Great atmosphere, really nice nature and mountains, really cool people around, nice snow conditions and mild, sunny weather made the "First Track Freeride" contest an excellent experience again ... Last weekend on March 7/8th, 2015 the 3* FWQ event took place in St. Luc/Chandolin in the Val d'Anniviers with really good conserved Powder, due to the high altitude and east to north exposed mountain faces. Rider Reporter Nico decided to write his report in english to also adress his fellow non-german speaking competitors and friends.
Conditions Base
Haven't heard about the freeride mecca Val d'Anniviers yet? Well, you better should! As you enter the valley, you understand why Swiss people say it's one of the most extreme mountain valleys in their country: huge rock walls to both sides of the streets and always some little rocks falling on the street will be the first impression! The village of Chandolin itself is situated on almost 2000 meters altitude with an impressive view over the Rhone valley and mountains of the Valais such as Zinalrothorn or Dent Blanche. The contest face itself on the "Col des Ombrintzes" is not less extreme! The possibilities of different lines, which can be skied or snowboarded down on this wide mountain face with plenty of couloirs, rocks and really steep ridges makes the contest to one of the most favored FWQ Tour stops for the riders in Switzerland.
The contest
On saturday morning, March, 7th the first Riders meeting was set in the mountain restaurant of " Le Tsapé" in the ski region of St. Luc/Chandolin. Some words about security and snow conditions were the general topics. After that the Riders had some more time to "Face Check" the mountain again and choose their line. The difference to other contests is, that competitors have to absolve two different runs from the two starts on two days. The points of each run will be added together and makes up the results. Before my first run I felt excitement because I choose to ride a line which was not tracked before. At first everything went well until I was reaching the steeper section of the line - some sluff took me a couple of meters making it impossible turning my board around. Well, the result was that I missed two features but as I found out later, I got a little sequence in the official contest video, which is cool to see. (0:51 -0:59)
After coming down the mountain on the first day, there was still lots of time to watch other riders and talking or just chilling in the sun, having lunch and then go freeriding with friends again! After all, it has been a perfect first contest day. Day two was also a blast! The fact, that the best riders were the last ones, who started made the show for spectators excellent. Especially ski men showed some crazy lines with huge cliff drops, and tricks like back- and frontflips. But in general the riding level was really high in all different categories.
All Results
Snowboard MenSnowboard WomenSki MenSki Women Congrats to all the winners!
Conclusion
The organizers made a great job again with this years First Track Freeride Contest again! Compared to other FWQ tour stops everything seems to be perfectly organized in Chandolin. There are cool parties going on during the evenings and nights. At daytime a phad DJ is ensuring that you're having a great or chilled time on the mountains too. Thanks again! Additionaly all the meals are included for the Riders. Happy Times! What more to say? It's one of the best FWQ competitions around! Overall performance.
Outlook
The long time existance from the winter season of 1999/2000 on, makes the competition to one of the oldest ones in the FWQ Swiss Series. For me, it's always a big pleasure being over there! Lots of great future comps and stay cool like you are Chando, eight?! See you soon on a Powder Day! Cheers, Niko Goez The drone's view:
