Freeride World Tour 18 | Andorra

In the middle of the week, everything seemed set for a picture-perfect Freeride World Tour weekend: the snow conditions in the Vallnord ski resort in Andorra were better than they had been for a long time, fresh snow was forecast for Thursday and the best weather was predicted for the competition days of Friday and Saturday. On Thursday, however, a tragic accident occurred that took the significance out of the upcoming competition. An avalanche broke loose during safety work on the contest face and caught two guides. While one of the guides escaped with foot injuries, the second guide from Andorra died a short time later as a result of the accident, despite being quickly rescued. The shock for everyone involved was profound and despite good conditions, no Freeride World Tour competition took place on Friday and Saturday.

Freeride Juniors and the wait for the competition day

On Saturday, the Freeride Juniors contest took place as planned in the Vallnord ski resort. This was organized by the local organizer "Eldorado Freeride", which has been hosting the contest of the same name since 1998. While the young riders put in great performances on a perfect Juniors Face, many FWT riders used the fantastic off-piste terrain in the ski area to prepare for the upcoming competition. Much to the delight of the many freeride fans in the ski area: you could watch some backflips, 3s and even rodeo 7s from the lift.

freerideworldtour.com / Daher

Vallnord / Andorra

Snow replenishment and great weather after the break

While the contest face in the ski resort filled up with fresh snow again, many riders then took advantage of the bad weather on Sunday and Monday for trips to the nearby cities of Andorra la Vella and Barcelona. On Tuesday, the FWT contest took place on the penultimate day of the weather window. Compared to previous years, the face was hardly recognizable due to the excellent snow conditions. While we had often seen winners with very technical lines in the past - such as the legendary run by Sam Smoothie from 2015, which earned the Face the nickname Smoothie's Garden - freestylers such as Markus Eder or Leo Slemett seemed to have the advantage this year.

Ski

In the women's category, the leader in the overall standings, Arianna Tricomi (ITA), also dominated the third contest. With 90.67 points, she took the highest daily score of all categories. Two-time world champion Eva Walkner from Kuchl (AUT) came second with 78 points. Elisabeth Gerritzen (SUI) completed the podium with 75 points.

Two-time FWT champion Drew Tabke from the USA conjured up the best run in the men's ski event in the snow of the Pyrenees. With one of the biggest jumps of the contest, a step up triple which he combined with a shifty to a double and a huge back flip, victory seemed certain. But while he was already being celebrated loudly by the other riders at the finish, he crashed just before the finish and lost a ski in the process, ending up with 0 points in accordance with the regulations. This left Kristofer Turdell (SWE), Craig Murray (NZL) and two-time FWT World Champion Loic Collomb-Patton (FRA) on the podium. The two winners each performed two tricks in their runs (Kristofer Turdell: backflip and a 360, Craig Murray (NZL), flatspin 3s and a backflip.

Snowboard

The winner in the men's snowboard category was Sammy Luebke (USA) with 90.33 points. Thomas Feurstein (AUT) secured his third podium finish of the season, confirming his strong form. The man from Vorarlberg scored 84.33 points with many jumps and thus took second place. Third place went to Gigi Rüf (AUT), who collected 80 points with a backside 360 and plenty of style.

Austrian Manuela Mandl, who had already won the opening event in Canada, won the women's event with 78 points. Audrey Hebert (CAN) came second with 70.67 points and last year's overall winner Marion Haerty (FRA) came third with 67.33 points. After her victory Manuela Mandl said: "The snow was good, but not always easy to handle. I was extremely excited before the run and now I am super happy because I am well on my way to re-qualifying for next year."

Overall standings are looking forward to Fieberbrunn

Ahead of the stop in Fieberbrunn next weekend, several riders have moved into promising positions in the overall standings: Manuela Mandl, for example, is now on 6290 points with two wins, 250 points ahead of Marion Haerty in the women's snowboard category. Ariana Tricomi has also kept her pursuer Eva Walkner at bay with her second victory. But some riders also scored important points in the battle to stay in the tour. Rookie Craig Murray took his first podium at the FWT and two-time champion Sammy Luebcke took important steps towards qualifying for the FWT 19 with his first win of the season. It's all or nothing for some riders from Germany and Austria such as Stefan Häusl, Felix Wiemers and Fabio Studer. They are currently not qualified for next season and will have to score big at Wildseeloder.