It had snowed a good half meter overnight. As a result, the conditions guaranteed excellent powder runs for the first starters, but made it somewhat difficult for the snowboarders who started first to build up speed and navigate the few features that the face offered accordingly. However, the not particularly exciting face was still enough to determine and evaluate the differences in the participants' riding skills. On the one hand, creativity was required, but on the other, a feeling for speed and the talent to make your driving look dynamic and spectacular in the rather undemanding Face. This made for a really interesting competition to watch, in which none of the young participants had to put themselves at too much risk to score points.
In all categories, it became clear that there are participants who are already so good on their board(s) that the adult FWT participants will soon have to warm up. It also became clear that North Americans are overrepresented in terms of the number of participants and are also increasingly taking the top places. The speed of the female skiers and later the male skiers was different to that of the snowboarders who started first. The jump in level was similar to that of the adults, but the condition of the snow also simply offered significantly more options towards the end of the contest, due to the possibility of picking up more speed through the tracked terrain and using existing take-offs.
As with the FWT, this time there was also a (time-delayed) webcast. If that's too much of a good thing for you, you can watch the highlights here:
FWQ
Several FWQs took place last week, including the first important 4* contest in Les Arcs. While Claire McGregor (NZL) won the female snowboarder category, it was not possible to score the contest for the other categories. Bad weather led to the competition being abandoned even before 2/3 of the riders in each category had started.
The 3* FWQ Engadinsnow also took place on Saturday. This contest features a qualification, this time on the very playful terrain at the lower chairlift of the ski resort in Silvaplana. The main contest then took place in rather tough conditions on the north face of Corvatsch. Alessandro Jossen (CH) and Petra Ohlson (SWE) won the ski categories and Gregory Palermo (ITA) and Léa Klaue (CH) won the snowboard categories on the face, which easily outshines all the current FWT faces except the Bec des Rosses.
FWT
The majority of the FWT participants are now on their way to Canada. The one-week time slot for the second tour stop in Kicking Horse begins on Saturday (February 6). The snow situation in the Canadian Rockies is very good at the moment and the riders will certainly be able to collect some good turns before they compete against each other in the contest. There is one more piece of news regarding the wildcards: Elias Elhardt has, as already suspected, received a wildcard for the next three tour stops in Kicking Horse, Andorra and Fieberbrunn. If he finishes in the top 6 afterwards, he will qualify for Verbier as well as for the coming season.
The Allgäu native used to compete very successfully in freestyle competitions, but has been concentrating on filming for years. With his own film projects NARCIS and CONTRADDICTION, the 31-year-old made a lasting impression on the international snowboard community, as did his scenes in the film DARK MATTER, which he shot with Travis Rice (USA) in Alaska last season.
