Feb - March 2002
REDBULL SNOWTHRILL, CHAMONIX RIPCURL FREERIDE, LES ARCS
The world's top extreme skiers compete
for the fattest cliff drops and cleanest lines, in Chamonix
and Les Arcs
REDBULL SNOWTHRILL, CHAMONIX:
The Redbull snowthrill is an annual event,
held in the Chamonix valley, to test the limits of some
of the world's best freeride skiers. It is a chance
for 50 invited riders to pit their wits against themselves,
the mountains, and their competitors.
The aim of the contest is for each rider
to choose the most challenging and interesting line
down an allocated face and ski it with the most style
and technique. Extreme skiing may look like a bunch
of crazy guys hucking themselves off 100ft cliffs -
and to a certain extent, it is. But control and fluidity
are just as important as the biggest jump.
Competitors are judged on five criteria:
Choice of Line, Control, Fluidity, Technique and Agression.
A time limit is imposed for each rider to finish, but
the competition is not a race.
Day one (the qualifiers) started beautifully
- with a metre of fresh snow at the top of Brevant,
and the sun making a welcome appearance to take the
edge off the cold. Perfect conditions!
The men's runs were impressive - with many riders based
in Chamonix already familiar with the course, and with
so much new snow to cushion landings, confidence was
high. The clear winner was Bruno Compagnet, who's run
incorporated many features of the other riders, but
who managed to land every jump and link the features
seamlessly.
The key to doing well is to vary your pace and make
the most of the features of the mountain. Les Arcs local,
Ross Janzen did well on fluidity, but he was outdone
on his line and came in 22nd.
As the day wore on, the conditions became
increasingly difficult, with flat light and light snow
causing many of the riders problems. The women, in particular,
had a hard time, with several ending up bogged down
in the deep powder! Andrea Binning's run stood out by
a mile as being the most challenging and technical (she
chose the same line as many of the men), with a big
gap between her and the other women riders. Martha (the
only telemarker and Les Arcs local), had a difficult
run, contending with deep snow, flat light and a last
minute change of line. She came in a respectable 8th,
and Abi Pickett (one of the few British girls competing),
came in 9th.
Day two (final): again started
off beautifully, but the weather deteriorated rapidly.
The competition face was moved around 100m from the
previous day, and the top 16 men, and top 4 women from
day were taken through to the final.
The women ran first this time, with Maegan
Carney (currently world champion) putting herself out
of the running when she lost a ski in an avalanche.
Andrea Binning again stood out as the best female rider,
with an impressively fast and confident line.
The men's runs were again a display of
great skiing and generally big balls. However, the competition
was unfortunately cut short at the last minute due to
bad weather conditions, and after some hanging around,
the results from the previous day were taken as the
final.
Winners: Men
1. Bruno Compagnet
2. Nathanel Fresnois
3. Hamish Ackland
Winners: Women
1. Andrea Binning
2. Marianne Breschu
3. Connie Danzl
RIPCURL FREERIDE, LES ARCS
The Ripcurl Freeride is an annual event
in Les Arcs, and this year had the added appeal of being
the last stop on the world IFSA tour. The lineout of
competitors saw many familiar faces from Chamonix, with
an impressive number of both male and female participants
on skis, boards and telemarks.
The first day (Friday) was the qualifiers,
held on the Varet face next to Les Arcs' famous speed
skiing run, the Flying Kilometre. After over a week
of snow, the face hadn't yet been opened to the public
and with more than a metre of untouched powder, the
conditions were amazing.
For a laugh (to see what it's all about),
both Tony and I decided to compete. I was drawn first
of the women, and ended up being the first person to
run! Managing to stick to the line I'd chosen was enough
of a challenge (my sense of direction is notoriously
bad), and I was so busy relaxing into enjoying powder
turns in the final stretch, that I managed to fall over
on an easy bit and lose a ski ... Still, it was worth
paying the 50 Euro entrance just to make those first
tracks down the Varet!!
Unfortunately, Les Arcs followed in Chamonix's
footsteps, and although all the women qualifiers ran,
they were unable to finish all the amateur men before
the clouds came in and reduced visibility to nothing.
The qualifier day was therefore cancelled, with only
2 women, and no men going through to the pros.
Saturday and Sunday were both snowed out,
and the decision was taken to run the final on Monday,
using the same face as the amateurs on Friday. The original
preference had been for the Aiguille Rouge, but pisteurs
had set off a huge avalanche the previous week, which
had stripped it down to bare rock, making conditions
too dangerous.
Deemed by some, 'not extreme enough terrain',
Monday's competition was still amazing to watch. A perfect
bluebird day, with hot sun to keep the spectators happy,
and fresh powder for the competitors.
The winning line went to Geurlain Chicherit
(local French freeride hero), with several key players
competing for second and third. Of the women, Jennifer
Ashton was the clear winner, with an impressive and
fast line, making full use of the terrain. Maria Persson's
run was also excellent, finishing with the biggest of
the women's jumps.
Local boy, Ross, was unfortunately eliminated
when he lost his ski and hurt his ankle. He went on
to finish an excellent line, in spite of being over
the time limit. Martha, competing on telemarks against
the men, came in a brilliant 4th.
Winners: Men
1. Geurlain Chicherit
2. David Alamo
3. Hugo Harrison
Winners: Women
1. Jennifer Ashton
2. Maria Persson
3. Marianne Breschu
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