The Freeride World Tour returned this weekend, providing some vital relief as the Olympic games, quite literally, leave their mark on China. And, while China was getting high winds and heavy snow (leading to the postponement of the women’s slopestyle qualifiers), so too were the FWT team at Kicking Horse.
“Riders, guides and organisers decided to change venues to the T1 South face”
With 115km/h winds battering the (originally planned) Ozone face, riders, guides and organisers decided to change venues to the T1 South face. This meant a heroic all-nighter was required to move the competition and production infrastructure to the other side of the resort. Conditions weren’t too favourable on this side of the resort, either, with competitors having to deal with highly wind-packed and tracked-out snow. But, as we’ve come to expect, an impressively level of trickery was still on show.
The first skiers out the gate were the women who put on an incredible show, with rookie Lily Bradley coming out on top after a smooth and flowy run that linked together a series of airs on top of a techy entrance onto the face. Speaking after her win, Lily said that she wanted to progress the her own level by adding more tricks to her runs, adding that it was important for her to “be a good representative for young queer women in our sport. ”
Kiwi Jess Hotter came in as the runner up, adding to her already impressive start to the tour after her win in Ordino Arcalís. Jess was charging hard for the full length of the face, with some impressive airs in the mid-section. 3rd place went to the young Canadian Olivia McNeill.
- Lily Bradley (USA)
- Jessica Hotter (NZL)
- Olivia McNeill (CAN)
- Sybille Blanjean (SUI)
- Elisabeth Gerritzen (SUI)
- Lexi duPont (USA)
- Hedvig Wessel (NOR)
- Zuzanna Witych (POL)
- Tracy Chubb (USA)
- Juliette Willman (FRA)
With many veterans in the men’s ski category needing to put in some strong runs, the men’s competition promised to be a hotly contested event, and it didn’t disappoint. Taking home his second tour victory in a row, rookie Maxime Chablox put down an extremely technical run that was full of freestyle inspiration, featuring two 360s, a cork 720 and a huge backflip to seal the win.
“My plan today was to go for a purely freestyle run. I saw Max’s [Max Palm’s] double backflip and knew I had to go for it, so I tried to take my jumps as big as possible, grab every air, and I added an air at the bottom no one else hit. I’m dedicating this win to my brother Yannick, who was recently injured competing in the Olympics in China.” – Maxime.
Max Palm bounced back from a nasty crash in Ordino Arcalís to throw another huge double backflip for a place on the podium. Kristofer Turdell knew he needed a good result to qualify, and he didn’t disappoint, with a flowy line that linked up a series of freestyle tricks to help him book his place in the finals.
- Maxime Chabloz (SUI)
- Max Palm (SWE)
- Kristofer Turdell (SWE)
- Tom Peiffer (CAN)
- Andrew Pollard (USA)
- Kevin Nichols (USA)
- Cooper Bathgate (CAN)
- Blake Marshall (NZL)
- Maël Olivier (FRA)
- Jamesa Hampton (NZL)