Team Europe has done it: thanks to a masterful performance on the backcountry slopestyle course, the Europeans took back the SWATCH SKIERS CUP trophy from the defending champions Team Americas today. They won with 10:6 points. Having already won the big mountain freeride contest, Team Europe was crowned the new champions of the event with a final score of 21:11!A beautiful, sunny day greeted the participants and spectators this morning at the summit station of Zermatt's spectacular Gornergrat cable car. The competition slope was in perfect condition with 20 centimeters of untouched fresh snow. The upper section of the slope offered steep freeride terrain, while the middle and lower sections were peppered with kickers built especially for this event. This allowed the riders to choose from a variety of possible lines and jumps, which they naturally took advantage of.
The outstanding run of the day went to Fabio Studer (AUT) from Team Europe. To the enthusiastic cheers of the numerous spectators, he jumped off the ridge into the slope with a switch cork 540, then skied through a concealed couloir and finally finished his run with a flawless cork 720. "Jumping kickers like this without prior training isn't as difficult as many people think. I've done so many switch 5s, 720s and cork 3s in my life that I already know when I jump whether I have to turn faster or slower in the air - like on the big cork 3 in my second run, where I can control the rotation and stand the trick," says the man from Vorarlberg, who has been delivering consistently impressive contest performances this season. Sverre Liliequist (SWE), who already had an impressive performance at the big mountain contest, proved his creativity again today and jumped a double cliffdrop to backflip as well as a huge double front flip. "Even though slopestyle isn't my strong point, it doesn't make me nervous to give it my all here. I know that I'm really pushing my skills. But the elements are very safe and the whole vibe helps us a lot. It's the perfect environment to push our limits," said Liliequist. The clip of his Big Mountain Run went "viral", so to speak, on the one hand it was fantastic conditions for a contest, but on the other hand avalanches are also trivialized a little in this case. Of course, it is impossible to assess the potential danger at home in front of the screen, but the premature termination of the Big Mountain Contest due to the increasing warming was possibly the right move. However, it is possible that the wrong signals are being sent out to the mass media and the public, as the background to this normally remains hidden from them.
The riders from Team Americas also put in impressive performances. Rory Bushfield (CAN) had to do an extra run as a replacement for the injured Tim Dutton (USA) and shone with super technical and stylish lines on all three runs. The last starter of the day, Charlie Ager (CAN), almost managed a switch landing in deep powder on his Cork 900.
Not least thanks to the successful week in Zermatt, the SWATCH SKIERS CUP has a bright future ahead of it. "Bringing together the 16 best big mountain and backcountry slopestyle riders has proven to be a very successful combination. I am pleased to announce today that this event will continue, said Head Event Organizer Nicolas Hale-Woods. The teams will have new captains for the upcoming editions of the Skiers Cup: Julien Regnier (FRA) will steer Team Europe and JP Auclair (CAN) will lead Team Americas. It remains to be seen how this will affect the selection of skiers. You will soon find out in which ski resort the next event will take place at www.swatchskierscup.com.
More pictures from the contest in the gallery
Further comments on the contest: Kaj Zackrisson (SWE): "I was very nervous before the day because I'm a big mountain rider. These kickers and their shape are not what I usually feel comfortable with. On the inruns to the kickers I really have to get over myself. But then it's a fantastic feeling!" Markus Eder (ITA): "This course combines good freestyle elements with a bit of big mountain. The slope is less challenging than a real big mountain face, but it has some really cool cliffs to jump. I like the style of events like this, and I think pure big mountain riding is cool. This event is a unique festival that we should definitely continue and develop freeriding further."Nicolas Vuignier (SUI):"The 2014 Olympic Games are possible for me, but I would have to put a lot of time into the FIS events. Personally, I'd rather go powdering than train in the park. If it has snowed, I ski deep snow, otherwise I'm in the park. This year we have so much snow in Switzerland that I'm only freeriding. If you want to go to the Olympics, you have to give 100% and concentrate fully on it. I don't know if I could do that. If I had to ski in the park all year round, I'd go mad. I have to ride powder!" Julien Regnier (FRA), shaper and judge:"It was a big challenge to organize this event. We put a lot of work into the kickers, safety and judging. Then we could only hope that Mother Nature would play along. It's a job, but I love it and wouldn't want to do anything else.A multi-part video series has documented the action in Zermatt, this part summarizes both parts of the event from the riders' perspective:
