The Austrians impressed at the fourth of six events on the Freeride World Tour 2012 in Røldal, Norway. Flo Orley (AUT) won the snowboarding event; Christian Schnabel (AUT) came third behind Emilien Badoux (SUI). Lorraine Huber (AUT) and Eva Walkner (AUT) came second and third in the women's skiing category behind Christine Hargin (SWE). The surprise of the day came from the previously little-known Norwegian freeskier Dennis Risvoll, who started with a wildcard and won the FWT stop thanks to two high backflips. Margot Rozies (FRA) won the women's snowboarding event.
Men's skiing: victory for local Dennis Risvoll
With two backflips and a creative choice of line, Dennis Risvoll (NOR) secured the day's best freeskier. He won the Røldal Freeride Challenge last year, earning himself a wildcard, and more than confirmed his nomination with his victory. The reigning title holder from France Aurélien Ducroz also showed a great run with a long jump and a huge backflip. After his unsuccessful start to the season, he is back in the title race. The overall leader and winner of the Chamonix Mont-Blanc, Sam Smoothy (NZL), finished third with a confident run.
Sam Smoothy (NZL) thus continues to lead the overall rankings ahead of Oakley White-Allen (USA) and Drew Tabke (USA); defending champion Aurélien Ducroz (FRA) is lurking in fourth place. Björn Heregger (AUT), 13th today, is in eighth place, Stefan Häusl (AUT) is now eleventh after his twelfth place in Røldal. The Germans Tom Leitner (GER) and Christian Reichenberger (GER) were ranked 20th after crashing and are now 15th and 20th in the overall standings respectively. The injured Sebastian Hannemann (GER) was unable to compete.
Dennis Risvoll (NOR) was delighted: "I thought it was a bad run because I actually wanted to do a double backflip. That's why I'm even happier about my win. There are a lot of very good skiers here in Norway. That's why I didn't feel any pressure to start alongside the big names on the World Tour. The conditions were good, even if the light was a bit flat on my run. I hope to get more wildcards now and be allowed to compete in more contests."
The results from Norway, men's skiing
1 Risvoll Dennis Nor 8.00
2 Ducroz Aurelien Fra 7.80
3 Smoothy Sam Nzl 7.67
4 Laegreid Cato Nor 7.53
5 Tabke Drew USA 7,00
6 Barkered Reine Swe 6.93
7 Coirier Adrien Fra 6.50
8 Vole Torgrim Nor 6.43
9 White-Allen Oakley USA 6.17
9 Thorsen Aasmund Nor 6.17
11 Williman Neil Nzl 5.97
Snowboard men: Two Austrians on the podium
Flo Orley (AUT) won the snowboarding category thanks to a solid run in which he combined many different elements. Emilien Badoux (SUI), the winner of Røldal 2010, stood several drops with clean landings and took second place. Christian Schnabel (AUT), who is riding his first Freeride World Tour season, impressed with his very fast, fluid run and thus took third place.
In the overall standings, Jonathan Charlet leads after his fourth place today ahead of Ralph Backstrom (USA), who was not at the start in Røldal. Auréliens Routens (FRA) is third ahead of Emilien Badoux (SUI), Flo Orley (AUT) and Max Zipser (AUT).
Flo Orley (AUT) on his victory: "I'm really happy because the season has been rather mixed so far. I realized that I now have a family at home and had less time for snowboarding in the early winter. But things have settled down well now. I used the three-week break from the Freeride World Tour to work on my riding. I was now fully motivated and more relaxed again and took some of the pressure off myself that I had put on myself before the season, and that has paid off. My goal for the season was always to qualify for Verbier. After coming first and the other placings, that should actually be possible. Now I can go to Fieberbrunn totally relaxed and even take a bit of a risk there. If things go well there, I can really attack again in Verbier."
The results from Norway, men's snowboard
1 Orley Flo Aut 7.93
2 Badoux Emilien Sui 7.73
3 Schnabel Christian Aut 7.40
4 Charlet Jonathan Fra 7,03
5 Annetts Matt USA 6.67
6 Nordbo Tommy Nor 6.50
7 Guillot-Diat Ludo Fra 5.20
8 Stentiford James GB 3.50
9 Routens Aurelien Fra 1.67
10 Underland David Nor 1.47
Women's skiing: Strong Austrians in second and third place
The freeskiers put in a great performance on the Norwegian mountains: Christine Hargin (SWE), who knows her way around Røldal well, used this knowledge to produce a fast and strong run, relegating her competitors to second place. Austria's Lorraine Huber came second, jumping several cliffs and impressing with a great, fluid run. Eva Walkner (AUT) skied very fast, especially in the upper part, showed beautiful jumps and finished third.
In the overall standings, the three Americans Angel Collinson (USA), Jacklyn Paaso (USA) and Jess Mc Millan (USA) took the top three places. Lorraine Huber (AUT) is fifth, Eva Walkner (AUT) sixth.
The results from Norway, women's skiing
1 Hargin Christine Swe 8.00
2 Huber Lorraine Aut 7.60
3 Walkner Eva Aut 7.03
4 Paaso Jacklyn Usa 6.80
5 Martinais Sarah Fra 6.60
6 Mc Millan Jess Usa 6.37
Women's snowboarding: Americans continue to dominate
Margot Rozies (FRA) may not have been able to compete in the best light conditions, but she still took the best score of the day. She showed outstanding jumps on the last two cliffs and thus won the ranking. Second place went to Shannan Yates (USA), who chose a creative line, especially in the middle section, and stood her jumps securely. Maria DeBari (USA) also coped well with the different conditions and came third. Fifth place went to Ursula Wohlschlager (GER/AUT).
The results from Norway, women's snowboard
1 Rozies Margot Fra 7.60
2 Yates Shannan USA 6.80
3 Debari Maria USA 5.93
4 Kuzma Maria Nzl 5.00
5 Wohlschlaeger Ursula Aut/Ger 4.07
6 Mouthon Elodie Frau 3.30
Fieberbrunn The 5th FWT Tour stop. FWT Tour stop - March 10, 2012
The next event of the Swatch Freeride World Tour 2012 will take place on March 10, 2012 at Wildseeloder in Fieberbrunn-PillerseeTal. All information can be found at
The current overall ranking of the FWT 20212 (as of 27.02.2012)
Men's ski
1. Sam Smoothy (NZL)
2. Oakley White-Allen (USA)
3. Drew Tabke (USA)
Snowboard Men
1. Ralph Backstrom (USA)
2. Jonathan Charlet (FRA)
3. Emilien Badoux (SUI)
Women's skiing
1. Angel Collinson (USA)
2. Jacklyn Paaso (USA)
3. Jess McMillan (USA)
Women's snowboarding
1. Maria DeBari (USA)
2nd Margot Rozies (FRA)
3rd Shannan Yates (USA
The Swatch Freeride World Tour 2012
1. Swatch Freeride World Tour, Revelstoke 2012 | Date: January 06; Venue: Revelstoke (CAN) Disciplines: Ski & Snowboard, Women & Men
2. Swatch Freeride World Tour, Chamonix Mont-Blanc 2012| Date: January 21; Venue: Chamonix (FRA) Disciplines: Ski & Snowboard, Women & Men
3. Swatch Freeride World Tour, Courmayeur 2012 | Date: 24. January; Venue: Courmayeur (ITA) Disciplines: Ski & Snowboard, Men
4. Swatch Freeride World Tour, Røldal 2012 | Date: February 26; Venue: Røldal (NOR) Disciplines: Ski & Snowboard, Women & Men
5.Swatch Freeride World Tour, Fieberbrunn 2012| Date: March 10; Venue: Fieberbrunn (AUT) Disciplines: ski & snowboard, women & men
6th Swatch Freeride World Tour, Verbier 2012 | Date: March 24; Location: Verbier (SUI) Disciplines: ski & snowboard, women & men