The unified Freeride World Tour has crowned its first world champions: Drew Tabke (USA), Ralph Backstrom (USA), Nadine Wallner (AUT) and Elodie Mouthon (FRA). The winners of the final on the Bec des Rosses were Kevin Guri (FRA), Ralph Backstrom (USA), Matilda Rapaport (SWE) and Elodie Mouthon (FRA). The contest took place in very good snow conditions at an absolutely top-class level! Thousands of spectators on site and over 180,000 viewers followed the 18th Verbier Xtreme live via webcast.
The last tour stop of the FWT is only reserved for the best-placed skiers on the tour: Twelve male skiers, five male snowboarders, five female skiers and four female snowboarders had qualified via the FWT rankings, plus a few wildcards. Thanks to a solid blanket of fresh snow, the 32 participants were able to put on a first-class show on the Bec. The somewhat more compact field also had a positive effect on the entertainment value for the spectators, as it was easier to keep an overview and less stamina and sitting was required than at the previous tour stops. It remains to be seen whether the FWT will continue to have as many starters in the coming years (due to the merger of the two tours) as this year, or whether the focus will be on a somewhat more compact field due to better marketing and spectator friendliness. The grand finale at the Bec des Rosses proved once again that the FWT 2013 has taken the sport to a new level. You could see that the face on the Bec is by far the most challenging and demands much more from the riders than the slopes at the other stops. While freestyle tricks could always be seen alongside super fluid high-speed runs at the previous contests, traditional big-mountain skills were still in demand at the Verbier Xtreme. ng and will be in demand at next year's World Cup. Alternatively, it was lookers-left through a couloir followed by a high-speed runout, or a little tighter and more technical including a double/triple (Lopez) set.
Guri wins, Tabke FWT World Champion for the first time
Among the skiers, several skiers still had a chance of overall victory before Verbier. Drew Tabke (USA), last year's overall runner-up, started with a relatively comfortable lead after his two victories at the beginning of the season. In Verbier, he uncharacteristically lost his bearings right at the start and had to improvise: With a nevertheless controlled run, it was enough for 6th place and ultimately, also due to the placement constellation of the other riders, for the overall victory! Victory at the Xtreme went to the young Frenchman Kevin Guri (FRA), who already made it clear in Fieberbrunn that he will be a force to be reckoned with in the future: he won his first FWT event with an alternative line choice, very fluid, fast and powerful turns and clean airs. Second place went to defending champion Reine Barkered (SWE), who took the Hollywood Cliff cleaner than anyone else. Laurent Gauthier (CAN) came third with a very smooth run. Fabio Studer from Koblach (AUT), competing at the Bec des Rosses for the first time, showed a very solid performance after a somewhat hesitant start in the exposed terrain in the upper section, was able to stand the Hollywood Cliff and finished in fifth place. Samuel Anthamatten from Zermatt (26, SUI) finished in ninth place, Stefan Häusl from Strengen am Arlberg (36, AUT) was unlucky and landed on a rock on his last drop. Fabio Studer reported at the finish: "It was a bit difficult to ski at the top, but then the snow was super good. I was really calm at the start and am very happy with my run. I'm happy about my good fifth place and that I'll be back on the tour next year."
In the overall standings, Drew Tabke (USA) finished just ahead of Reine Barkered (SWE) and Julien Lopez (FRA). The new FWT World Champion was delighted: "This is the reward for almost ten years of freeride competitions. And there is no better place for it than Verbier. After the tours merged before the season, this is a historic moment. I'm already looking forward to next year!"" As the best German-speaking rider, Fabio Studer (AUT) ends his first FWT season with a successful fifth place and leaves behind a new benchmark in terms of freestyle tricks and reliability for finishes.
Snowboard men: Double for Ralph Backstrom
The overall snowboarder rankings were more fiercely contested this season than ever before. At the end of a dramatic final, Ralph Backstrom (USA), who had already won the opening event in Revelstoke (CAN), came out on top. Backstrom was the first to set the bar so high on the Bec that none of his competitors were able to surpass him. With his flawless high-speed run and clean cliff drops, the American won ahead of Aurélien Routens (FRA), who performed several airs in the steep slope and impressed with a fluid run. Defending champion Jonathan Charlet (FRA) came third. The snowboarders' lines differed from those of the skiers; apart from Xavier de le Rue, none of them jumped the Hollywood Cliff. However, Backstrom's high-speed line is in no way inferior to that of the skiers:
Ralph Backstrom, who only came second in the Tour last year, won the overall standings ahead of Aurélien Routens (FRA) and Sammy Luebke (USA). "I have no words, this is a very emotional moment for me", said Backstrom at the award ceremony. "I've been trying to achieve this for years. I've been second a few times and now I'm happy to have finally won the Tour. This season has been all ups and downs - first the win in Revelstoke and then mixed results in the following events. It's all the nicer to have such a good finish here in Verbier."
Wildcard holders dominate
Despite the diffuse light on the Petit Bec des Rosses (lookers-right from the men's start), the women skiers showed really impressive performances with speedy, controlled runs and confident cliff drops. The steepness and exposure of the face was particularly evident in the shots from the Cineflex helicopter, which unfortunately doesn't come across so well in the backslope shot. The outstanding performances came from two riders who are currently leading the Freeride World Qualifier Series and therefore had a wildcard to the start: Matilda Rapaport (SWE), already second at the last tour stop in Fieberbrunn, won in Verbier with a speedy run full of cliff drops. Second place deservedly went to Lorraine Huber from Lech am Arlberg (33, AUT), who impressed with clean airs. Third place and thus the new FWT World Champion went to 23-year-old Nadine Wallner from Klösterle am Arberg (AUT). After her victory in Fieberbrunn and two second places at the start of the season as well as the injury to defending champion Christine Hargin (SWE), the FWT World Champion title could no longer be taken away from her and she was already confirmed as the tour winner before the contest. She showed a controlled, technically clean run on the Bec with two confident cliff drops. She is now ahead of Pia Nic Gundersen (NOR) and Jacklyn Paaso (USA) in the overall standings. "I can't believe that I've become FWT World Champion in my very first year on the tour. I would never have expected that," said a delighted Nadine Wallner at the finish. "My run today was okay; I tried to get down safely and stay on my feet. It was my first descent on the Bec des Rosses, I'm impressed! Lorraine Huber from Lech am Arlberg (33, AUT) finished eighth in the overall FWT rankings and will be competing in next year's World Tour.
Women's snowboard: Elodie Mouthon wins Verbier and the title
The snowboarders showed impressive performances today at the Petit Bec des Rosses with fluid runs and numerous cliff drops and it is clear that the level of women's big mountain snowboarding has increased a lot over the last few years, although it is a rather smaller circle of top riders : Elodie Mouthon (FRA) won the Xtreme Verbier with an aggressive high-speed run in the fall line ahead of local and FWQ newcomer Estelle Balet (SUI) and Margot Rozies (FRA). In the overall standings, Mouthon was able to overtake the previous leader Rozies in the final event and was crowned the new FWT World Champion. Shannan Yates (USA) finished third overall.
"It's amazing that I was able to win here today and become [FWT] World Champion", said a delighted Elodie Mouton (FRA), who completed her first FWT season in 2013. "I'm very happy with the season and have built up more confidence with every event. I felt very good on the slope today and was able to achieve my goal of showing a fluid and committed run."
The results of the Verbier Xtreme:
Women's skiing 1. Matilda Rapaport (SWE)
2. Lorraine Huber (AUT)
3. Nadine Wallner (AUT) Men's skiing 1. Kevin Guri (FRA
2. Reine Barkered (SWE)
3. Laurent Gauthier (CAN)
4. Julien Lopez (FRA)
5. Fabio Studer (AUT)
6. Drew Tabke (USA)
7. Silas Chickering-Ayers (USA)
8. Oakley White-Allen (USA)
9. Samuel Anthamatten (SUI)
10. Arélien Ducroz (FRA)
Women's snowboard1. Elodie Mouthon (FRA)
2. Estelle Balet (SUI)
3. Margot Rozies (FRA) Men's snowboard1. Backstrom Ralph (USA)
2. Aurelien Routens (FRA)
3. Jonathan Charlet (FRA)
4. Sammy Luebke (USA)
5. Emilien Badoux (SUI)
6. Xavier de le Rue (FRA)
7. Steve Klassen (USA) The complete list of results can be foundhere.
The Freeride World Tour season is now over and many riders will now turn their attention to their film projects, for example. If you take stock of the first season of the united World Tour, you can clearly say that the level has increased once again: Freestyle tricks will probably contribute more and more to winning points in the coming years, here the progression will certainly be towards freestyle tricks in more technical terrain. And the fact that the tricks are performed in different directions during a run and that this will probably be included in the scoring, just like in pure freestyle contests, gives a foretaste of what's to come in the next few years. All the young freestylers are just starting to get into the big mountain scene. Of course, this doesn't mean that classic bigmountain "chargen" is no longer in demand - but the future belongs to those who can combine the two.
In addition to the combination of both tours, the worldwide livestream is certainly a big step forward: not only do the organizers benefit from the high quality of the images produced by being able to reach a much larger audience than before, but the viewers also get a lot out of it: you can either follow the entire event as if you were there live, or immediately analyze all the runs individually. It was a lot of fun to watch the contests in company, although the media suitability is different to that of soccer, for example, and the contests do drag on a bit if you watch all the disciplines. The judging also takes on a new dimension when you try to evaluate the runs yourself at home, which can be quite entertaining, especially when watching together, and you can't always understand the points awarded by the judges. But if you are aware from the start that a completely objective evaluation is not possible, you may find your own criteria and possibly have your own personal favorites and rankings, which may differ slightly from the official rankings. But that doesn't matter, spectacular action from outstanding riders is still on offer. We look forward to next year! A summary of the event:
