-Stars Swatch Freeride World Tour by The North Face vil der være omkring 40 kvalifikations-events rundt omkring i verden rangerende fra 1 til 4-Stars, så den store talentmasse kan score point til næste års FWT. Første event finder sted i New Zealand i Chile nu i August 2012.
Atleter vil score point inden for to forskellige rankings, en 5-Stars FWT ranking og en 1 to 4-Stars FWQ ranking.
The North Face er hovedsponsor for den nydannede Freeride World Tour.
“Siden 1980erne har The North Face været en af frontløberne inden for skisport med vores tekniske udstyr og førende atleter, eksempelvis Scott Schmidt og Jim Zellers allerede for 25 år siden. Med inspiration fra vores hold til seneste Freeride World Tour – Giulia Monego, Janette Hargin og Xavier De Le Rue – vi vil fortsætte vores store engagement i fremtidens freeriding.” siger Eric Pansier (VP Marketing EMEA The North Face).
Freeride World Tour 2013 by The North Face teaser
La Face Ouest / Face West – Aiguille de Péclet (3.561 m / 11,683 ft)
Billed as the finest descent on the massif by the Companie des Guides de Val Thorens, the Face Ouest (Face West) is not lacking arguments.
This immense slope, never extreme, leaving the summit of the Aiguille de Péclet, tempts all who gaze at it. A true monument, the Face Ouest fascinates throughout the season – from an ephemeral pink in January to the flaming orange of a spring sunset – it truly crowns the entire massif.
It is the route which requires the longest approach, but it is also the most popular.
For the descent, an embarrassing alternative; large freeskier curves, exploiting the width of the face, or short turns – infinitely even?
With the snow feather-light on top of a hard smooth base, the Face Ouest is always in condition, ensuring the descent of the week, year, century 😀
Itinerary
From the “intersection” head due north, passing to the right of the rocky spur bordering the cirque du Roc des Saint Peres. Pass the base of the rock-ridge leading to the Aiguille de Péclet; long, rising “flat” hill. At the back of the glacier, the ridge running from the Aiguille de Péclet to the Col de Gébroulaz curves – go towards the lower point in the middle of this snowy ridge.
At the foot of the steep snow-slope leading to the ridge – two choices;
- Either climb this slope strait up, and follow the ridge to the left, leading to the summit (150 m easy mixed).
Exposed route, overhanging the glacier de Gébroulaz to the right. - Or, if conditions permit, climb diagonally left, about 100 m before arriving at the foot of the ridge – a steep slope, but without rocks – leading directly to the summit. Much faster – between 1-2 hours in total!
Descent
Facing Val Thorens either;
- Descent towards the square breach to the right (easily visible from Val Thorens); 20 m of mixed ground (delicate).
On foot or skis according to the conditions. - Or follow the ridge several meters to the left, where a short (20 m) couloir lets one reach the Face Ouest on skis.
The slope is even (35 degrees) for nearly 200 m then steepens (40-45 degrees).
Make a wide turn to the left of a rocky knob, where the slope is steepest (45 degrees) for about 100 meters, then head right a little and drop down, avoiding the terminal ice and crevasses to the left (steep and broken).
Bottom / Lower itineraries;
- Gain the Christine piste, crossing toward the left, leading to Val Thorens – or the Moraine chairlift, if you’re go for another descent on the Péclet mountain 😀
- Or keep right to cross the Tête Ronde piste descending between the piste and the Arête de Tête Ronde – this run leads almost down to Val Thorens with almost an extra 1000 m of vertical drop (easy)!
These lower itineraries are also recommended of finishing the Triangle and The Petite Face Nord.
Tomas Lollike riding in Tignes and Val d’Isère 2012
Tomas Lollike GoPro-riding in Tignes and Val d’Isère in early January 2012
Freeride.dk – Freakshow (2000)
This is the follow up from 1999/2000 to the Freeride.dk – The Ski Movie!
Also mainly recorded in Val Thorens and Tignes but with some shots from Chile too and with more riders and various sports.