Another edition of the 3* FWQ contest took place in the beautiful Val d'Anniviers. The only contest where, according to our rider reporter Nikolai Göz, there is a (15-person!) mega-jacuzzi for the aperitif... Niko has been at the start of several FWQ tour stops across the Alps this season and once again gives us his impressions...
On the weekend of March 9-10, 2013, the 4th edition of the First Track Chandolin was held in the heart of Valais. The small resort, which is connected to St. Luc, is located on a small plateau directly above the Rhone Valley at an altitude of just under 2000 meters and is therefore pretty snow-sure. Even this year, the snow depths in the resort were pretty decent! In addition, freeriders are offered a wide selection of very challenging, i.e. very steep couloirs and rocky slopes, as the view of the contest face alone shows. "Return to the Supermax!"
The initial situation
The north to east exposures of the contest slopes contributed to the fact that despite a break in precipitation of around 1 month, there was still fine snow to be found, albeit not everywhere. The contest organizers also spoke of difficult conditions in advance, as these could be quite varied on the face - from quite good powder snow in shaded areas to somewhat wind-pressed conditions on the ridges and crests to a melting hardpack in the sunlit lower area.
However, a large number of the competitors spoke afterwards of much better conditions than one would generally have expected. This fact and the absolute beauty of the face once again raised the standard to a top level.
The action
The field of riders consisted of 33 skiers and snowboarders, 18 skiers and 6 snowboard girls. Among them were many well-known or very well-positioned riders in the Freeride World Qualifier ranking, which added to the excitement among spectators and participants.
Due to the weather conditions with partly diffuse visibility on Saturday, the program could not be carried out as originally planned. It was organized as follows: After some riders had already arrived in "Chando" on Friday evening to make initial contacts or to familiarize themselves with the conditions on the mountain, the first mandatory meeting was Saturday morning at 7.00 am in front of the valley station of the "Le Tsapé" chairlift. Here, all riders received their start number, lift ticket etc., before heading straight on to the first face check and safety briefing in the mountain restaurant of the same name.
I had decided with a friend from Les Marecottes (John Fournier) to head straight to the start to complete the first run. We had studied our lines well and were pretty motivated. The only rule was that after the girls had skied, those who registered first at the start would ski first. So, let's go!
However, there were delays at the start throughout the day, as some riders simply did not want to start due to the somewhat difficult visibility conditions. As the second male rider, I was finally allowed to start ahead of many girls and was quite happy with my run afterwards, apart from a small "backslap". When it slowly became clear in the afternoon how few riders had actually completed their run, it was clear that the day would probably only be counted for the female snowbarders, almost two thirds of whom had started. This is the rule determined by the Freeride World Tour in such cases. So it was a bit unlucky for us, as we naturally had to adapt our line choice to the conditions and it went quite well.
Chilling out in the "Snowvillage" set up especially for the contest with a giant jacuzzi, DJ's flown in from London and thick sounds ranging from electro to reggae and dub (& some lover boy tunes that accidentally got in), as well as the piste grill sandwiches and drinks, helped to overcome the disappointment afterwards. The focus on tomorrow's line choice was on and the weather forecast seemed extremely promising. In the evening, after the après-ski party and a good portion of "bolo", there was a "silent party" for all riders in the tipi tent. For all those who came, there was a good pair of headphones and the option of choosing between two channels afterwards.
The next (Bluebird) day we set off at 8.00 am from the Le Tsapé chairlift, and after a short briefing we set off again straight away, because today too: "First runs first!" My brother Tassilo also ended up having fun as one of 2 snowboard opening riders and ski collectors. At 10.00 a.m. I completed my run, which unfortunately didn't go quite as well as the day before due to a technical error at the top and a fall in the outrun. But I had all the more time afterwards to watch all the other runs.
Photos of the contest can be found here and here on Flickr.
There were some really impressive lines, which were characterized by extreme speeds in some very exposed terrain, high cliff drops, tricks from stylish grabs to 360s and flips of all kinds. The snowboard girls also showed super nice lines that could definitely keep up with some of the boys. My congratulations go especially to some of my friends (snowboarders) whose runs I saw and which were very nice to watch: Congratulations to the French first-placed Sebastien Jam, who chose a very fluid line with two pretty high cliffs. Simon Favez (10th) with several smaller cliffs and a nice 360 grab in the lower part. And Armand Camille (15th) from the Chamonix area also impressed the other riders and spectators with a very thick, super clean backflip. So there really was some top-class action, not to mention what the skiers showed.
After a jacuzzi and grill and chill in the snow village, it was finally time for the award ceremony at 3 pm.
The results
Snowboard women:1. Estelle Ballet SUI
2. Amber Schluecker AUT
3. Hollsten Mikaela FIN Snowboard men:1. Sebastien Jam FRA
2. Julien Zambetti SUI
3. Tim Cachot SUI
Ski women:1. Tone Jersin Ansnes NOR
2. Kasja Regnér SWE
3. Anna Khankevich RUS Ski men:
1. Greg Tuscher SUI
2. Bimboes Michael FRA
3rd Mickael Bijasson FRA
The complete result lists can be found here.
Conclusion:
An extremely successful, further edition of the top-class First Tarck Freeride Contest! The great mood and atmosphere among all the riders from the most diverse corners of the powder hemisphere, as well as the top programme and the good contest organization once again contributed greatly to the fact that participation alone was once again a pure pleasure for almost everyone.
Thank you Valais for having such beautiful mountains! Next year, Madame Holle and Monsieur Petrus are sure to play along again.
