It all started in the fall of 2010: Gore-Tex launched a freeride challenge on Facebook, where the main prize was a trip and participation in Seb Michaud's personal summer freeride competition. Just take part, I thought to myself. After all, the first prize was a trip to Argentina with some of the best freeriders in the world.
The grand finale and practical part of the challenge was to take place at the Grand Raid in Tignes with the four winners of the online competition. Quite unlikely that I would be there, I thought to myself...
That's why I didn't have high hopes of taking part. As I was on the road a lot this winter as a ski instructor and guide, I had almost forgotten about the challenge. So the email from Gore-Tex telling me that I was one of the four finalists came as more than a surprise. I was all the more pleased. Of course, I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to go freeriding with Seb Michaud and his friends in Argentina, even if that wasn't the main focus of the following days in Tignes...
Tignes - a little trip around the world from Innsbruck
The organization of the Grand Raid was simply perfect. A flight was organized in no time at all, all other travel costs were covered and we were also provided with a top-class rental car - all bills were covered by Gore-Tex. Fine, fine, you can't really have it any better... At the airport in Munich, I quickly met the other two winners and Grand Raid participants - there weren't that many people skiing at this time of year. We got on very well straight away. From Geneva we continued by car to Tignes. It promised to be a great weekend right from the start. Only the snow conditions on site looked more like summer and the snow was actually the only thing that wasn't perfect that weekend.
The day before the Grand Raid and the grand finale
Even by plane, it's still half a world trip from Innsbruck to Tignes, but it was well worth it. When we arrived in Tignes, we quickly found the hotel, which was one of the better ones and not a typical French concrete bunker, as there are plenty of them in Tignes. We met Caroline, the Gore-Tex representative, at reception, who greeted us warmly and gave us some information about the weekend. The next day we were ready to go: but first with a little sunset race at seven in the evening.
We rounded off the following evening with raclette and French wines. Late in the evening, the fourth participant arrived from Laax in Switzerland. He had a ten-hour drive behind him, as one of the passes was closed and he therefore had to take a huge detour. The four of us were on the same wavelength straight away.
The start
Saturday was the start of the big anniversary race of the Grand Raid. They had really come up with something special: the competition didn't start until seven in the evening! We made the most of the day and went skiing together. At first we thought it was a joke that the first race was held in the evening. We used the day to relax and chill out in the sun - the atmosphere among us was great and we had so much fun that the idea of competition never really came up among the four of us.
Then it started: 5.30 pm briefing, first meeting with Seb Michaud, who greeted us very nicely and informed us about the procedure. We started in teams of two, as is usual in the Grand Raid. The Grand Raid is a freeride cross in which the fastest time, ridden in teams of two, counts. The individual teams have to finish together, otherwise there are time penalties. However, the placing in the race had no influence on winning the trip to Argentina. The judges wanted and needed to assess our skiing technique and who was best suited to the trip.
In the evening, the lift was switched back on for the 15 or so teams and a small race to get the starting numbers for the following day began. The atmosphere was also very relaxed among the other participants, although there were a few very motivated people at the start.
The finish of the first day was a small tent city by the campfire, with a DJ and great food - there's no better way to start a race like this: cool lifestyle and pure spirit. This was followed by nice conversations around the campfire with Seb & Co. Around twelve in the evening it got quieter and we also went into the warm tent in our sleeping bags, because the following day was to start at seven o'clock in the morning. Seb Michaud slept directly by the fire - without a sleeping bag - with a few skins as a blanket, as he had forgotten his sleeping bag. He was of the opinion that this was good training for Argentina.
The contest
Sunday got off to an impressive start as Gore-Tex organized a helicopter to fly us to the start of the race. What a start to the day, total madness! We were constantly accompanied by photographers and two camera teams. Seb Michaud opened each slope and then watched us. There were a total of five races throughout the day, all of which had between 600-800 vertical meters per descent. The difficulty was not too high, although there were a few steep couloirs around 45 degrees. The conditions were also relatively good, most of the snow was already slushy in the morning. The organizers had chosen really good slopes that were great fun, even if we had to be careful because of the many rocks.
I was pretty happy with myself and the day. I probably could have gone a bit faster, but we concentrated on skiing and adapted our pace to the conditions. Unfortunately, some of the more motivated participants, who were or wanted to be the winners, turned their heads off completely. As a result, the contest was overshadowed by serious accidents, which fortunately ended fairly lightly. The final slope finally ended right by the lake in Tignes - with a BBQ and subsequent award ceremony.
The decision
Although there was a big prize at stake for us four finalists of the Freeride Challenge, we took part in the race without competition and the focus was on having fun. Nevertheless, everyone had winning the challenge and the associated trip to Argentina with Seb Michaud at the back of their minds - after all, you don't get a chance like this very often. In the end, Damian Camathias from Switzerland came out on top and impressed the jury around Seb Michaud the most. Everyone wanted him to win, just as any of us would have wanted anyone else to win. Because all the participants are really good skiers and the final decision was probably also a matter of luck. I'm happy for Damian and don't begrudge him the victory and the trip with some of the world's best freeriders around Seb Michaud: Go big and rock it!
What a trip! This trip was pretty much perfect in every respect. What Gore-Tex offered and organized was truly great freeride cinema. Being lucky enough to be one of the four finalists was already amazing for me, but the weekend we had together surpassed everything.
That's why I'd like to say a big thank you to Harald for the great organization in the run-up, and also to Caroline from Gore-Tex, who looked after us perfectly on site, and of course Seb Michaud. Seb is a great guy who has shaped the freeride scene like almost no other and is still so down-to-earth. Thank you for this great weekend!
And last but not least - Carola Bader, Daniel Staub and Damian Camathias - I think we'll run into each other more often next winter and go riding together, it was really a lot of fun with you. It's a great way to make new friends!
More pictures from the Grand Raid in the gallery
Text: Philipp Stohner
