FIS Snowboard & Freestyle Junior World Championships
A technical snowboard cross course of significant magnitude greeted 66 of the world’s elite junior riders today in day two of the FIS Snowboard & Freestyle Junior World Championships.
The course’s two large hips and long fly-over table were particularly challenging for the young riders, as was the whoops section which caused many competitors to loose their rhythm while others used the feature to gain speed and propel them towards the finish line.
One such rider was Maximillian Stark (19) of Germany who recorded the fastest qualifying time in 1:07:26. However, it was Nikolay Olyunin (19) of Russia who took the world championship title having qualified with second fastest time. The final was a close run race and he narrowly missed being taken out by Joachim Havikhagen (18) of Norway on the second hip. However, he picked up speed through the lower berms and whoops to comfortably take the title ahead of Roger Carver (20) and Alex Tuttle (19), both of the USA.
Nikolay narrowly misses disaster ahead of Alex Tuttle
Photo: Bel Jones
“It’s fantastic being world champion,” said Olyunin. “I was very nervous and the visibility was bad but it’s an amazing feeling. I just wish I wasn’t so far from home so I could celebrate with my parents.”
Eva Samkova (17) from Czech Republic led the women’s field into the elimination heats in 1:14:04 and it was sheer tenacity that saw her take victory and the world championship title. For most of the final run she was racing in second to the USA’s Faye Gulini (18). However on the last bank Gulini made a mistake and Samkova saw her chance, overtaking and taking the win.
Eva Samkova (second from right) on way to victory in heats of snowboard cross Photo: Bel Jones
“This is fantastic!” said Samkova. “I really didn’t expect this, that I would be world champion. It was a very close race and I’m just so happy!”
The Junior World Championship action continues tomorrow at Snow Park NZ with the first freestyle ski slopestyle in a FIS World Championship. Qualification starts at 9.30am with finals scheduled for 1.00pm. For further information, visit www.juniorworldsnz.co.nz.
First ever snowboard slopestyle junior world champion
LAKE WANAKA, New Zealand (August 21, 2010) – Snow sports history was made today with the crowning of the first ever snowboard slopestyle junior world champions. Staale Sanbech (17) of Norway and Enni Rukajarvi (20) of Finland both astounded judges with their level of riding, indicating the future of snowboarding is very strong indeed.
An early morning blizzard cleared to provide perfect conditions at Snow Park NZ for this historic event. The course consisted of a down rail to 25ft flat box or rail followed by three kickers ranging in size from 15ft to 70 ft, ending in a multi-feature of an up box with gap off, snow rainbow and tank bonk.
New Zealand’s Ben Comber (20) of Christchurch scored the highest qualifying run of the day which included a gravity defying switch backside 9 off the 70ft kicker setting him in good stead as the only Kiwi going into the men’s finals. He continued his lead into the first run of the finals but by the second run everything changed. Sanbech was saving his best ‘til last and took out the world championship with a decisive second run which started with a front board on followed by a frontside 5 into a cab 9, a back 10 finishing with a 270 out on the last box. Ville Paumola (19) of Finland took out second place and Seppe Smits (19) of Belgium rounded out the podium. Comber eventually finished the day in fifth.
Staale Sanbech (17) of Norway made history today as the first ever snowboard slopestyle junior world champion Credit: Bel Jones
Rukajarvi dominated the women’s heats with comfortable lead of over four points ahead of her nearest rival, Slovenian Urska Pribosic (20). Rukajarvi continued to dominate in the finals with her second run. After the rail, a frontside 3 followed by a backside 5, gap 5 and stalefish secured her the world championship ahead of Slovenia’s Urska Pribosic and 15-year-old Samm Denena from Canada. Rebecca Torr (20) of Wanaka was the only New Zealander to make it into the women’s finals and she finished in fourth.
Dean Gosper, FIS Council member, said it was a great start to the event. “It’s fantastic to see great conditions for the athletes although the wind is a bit challenging,” he said. “But it’s a spectacular setting and the event gives athletes an opportunity to perform at their best, helped by an amazing attention to detail by the organisers. Clearly the riding is at an elite level as it should be in a world championship and I have no doubt the competition will continue to be very fierce throughout the week.”
It wasn’t the event’s youngest competitor, Luis Eckert’s day. The young German only celebrated his fourteenth birthday last week. His amplitude on the kickers was impressive but he didn’t manage to stomp the landings, denying him a place in the finals. However, he is also competing in halfpipe and big air later in the week.
The 2010 FIS Snowboard & Freestyle Junior World Championships continue tomorrow Sunday 22 August with the Snowboard Cross at Cardrona. Time trials start at 8.30am with finals scheduled to start at 1.00pm. For further information visit www.juniorworldsnz.co.nz.
KIWIS RECLAIM TITLES
AT THE NORTH FACE BIG MOUNTAIN 2010..and The North Face team riders rock the podium in the men’s and women’s categories!
The Volkl NZ Freeski Open came to a spectacular close at Treble Cone Ski Area today with The North Face athlete
Janina Kuzma (Wanaka) and Alex Lynden (Auckland) crowned champions in the women’s and men’s divisions of The North Face Big Mountain Event.
The North Face Team Rider, Janina Kuzma, made it her sixth consecutive freeride tournament victory in a row, taking out the women’s category with a score of 8.65.
She skied in her normal strong style, linking a couple of good airs together and skiing aggressively from top to bottom, showing the judges why she’s earned a spot on the Freeride World Tour.
“It was a great day, the women were straight off the bat and there were solid conditions but great smooth run outs.
We had to watch out for the avalanche debris at the bottom but all in all it couldn’t have been better,” said Kuzma
“I’m stoked to hold my title and be six time champion.”
Kuzma added “Having Mitchey Grieg there added a bit of pressure, she’s an Olympian.
Having a name like that competing in a different discipline brings so much hype for women in our sport and keeps us on our toes.
I hope she keeps doing the big mountain comps.”
New Zealand’s Mitchey Greig, also The North Face Team Rider and Skier Cross Olympian, placed second, and Lorraine Huber, Austria, took out third.
In the men’s category, Lynden’s line was extremely technical, he skied the fall line from top to bottom, linking the most airs in one run.
He ended with a score of 8.425 out of 10. Hot on his heels was American B Devine, a park skier who as a youth trained in moguls and ski racing with a score of 8.325.
He showed progression in the sport, while choosing an easier line he incorporated his park style throughout the run and skied strongly to the finish.
Kiwi skier and The North Face team rider, Fraser McDougall, secured third with a score of 7.850.
“The eighth time’s a charm,” said Lynden. After eight shots at the podium, Lynden earned his spot at the top today.
This is his second win at a Big Mountain competition, the first being at the inaugural Export Extreme Big Mountain competition at his home mountain Ruapehu.
Establishing itself as the biggest event of its kind in the southern hemisphere and attracting athletes from across the globe,
the Volkl NZ Freeski Open has now been officially recognised on the international freeski World Tour alongside the world’s biggest freeski events.
The North Face Big Mountain became a qualifying event for the Freeride World Tour last year and continues this year as a three star event on the tour.
The terrain in the Motatapu Chutes offered riders a huge variety of line choices with some of the steepest and most challenging terrain in the backcountry of Treble Cone ski area.
‘The North Face Sessions’ is back again this year with a heli-accessed back country expression session hosted by Southern Lakes Heli for winners of The North Face Big Mountain competition.
The North Face Sessions are scheduled for Saturday, 21 August, weather permitting.
RIP CURL FREERIDE PRO RUNS TODAY IN PERFECT WEATHER CONDITIONS
Thredbo turned on perfect weather and perfect snow conditions for the Rip Curl FreeRide Pro today. After a slow start to the winter over 1.6 metres of snow has fallen across the Snowy Mountains in the first two weeks of August, including 15cms in the past 48 hours leading into the event. The expert terrain in Thredbo’s Bluff area, offered competitors plenty of opportunities with the natural rock jumps and wind lips complemented by a number of man-made features and kickers.
The result was some of the most spectacular freeriding scene in competition in recent years. Australia’s best skiers and snowboarders unloading with a variety of tricks including corked 720s, backside 540s and huge front and backflips.
The snow in Thredbo today, a mixture of dry fresh snow and light windblown powder provided the competitors with soft landings that encouraged the riders to go for it.
The finals of the junior ski and snowboards were decided today while the top eight open men’s and women’s qualifiers from today’s rounds will compete in the final tomorrow The judging criteria encouraged a mountain riding, speed and flow critical elements as well as the technical difficulty and size of the tricks. The open men’s ski and snowboard set the standard with New Zealand Olympian Mitch Brown qualifying first in the men’s snowboard ahead of local Thredbo rider Peter Long. Ben Mates, Australia’s Olympic half-pipe finalist qualified third. In the Open Ski, Mount Buller’s Watkin McLennan was the front-runner, ahead of Thredbo skier Jono Lipzker. Jindabyne skier Scott Kneller, another member of the Australian Olympic team, qualified third.
There are plenty of other big names among the open finalists including US Olympian Andy Finch, Australia’s world cup half-pipe rider Nate Johnstone in the snowboard and leading Australian freeskiers Chris Booth (Sydney, NSW) and Jordan Houghton (Jindabyne, NSW).
The top eight finalists will be joined by two Power balance wildcards, one in each category, who the judges picked based on going particularly big or landing a major trick. Kieran McLaughlin (Falls Creek, VIC) is the snowboard wildcard and Kristopher Evan (East Jindabyne, NSW) the ski.
The women’s division was hotly contested, the riders throwing down some huge airs and technical tricks. Local snowboarders Saph Farrell (East Jindabyne, NSW), Laura Williams (Thredbo, NSW) and Wiki Jones (Swansea Heads, NSW) are the top three qualifiers in that order. It was different in the ski with the top three places being filled by Mount Buller skiers, ‘08 and ’09 Rip Curl FreeRide Pro champion Zoe Jaboor (Mt Buller, VIC) qualifying first ahead of Winter X Games gold medallist Anna Segal (Toorak, VIC) and Natalie Segal (Toorak, VIC) third. Katya Crema (Middle Park, VIC), another Buller skier and Australian Olympian is the fourth qualifier for the finals.
The juniors showed Australian skiing and snowboarding has a strong future, taking aggressive lines through the terrain and throwing down some massive moves. In the boys Henry Maxwell won the snowboard and Hamish Young the ski. Alex Fitch won the girls snowboard and Renner Connor the ski.
The open finals are scheduled to start at 9am Wednesday morning and the winners should be decided by midday.
The Rip Curl ThrowDown competitors will be announced tomorrow, invites are limited to those snowboarders and skiers with the ability to push the boundaries on the purpose-built park.
The Rip Curl FreeRide Pro and ThrowDown is proudly presented by Power Balance and is a part of the Thredbo FreeRide Series.
Canadians Take Top Spots in Australia New Zealand Cup Race at Coronet Peak
Winners (L-R) David Donaldson (2nd- CAN) Patrick Biggs (1st-CAN) Trevor White (3rd-CAN) for the ANC Slalom Men’s FIS race at Coronet
Coronet Peak (17 August 2010) – Day two of the Australia New Zealand Cup races at Coronet Peak saw the Canadians claiming the top three positions in the Men’s slalom and two of the top three in the Women’s slalom.
Meanwhile, Kiwi Sarah Jarvis finished a creditable fourth in the women’s race, complementing the form she showed on Monday in the first race of the series.
“It’s a fantastic result for Sarah in her quest for the Golden bib,” said Snow Sports New Zealand Alpine Manager and ANC Committee member James Lazor.
Sarah Jarvis (NZL) places 4th in the ANC Slalom Women’s FIS race at Coronet
Patrick Biggs of the Canadian national team was first home with teammate David Donaldson second and fellow national team member Trevor White in third place. In the women’s event Marie-Michele Gagnon of Canada took top honours, with Hailey Duke of the US second and Madison Irwin of Canada in third.
The first New Zealander to finish in the men’s event was Harrison Steedman in 10th place. New Zealand’s top two men, Ben Griffin and Tim Cafe, did not finish the first run in difficult conditions.
Richard Murphy, head of Coronet Peak Race and Events Department, said the race came off without a hitch despite warm temperatures and limited visibility.
“It was a great race run under difficult conditions,” said Murphy. “All credit to everyone who finished today.”
Marie-Michele Gagnon (CAN) wins the ANC Slalom Women’s FIS race at Coronet
Lazor expressed his gratitude to the team at Coronet Peak for assisting the ANC series and staging a World class event.
“We’d never be able to have the quality races we have without the support of Coronet Peak,” said Lazor. “The whole team did a great job.”
US Men Clean Up at Coronet Peak Continental Cup Race
Coronet Peak (16 August 2010) – The US Men national ski team secured all three top places at the Australia New Zealand Cup Giant Slalom Men’s Continental Cup race held at Coronet Peak this morning.
Warner Nickerson (USA) took first place honours with Ted Ligety (USA) second and Bode Miller (USA) third. Ben Griffin (NZE) was the first New Zealander home in ninth place.
In the Women’s race, the Canadians took the top two positions with Marie-Pier Prefontaine in first place and Marie-Michele Gagnon in second. Norway’s Chloe Margrethe Fausa came third. The first New Zealand woman home was Sarah Jarvis in ninth place while Queenstown’s Taylor Rapley finished thirteenth.
Race and Events Head of Department at Coronet Peak, Richard Murphy, said the race was incredibly exciting and the crowd was phenomenal. He urged people to take the opportunity to watch the competitors in action.
“The side of the race track was packed, it made for great viewing. This was a World Cup Field that raced at Coronet Peak today,” said Mr. Murphy. “This really is an amazing opportunity for people to come and see the world’s best alpine ski racers in action.”
Racing continues tomorrow with the Men’s and Women’s ANC Slalom races at the Rocky Gully Race Training Arena at Coronet Peak.
RIP CURL FREERIDE PRO KICKS OFF TOMORROW AFTER SOLID SNOW FALLS
Following the recent fresh snow dump, anticipation around the Rip Curl FreeRide Pro and ThrowDown tomorrow at Thredbo from August 17-19th is overflowing amongst the competitor and event organiser ranks.
The Rip Curl FreeRide Pro is a unique ski and snowboard event that makes use of Thredbo’s famous ‘Bluff’ run, which is recognised as Australia’s best natural terrain. It gives riders the opportunity to choose their own path down the mountain and hence showcase their freeriding skills.
After a relatively slow start to the season, event organisers welcomed the past two weeks’ epic snowfalls that blanketed Thredbo. The athletes are keen to hit the slopes next week and expectations around this year’s event are bigger than ever. Conditions are expected to hold up this week with more snow on the horizon.
The recent snowfalls have also given Thredbo Terrain Park Manager Charles Beckinsale plenty to work with. In its fourth year, the Rip Curl FreeRide Pro relies not only on the ‘Bluff’s’ natural terrain but also on Beckinsale’s vision and skill in bringing out the best parts of the hill.
“Our aim is to enhance the natural terrain on The Bluff by building take offs on some of the bigger cliffs, cutting in take offs in windlips and setting up some natural looking jibs like log sides and stalls made from Snowgums to keep the course looking as organic as possible,” commented Beckinsale.
With an international field of competitors locked in including former USA Olympian Andy Finch, young snowboarding prodigy Nate Johnstone and New Zealand’s free-snowboarding Olympian Mitch Brown the Rip Curl FreeRide Pro is sure to be a tightly fought competition.
Finch represented his country in the 2006 Torino Olympics, placing 12th in the half-pipe and is also the Rip Curl FreeRide Pro inaugural champion. Competing alongside the former Olympian is Nate Johnstone, the 2008/09 Rip Curl FreeRide Pro champion who qualified for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics but was forced to pull out at the last minute due to an ankle injury.
“Due to my injury at the beginning of this year I haven’t had a chance to do too much snowboarding, but I plan to just freeride, have fun and see what happens. If anything I think it’s made me keener to go snowboarding!” said Johnstone of his preparations for the event.
The Rip Curl ThrowDown Invitational is a specialty night event held on the Wednesday evening under lights at Thredbo Village, attracting a large crowd of spectators. The ‘one-night only’ big air structure is also built by the Thredbo Terrain Park Crew, and its annually changing features along with the rider-judged format grant it a unique status.
“For the ThrowDown, the team has put their heads together again to come up with another mega feature that will have a ton of options for riders to go to town. We have moved away from the butter pad style we have had in previous years and we are taking a new direction this year,” said Beckinsale.
The Rip Curl ThrowDown competitors will be announced tomorrow, invites are limited to those snowboarders and skiers with the ability to push the boundaries on the purpose-built park.
The Rip Curl FreeRide Pro and ThrowDown is proudly presented by Power Balance and is a part of the Thredbo FreeRide Series.
Dynastar Lange 2010 Junior Interfields Series
Tekapo turns on the sun and the athletes turn up the heat!
Rounds four and five of the Interfields series took place at the gloriously sunny Round Hill Ski Field this weekend with competition days taking place on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th August.
The Interfields went national this weekend with teams flying in from Auckland’s Snow Planet and strong representation from the Canterbury fields; Team Hutt, Porters Heights and Mount Dobson. Large teams from Cardrona, Treble Cone, Queenstown and Ohau made the pilgrimage to Round Hill and a strong group of Japan based junior athletes were also present.
Snowvision Scholarships were awarded to two athletes after the weekend competition. These prestigious and highly sought after scholarships provide $500 towards athlete ski training. The scholarships were awarded to Serena Willis – 11 years old from Christchurch and Taane Whetu – 11 years old from Twizel.
The final in the series will be held at Cardrona Ski Area on September 5th. Organisers are still hoping to get an alternate date for the recently postponed Remarkables Round.
Winners by category for Day 1 – Saturday 14th were:
E1 Girl (Born 2005 – 2002) Nanoha Yosgioka
E1 Boy Issay Suzuki
E2 Girl (2000 – 2001) Phoebe Young
E2 Boy Ben Richards
K1 Girl (1998 – 1999) Serena Willis
K1 Boy Jackson Wells
K2 Girl (1996 – 1997) Piera Hudson
K2 Boy Justin Kumono
J Girl (1994 – 1995) Emma Morgan
J Boy Charlie Riede
Winners by category for Day 2 – Sunday 15th were not available directly after the race due to timing issues. Results will be available Tuesday 17th after checking by the Chief of Course.
BURTON NEW ZEALAND OPEN HALFPIPE FINALS
The eighth annual Burton New Zealand Open Halfpipe finals took place under blue bird skies today at Cardrona Alpine Resort with Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI) taking first place in the men’s event and Kelly Clark (USA) winning the women’s competition. Podladtchikov and Clark both finished the day NZ$6,000 richer for their efforts and set themselves up nicely with solid early season results counting towards the 2010/11 Burton Global Open Series and the Swatch TTR World Rankings.
Although the weather was perfect, warm temperatures meant the competition format had to be shortened, in order to keep Cardrona’s 22-foot Olympic sized halfpipe in top shape. All 38 men and 19 women semi-finalists went straight into a single final round, with the best of two runs counting for their final ranking.
The women were up first, and Kelly Clark threw down the gauntlet on her first run with a giant frontside air, backside 540 mute, frontside 900, method air, frontside 720, and Cab 720 mute for 88.70 points and her 2nd consecutive NZ Open halfpipe title. Kelly was very happy with her win saying, “I had a great day, it’s a great way to start off my season and I was really happy with how I rode today. I walked away doing the tricks I set out to do and had a lot of fun.”
Queralt Castellet (ESP) was the closest challenger with 82.45 points, also on her first run. Queralt’s run started with a backside 540 mute, frontside 540 melon, method air, and frontside 720 to place second. Taking third with 76.84 points was veteran Soko Yamaoka (JPN), who’s run consisted of a McTwist, frontside 720, Cab 720, frontside 540 melon, and backside 540. Kendall Brown was the top New Zealander, finishing in 8th place.
14 year-old Taku Hiraoka (JPN), who dominated the pre-qualifiers and qualifiers, continued to amaze with his first run score of 89.35 points setting the benchmark. Hiraoka’s run was a backside 540, frontside inverted 720, Cab 1080, and massive frontside 900 tailgrab. This Cinderella story proved that it’s possible to ride all the way from the pre-qualifier round through to the podium and second place. But taking the win was Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI) who let out all stops on his second run with a huge crippler, double McTwist 1260, frontside 1080 tailgrab, and Cab 720 for an impressive 93.70 points. Louie Vito (USA) also had a strong second run to jump up into third place with 88.04 points. Louie’s run started with a frontside 1080 double-cork, Cab 1080 double-cork, double crippler, backside 900, and frontside corked 900.
It was also a monumental day for judging, with the newly developed Snowboard Live Scoring system (SLS) proving itself for the first time in the halfpipe. Scores are given for each individual hit during a run, as well as a flow score, to provide a very transparent and informative final score. Viewers of the live webcast on GO211.com were able to see this system in action and watch real-time ranking changes, among other features of the webcast.
NZ’S SHELLY GOTLIEB TAKES SECOND IN SLOPESTYLE AT BURTON NZ OPEN
WANAKA, New Zealand (13th August, 2010) – The Burton New Zealand Open Slopestyle finals took place today at Cardrona Alpine Resort and New Zealand’s Shelly Gotlieb (Ohakune) once again proved that she’s a force to be reckoned with, placing second behind Jamie Anderson (USA).
Rider: Shelly Gotlieb Credit: Pablo Azocar
Burton rider Christian Haller (SUI) took first place in the men’s event. Haller and Anderson both walked away NZ$6,000 richer for their performance on the challenging Slopestyle course which was even more tricky with today’s variable weather conditions.
Due to the snow conditions and morning delays, the competition format was condensed, with all 37 men and 19 women semi-finalists going straight into a single final round, where the riders took two runs, best of which counted for their final score. The low visibility and variable snow didn’t seem to hinder the best riders, with some amazing runs being thrown down regardless.
The first feature of the course offered a choice between a down-flat-down round bar or a round down bar, the second feature was a choice between an up box or a gap to flat box, followed by three jumps measuring in at 45-feet, 55-feet, and 75-feet, then finishing with a quarterpipe to goalpost / hip.
Jamie Anderson (USA) took her third straight New Zealand Open slopestyle title and had this to say about her win, “I can’t believe it, I love the Burton Opens and winning this event three times in a row is amazing, so I’m ecstatic and so stoked to start of the year with a good result.”
Women’s Podium (l to r): Shelly Gotlieb (NZ), Jamie Anderson (USA), Kjersti Buuas (NOR)
Credit: Pablo Azocar
Jamie’s winning run earned her a score of 79.20 points and consisted of a boardslide-to-tailpress on the down bar, a frontside 180 out on the up box, switch backside 180 mute, backside 360 mute, and a backside 180 mute. Gotlieb held it down on her home turf with a great second run earning her 74.56 points. Rounding out the podium in third place was Kjersti Buuas (NOR) who also had a good run that scored 73.60 points.
Christian Haller put it all together in his second run to score 80.84 points with a backside lipslide on the down-flat-down bar, tailslide on the gap to flat box, switch backside 720, Cab 900, frontside 720 tailgrab. But the margins were tight with current TTR tour leader Gjermund Braaten’s first run score of 80.64 points holding top spot until then. Gjermunds run consisted of a frontside 270 gap over the down-flat-down rail, frontside 270 on the gap to flat box, frontside 540, Cab 720, and double back rodeo 900. Coming in third with 79.00 points was 2010 Burton US Open Slopestyle winner Mikkel Bang. Mikkel’s run started with a gap to switch backside lipslide on the down-flat-down rail, backside lipslide on the gap to flat box, backside 540, Cab 720, switch backside 900.
The newly developed Snowboard Live Scoring system (SLS) was used today by the judges, which gives scores for each individual hit during a run that is then combined with a flow score to provide a more transparent final score. Viewers of the live webcast on GO211.com were able to see this system in action and watch real-time ranking changes, among other features of the site. The live action at the Burton New Zealand Open culminates tomorrow with highlight event, the halfpipe.
The Burton New Zealand Open marks the first stop on the prestigious Burton Global Open Series and is also a 5Star event on the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour. Semi-finals and finals of tomorrow’s halfpipe event will be webcast live from New Zealand on www.GO211.com and full results and details will be available at the completion of each day on www.opensnowboarding.com.
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