swatch freeride world tour 2015 vallnord
Transcription
swatch freeride world tour 2015 vallnord
Press Release SWATCH FREERIDE WORLD TOUR 2015 VALLNORD-ARCALIS ANDORRA BY THE NORTH FACE® FEATURE DENSE VENUE MADE FOR AN EXTREMELY EXCITING FIRST-EVER FWT EVENT IN ANDORRA TODAY Hazel Birnbaum (USA) and Sam Smoothy (NZL) win in skiing – Estelle Balet (SUI) and Jonathan Charlet (FRA) win snowboard Women skiers Alaska qualified now settled Final results: Women’s Snowboard: 1. Estelle Balet (SUI) 83.00 2. Elodie Mouthon (FRA) 79.50 3. Shannan Yates (USA) 76.75 Women’s Ski: 1. Hazel Josie Birnbaum (USA) 78.75 2. Eva Walkner (AUT) 75.00 3. Francesca Ace Pavillard-Cain (USA) 72.25 Men’s Snowboard: 1. Jonathan Charlet (FRA) 90.00 2. Flo Orley (AUT) 86.50 3. Ralph Backstrom (USA) 83.75 Men’s Ski: 1. Sam Smoothy (NZL) 91.25 2. Jeremie Heitz (SUI) 82.00 3. Reine Barkered (SWE) 81.25 FULL RESULTS CLICK HERE Vallnord-Arcalis, Andorra - February 13, 2015 – The competition in Vallnord-Arcalis today was held under blue skies but in tricky snow conditions. The chosen venue in Andorra was characterized by an unprecedented density of features on the face and a great variety of lines. With this contest the women skiers have completed their qualification for the next stop of the tour, which will only include the top 7 women in the overall ranking. The other categories only have two results so far. They still have the possibility of getting in a third result counting for the Fieberbrunn KitzbühelerAlpen stop, restaged here in Andorra within the competition window ending on Thursday. Women’s Ski The women's skiing category was particularly exciting today, because it was decisive of who is qualified for the next stop which will take place in Haines, Alaska (USA) on March 14th. Two Americans, Jackie Paaso (USA) and Hazel Birnbaum (USA) were in the “hot seat” ranking 6th and 7th respectively, and both made it in. Hazel showed a very decisive run today with great action earning her the top score of 78.75 and her first FWT victory. “I was pretty nervous coming in to today. I fell in the last event. I really wanted to go to Alaska and represent our home country,” Hazel said at the bottom. “I just wanted to stay on my feet. Last time was a pretty big ego-crash. I can't believe I won. Now I'm going to celebrate with my friends - I'm going to my home state of Alaska!” Eva Walkner (AUT) continued her streak of podiums with a second place and a score of 75.00, laying out hard, dropping aggressively into the steep part, almost using the features to steer her down the steep top section. The 3rd place was taken by Francesca Pavillard-Cain (USA) who started out with a nice big air off the top lip, continuing playfully with a traversing air towards the skiers left and putting another good size air into the middle section. A solid run scoring her 72.25 out of the 100 points possible. The top 7 women qualified for Haines, Alaska 1. Eva Walkner (AUT) 6900.00 2. Silvia Moser (ITA) 5230.00 3. Hazel Josie Birnbaum (USA) 5020.00 4. Lotten Rapp (SWE) 4930.00 5. Jaclyn Paaso (USA) 4545.00 6. Francesca Ace Pavillard-Cain (USA) 4500.00 7. Lorraine Huber (AUT) 4055.00 See more here Men’s Ski The man of the day was Sam Smoothy (NZL) who scored an impressive 91.25 and took the 1st place in men's skiing. He picked the skiers right of the face as one of the only riders, linking the spread out snow pads with big air in excellent flow, keeping breath-taking action all along the face. A happy Sam, who sees his possibilities of qualifying for Alaska re-opening, found confidence to send it in the conditions that he said were close to what he knows from home in New Zealand: “Going into Andorra, I really needed a good result. I just felt right at home here. I'm super psyched – it was an all-or-nothing run and it worked for me.” With bib number 2, Jeremie Heitz (SUI) set the standards for the day right off the bat with a score of 82.00. He laid out a fast, fluid run starting with a very technical jump into the steep couloir, impressing the judges right away. Only Sam's spectacular line could beat that and left him with the second place. Finally the stomp master, Reine Barkered (SWE), confirmed his podium from Chamonix-Mont-Blanc with a line close to Jeremie's, giving him a score of 81.25 squeezing him in just ahead of Rodney George (USA) who had a score of 81.00 in a very tight top field. Reine is now leading the current standings and said he is feeling more relaxed about the upcoming events: “Today I was actually not nervous at all in the beginning – and then I got up to the start and got really nervous for some reason. Surprised though, I had a pretty straightforward line I think – but of course you don't know if you are going to ride it well. Snow was okay and I got most of my features in and landed clean I think and it went really fast so I'm super happy with a 3rd place here today. This of course, puts me in a really good position now for the Tour with a 2nd and a 3rd place it should be really good – I think – so it definitely takes a lot of pressure off for the upcoming events opening up so I can really go full charge, with a no holding-back-kind of riding.” Men’s Snowboard The snowboarders put on an impressive show taking advantage of the diversity of options on the face and showing mastery of their technical skills. Jonathan Charlet (FRA) received the highest score of the day with 90.00. He dropped into the steeps with a perfect 180 off the wind lip up top and continued down the in beautiful fast-paced turns, making the steep part look very easy before making an exit jump out of the couloir. He spiced up the middle section with a feature pulling a grab, finally ending his spectacular line stomping a playful bottom air and yelling with happiness, claiming it, as he went through the characteristic black Swatch arch into the Finish. “I'm absolutely stoked! I felt great coming down. Snow had turned good and I had perfect grip. I took all my airs as I wanted,” he explained, calming down his excitement a bit before talking about the continuation of the season: “I stay calm for now while hoping to obtain that ticket to Alaska.” Flo Orley (AUT) showed some of his best action ever in a very original line. He started out with a big, highly exposed air crossing over to a very narrow couloir before hitting more big airs. A line that showed a complete repertoire of skills and gave him a score of 86.50. “I'm super stoked to be here in Andorra – the mountains look very much like home. The terrain in the area where I went is just like my home mountain and the snow softened up so I could do what I wanted. When I saw the score I was like the happiest man on the planet,” said the experienced rider showing that he is still able to send it big time. The third podium place went to Ralph Backstrom (USA) who received a score 83.75 with a line similar to Jonathan's at the top and playing it a little more safe at the bottom,”putting another result in the pocket to get to Alaska” as he said was his game plan. Women’s Snowboard The female snowboarders seemed to enjoy the many smaller features cramming in good action throughout the face. Most impressive today was Estelle Ballet (SUI) who showed both very technical turns in high speed up top in the steep section, and fun action playing with the features on the lower part. She got a high score of 83.00 putting her in 1st place. “I'm really excited and I had a lot of fun competing today! I rode just like I would have, when I'm out with my friends - no pressure!” she said. With regards to Alaska, Estelle continued: “Of course I feel more and more confident about the continuation of the season and Alaska which is getting closer!” Elodie Mouthon (FRA) successfully linked her turns and smaller features in good control, earning her a score of 79.50 and a 2nd place. Shannan Yates (USA) took almost the same line putting in few but strategically well-chosen airs. She obtained a score of 76.75 and the 3rd place, thus keeping the lead of the current standing. A great debut promising for the future Today's event in Vallnord-Arcalis was the first time that the Swatch Freeride World Tour by The North Face® had a competition stop in Andorra. The local FWQ rider Dani Fornell-Prat (AND) competed on a host's wild card and was thrilled to be a part of this: “We are really proud to host the Tour here. Five years ago this was inconceivable and here we are. The media have been talking about this for months and months. Everybody here wanted for all these 'animals' to come and compete here.” Dani didn't let down his local fans, putting down an absolutely spectacular run with a huge air going into the face and sending it almost into orbit on the bottom, being drawn down in the score only by a few small control issues in the middle. With a score of 71.75 he placed 12th in today's action packed event. All together, this was an extremely successful event for Vallnord-Arcalis, Andorra. A great debut as an FWT host and a stop that the riders will definitely look forward to coming back to next year! Update on the restaging of the Fieberbrunn Kitzbüheler-Alpen event Just following today's event, it was announced that the conditions forecasted will not allow for the resumption of the Fieberbrunn Kitzbüheler-Alpen event to take place tomorrow. However, the possibility of making it happen here in Andorra stays open until Thursday February 19th 2015. Updates will be posted as soon as a decision has been made to confirm a date and face for this event or if it has to be cancelled all together. MEDIAS Login: partner Password: letitsnow Please mention the copyright: freerideworldtour.com / Photographer's name PRESS AUSTRIA / GERMANY Ring PR Gerti Ring [email protected] +49 (0) 861 909 63 81 (phone) +49 (0) 171 784 55 19 (mobile) FRANCE Links Communication Elsa Dabet [email protected] +33 (0) 4 50 91 41 08 (phone) +33 (0) 66 296 13 31 (mobile) RUSSIA Sarafun PR Larisa Luchnikova [email protected] +7 (0) 926 232 60 82 (mobile) UK Nadine Carle [email protected] +44 (0) 790 525 24 60 (mobile) SWITZERLAND (Swiss French) & OTHER COUNTRIES FWT Communication Manager Sophie Villard [email protected] +33 (0) 67 193 10 71 (mobile) SWITZERLAND (Swiss German) Strobel Public Relations Maurus Strobel [email protected] +41 (0) 79 473 01 69 (mobile) AMERICAS (USA, CANADA & OTHER COUNTRIES) FWT Americas Manager Tom Winter [email protected] +1 303 525 7767 (mobile) TV DISTRIBUTION QUATTRO MEDIA Friederike Bauer [email protected] +49 (0) 8093 572 26 (phone) +49 (0) 151 65 86 2201 (mobile) SWATCH Swatch, launched in 1983 by Nicolas G. Hayek, is a leading Swiss watch maker and one of the world’s most popular brands. The first Swatch watches surprised everyone with their revolutionary concept, creative design and provocative spirit. Today Swatch continues to innovate and surprise with new models, collections and special editions. The brand maintains a strong presence in the world of sports with its commitment to snowboarding, freeskiing, surfing, FMX, ice cross downhill and Mountainbike Dirt Jump. Right from the start, Swatch connected with art and artists, and Swatch watches remain a prominent canvas for artists from a broad range of disciplines. www.swatch.com THE NORTH FACE® The North Face®, a division of VF Outdoor, Inc., was founded in 1968. Headquartered in Alameda, California, the company offers the most technically advanced products in the market to accomplished climbers, mountaineers, snowsport athletes, endurance athletes, and explorers. The company's products are sold in specialty mountaineering, backpacking, running, and snowsport retailers, premium-sporting goods retailers, and major outdoor specialty retail chains. For more information, go towww.thenorthface.com FWT MANAGEMENT FWT Management SA, based in Lutry/Lausanne-Switzerland, is organizing world-class sports events in mountain resorts and regions since 1996. Founder of “Xtreme Verbier” – iconic event in freeride skiing & snowboarding –, FWT Management SA has taken the stand-alone Xtreme Verbier event to create in 2008 Freeride World Tour (FWT), Freeride World Qualifier (FWQ), and a Freeride Skiing Team Competition (Swatch Skiers Cup) with events in Europe, North America, South America and Oceania. FWT Management SA is the sole and exclusive organizer of the above mentioned events. www.freerideworldtour.com