The Freeride Junior World Championships were postponed from Thursday 28.01. to Saturday 30.01.16 due to poor snow conditions. Our reporter Christiane, who unfortunately couldn't be on site until Saturday, briefly describes her impressions and interesting background information from Thursday before going into the results of Saturday's contest. This is followed by a short interview with German junior skier Leo Birker and a spot check of the mountains in Andorra.
The Freeride Junior Tour was held for the first time in 2015 and is being held for the second time this year in Grandvalira, Andorra. The competition was already under a bad (snow) star in the run-up.
The original competition slope (Pic Alt de Cubil) in the middle of the Grandvalira ski resort was moved again a few days beforehand to the opposite side of the valley, far away from the actual ski resort. The new face on Tossa de Carauppresented itself somewhat more favorably in terms of snow conditions and exposure due to its southern side. The hope on this slope was that the sun would soften the compact and frozen snow a little and make it more skiable. This decision shows that the safety of the young skiers is the top priority, with spectator-friendliness or difficult material transportation for the event team naturally taking a back seat. However, the relocation outside of a ski area also means that the ascent for the face check has to be mastered under one's own steam. The riders hiked almost 1.5 hours to the finish area of the site and were already looking for the best line for their run.
Everything seemed to be going well, at the riders' presentation in the evening everyone was full of anticipation for the competition the next day and Team USA, with the largest starting field of 15 riders on site, was already celebrating on stage. The American Mia had her whole family with her as a fan club and even her grandpa from Norway had made the trip. A rarity in Team USA is certainly Bennett Drummond, who is the only one competing with telemark skis. German skier Leo Birker was also full of confidence and was clearly looking forward to showing off his skills.
On the morning of the competition, everything went according to plan, with the skiers starting early as the ascent takes some time. Equipment such as skis and snowboards were brought to the start area by helicopter. When the spectators arrived on the slope at 9 a.m., it looked as if the race was about to start. The original start time was 9.30 am. The Ski Men category was due to start first and the racers were already waiting at the start. But the weather gods didn't seem to be kind to the riders, with icy winds and cloud cover preventing the hard snow from softening.
Impressions from Thursday:
Loic Colomb-Patton (FRA) - who has already taken part in the Freeride World Tour - was the first test rider to check out the face and found it too hard. After another test run, it was finally decided at 11.30 a.m. that the contest could not go ahead, "The riders' jumps in the hard snow would simply be too dangerous and safety comes first", according to the organizers.
Spring firn makes contest possible
On Saturday, 30.01.16, the time had come and the conditions allowed for a contest at Tossa de Caraup, as the sun softened the cover that had formed overnight and spring-like conditions prevailed. The 59 riders from the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Mexico and Europe put on a top-class show for the spectators. The competition slope, which was on average 35 degrees steep and 300 meters in altitude, offered them a wide range of creative lines and plenty of opportunities for jumps.
Men's skiing: double victory for Canada
The skiers showed an impressive level: airs and tricks as well as fast lines were the norm. The best run went to Canadian Jackson Bathgate (CAN), who scored 91.75 points with aggressive turns, a wide 360 and a spectacular double over a blind roller. His compatriot Nigel Ziegler (CAN) took second place with plenty of speed and stylish airs. Third place went to Xander Guldman (USA), who impressed the judges with an extremely technical line and a decent backflip.
Leo Birker (GER) from Wiggensbach jumped a nice double cliff and finished in 14th place with 66.50 points: "I had a good run, I'm happy. The conditions were good - nice weather, nice snow! It was a bit hard, but you just make the best of it." Mathieu Gschwandtner (AUT), who lives in Verbier, stood a whole series of long jumps and scored 61 points for this flowing run - 18th place for the Austrian. One place behind him with 60.75 points was his compatriot Martin Kogler (AUT) from Fieberbrunn, who showed fast turns and several jumps.
Women's skiing: Norwegian Synnove Medhus lands at the top
The skiers took advantage of the increasingly soft snow conditions as the day progressed to put on a strong show. Synnove Medhus (NOR) stood several airs and took the win. Second place went to Olivia Askew (USA), who managed a creative line with confident airs. Probably the most stylish run of the day was shown by Illona Carlod (FRA), who came third with her clean skiing style.
Snowboard men: Fifth place for Timm Schröder
The local hero Josep Maria Naudi Descarrega (AND) won the snowboarding category, causing a huge cheer from the spectators. He impressed with some high airs and safe landings. Second place went to Loïc Aubert (SUI), who showed a solid run with a few grabs. Third place went to Finn Duffey (NZL), fifth place to Timm Schröder (GER), who collected 60.50 points with a playful run and several airs.
Women's snowboard: Victory for Jazmine Erta
Jazmine Erta (ITA) won the female snowboarders' contest with some beautiful airs. Second place went to Fiona Torello (ESP), who came in ahead of Gaëlle Melet (SUI) thanks to an excellent line choice.
The quality of the runs once again shows that the level of riding among the young up-and-coming riders is pretty high and that most of them have probably been freeriding from a young age. We are excited to see which of the up-and-coming skiers will make it into the FWT in the near future or aspire to a professional freeride career.
All the runs from the up-and-coming skiers can be seen on www.freerideworldtour.com in the Juniors/World Championships section.
