ContestHappening 06/2020 | FWT Ordino Arcalis

Like last year, the snow conditions in Andorra didn't quite play ball and the organizers had to switch to an alternative face. The slope with the character of a 2*-3* FWQ face therefore fits in well with the level of the slopes at the previous tour stops. This is a bit of a shame, as the "normal" face in Andorra is usually one of the highlights of the FWT season for riders and spectators alike.

After days of dry weather and warm temperatures, an attempt was made to hold the contest last week, but had to be postponed due to the tough conditions and wait for snowfall. This actually came and made the contest possible yesterday, Tuesday, even if the weather window was a little short: while the conditions in the women's categories were still reasonably comparable and rideable "greybird" conditions for all starters, it became increasingly overcast during the course of the men's ski competition. Finally, it started to snow again, so that the judges (and also the livestream viewers) had problems seeing the riders in the face. In the end, the men's snowboard contest had to be canceled in the hope of being able to make up for it during the Fieberbrunn tour stop, which starts this Friday.

The race started with the forerunner and former overall Alpine World Cup winner Luc Alphand, who skied the slope for us spectators in a Bogner outfit and without a backpack. It is up to the organizers of the FWT to decide what message this should convey. In any case, it is somewhat contrary to the past times of the ABS sponsorship of the tour, for example, where riders were required to mount the levers of the backpacks visibly in any case, as well as the awareness raising regarding avalanche equipment that was actually carried out.

The face itself is not particularly long, but at least it offered some opportunities for the riders to stand out from the competition. With around 20cm of fresh snow, it was also possible to take on most of the cliffs, despite rather flat landings. Flat light, which most, but not all, skiers had to contend with, impaired ground visibility and certainly didn't make landing cliffs or even tricks any easier.

Women's skiing

This time, the women's skiing started with fresh snow and reasonably good visibility. While Evalina Nilsson still had problems catching the pop from the fresh jump on the windlip on the right side of the face during her backflip attempt, Hedvig Wessel was able to land a clean backflip from the takeoff she had already skied in, which was enough for her to win. Jackie Paaso took second place with her classic big mountain style, a few spread eagles in the air and the biggest cliff in the women's ski category, ahead of Elisabeth Gerritzen, who is permanently in third place this year. As always, the Swiss skier was good on the gas, landed the big cliff cleanly and impressed with another smooth run. A slight backslap may have cost her second place. Arianna Tricomi was able to start despite an injured ankle and showed a safe run without jumping into flat landings, which at least earned her 6th place and a few points. Another highlight in the women's ski category was certainly Ayana Onzuka's 360 attempt on the big first cliff, which she unfortunately over-rotated and was unable to stand.

Women's snowboard

The starters in the women's snowboard category were visibly more determined and confident this time than last time in Kicking Horse. The new wildcard starters now seem to be providing a little more competition. For the first time in almost two years, it was not Marion Haerty who won. As always, the Frenchwoman rode smoothly, but without any real highlights and perhaps also somewhat influenced by the flat light, only finishing third this time. Ahead of her this time was the Spaniard and season wildcard holder Núria Castán Barón, who impressed the judges with her individual line choice and two cleanly landed cliffs in the end. Victory went to Michaela Davis-Meehan, who was rightly rewarded for her dug air over the larger upper cliff, among other things. It will be interesting to see how the wildcards and newcomers from the FWQ/FJT will shake up the women's snowboard category in the coming years, as 2-3 more talented snowboarders will soon be moving up to the tour. The local wildcard holder from Kicking Horse, Claudia Avon, should not go unmentioned either. If she hadn't misjudged the take-off angle on the first cliff and been deducted a lot of points for it, she would certainly have been on the podium with her dynamic and confident run.

FWT | J. Bernard

Andorra, Ordino Arcalis

Men's skiing

The men's skiing competition was characterized by somewhat uneven visibility conditions for the racers. The last 5-10 starters had to start in the beginning snowfall and the judges in particular struggled to see what was happening in the face. Undeterred, Léo Slemett showed four highlights in his comeback run. He impressed the judges the most with a double drop-in, followed by an almost unstoppable backflip on the windlip, a 3 on another cliff and a final cliff jumped from a little further back. The American and FWT rookie Isaac Freeland surprised everyone with his switch misty 540 (you could also say sw overflip 5) on the first big drop and was rewarded with second place thanks to his subsequent very solid run. Kristofer Turdell didn't surprise anyone, but exactly what was expected of him was enough for third place this time. Carl Renvall (CH) rode all of his chosen features in his very flowing, unique style, stood the difficult 3 on the somewhat poppy windlip the best, grabbed almost all the airs and ended up in fourth place. Reine Barkered was also able to score points again this time, his recently learned backflips are now among the safest in the field. Tao Kreibich unfortunately backslapped his backflip at the top and only just managed to save it, which meant that his otherwise fluid and creative run was not enough for a good placing. For him, everything now depends on the result at the upcoming Fieberbrunn stop to stay in the tour.

More highlights: Locals Navarro and Fornell-Prat find the most hits in the face, Ivan Malakhov is probably somewhere else in his thoughts, stays with his ski tips in the Steinfeld slopes and proposes to his girlfriend at the finish. Craig Murray gets his pole stuck in the tree and neutralizes his Sniper 360 into the gully at the start of his run. Hank Bilous showed how this Sniper 360 can go wrong. Tanner Hall can score quite well with an actually smart run, but with the high concentration of riders, this only means 9th place. Drew Tabke would probably have preferred to choose the trick sequence for his line like Leo Slemett (backflip on the first, 360 on the second) rather than the other way around, as the unclean landings in his line cost him a good placing.

The weather window for the fourth tour stop in Fieberbrunn opens on Friday. Most of the riders are probably currently traveling by car or plane towards Tyrol. The current weather makes us confident that we will soon see an exciting contest with fresh snow at the Wildseeloder on the traditionally not so easy face!