Freeride World Tour 2019: final and recap

Freeride World Tour 2019: final and recap

We look back at this final in Verbier on the mythical Bec des Rosses

It's over! In a sign that the end of the season is fast approaching, the Freeride World Tour ended in apotheosis this Saturday, March 23rd in Verbier. Under a large blue sky, the athletes of the four categories set off on the cold slopes of the Bec des Rosses to determine who, at the end of these five stages, would be crowned world champion. There was suspense in each category, except for the snowboarders where Marion Haerty was already crowned at the end of the stage in Andorra thanks to her excellent score in the general classification. It's time for a recap.

The Beak of the Rosses

Most of you know it, but it's always good to get back to a few basics. The final of the Freeride World Tour has always taken place on the Bec des Rosses in Verbier, Switzerland. This competition, formerly called the Xtrem de Verbier, has been held there since 1996, initially only in snowboarding. For the curious, we published an article on the reverse of the scene of this disproportionate event: Behind the scenes of the Freeride World Tour .

This mythical face is oriented north/northeast, for 600 m of altitude between the summit (3223 m) and the finish area. On the slope side, the image on the left below gives you an idea of stiffness... Each piece of slope has its history, memories of previous editions, some detailed here on the right.

This year, skiers, snowboarders, snowboarders and some skiers (Andrew Pollard, Léo Slemett, Markus Eder and Drew Tabke) started from the right start, in the face below the west ridge (precisely, two departures were possible at this point). The other skiers started from a start below the summit, right in the face, and veteran snowboarder Steve Klassen started from the top for his eighteenth participation (at 54 years old, with five wins on the clock).

The full replay

In order: snowboarders (17min40),skiers (41min30),snowboarders (1h46min) and skiers (2h22min).

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Among skiers

Arianna Tricomi secured and pulled off a beautiful run that allowed her to climb to the second step of the podium, validating her status as leader and allowing her to win the title for the second time. The Italian will not have demerited this season! The Swiss Elizabeth Gerritzen will have dazzled us with an impressive and fast run, so she wins the stage unsurprisingly.

Step:

1 Elizabeth Gerritzen (SWI)
2 Arianna Tricomi (ITA)
3 Hazel Birnbaum (USA)
General:

1 Arianna Tricomi (ITA)
2 Jacqueline Pollard (USA)
3 Elizabeth Gerritzen (SWI)

General:

1 Victor de Le Rue (FRA)
2 Davey Baird (USA)
3 Blake Hamm (USA)

Among skiers

There was a bit of suspense for the title due to the crash of Markus Eder in Andorra, mainly between him and Kristoffer Turdell. But the surprise came mostly from Wadeck Gorack, a new frenchie on the tour but a veteran of the Qualifiers: he follows the Hollywood with the bottom bar and an impeccably posed backflip. It pays, 92 points, he won't be caught. However, there is level and all skiers hire to try to dislodge it.

Mickael Bimboes is next, he follows the same line on the top with a Hollywood taken at full speed, then follows everything straight behind to finish at 1000 an hour at the bottom of the Bec. It's impressive, but it lacks one or two more jumps to score high, he gets away with 87.66 points (which is already a nice score). He was wearing a yellow vest with the word "Long live the people" under his jacket, which he will show to the camera when his score was displayed.

Kristoffer Turdel enters the same line as Wadeck, with a little more speed on the bottom as he follows without tricks the last bar: 87.66 points. It's frankly beautiful skiing to see. Reine Barkered also follows this line that brings together the biggest "features" of the face for riders who like to ski in the axis and which has already allowed her to win. 86 points.

Andrew Pollard is the first skier from the other start, placing a 360 in his line. 75 points. We're going to have to go hard to get on the podium... Carl Regner Eriksson scares everyone with a crash at the top of the front at the reception of the Voirol, jumps a bar head-to-toe and stops just below. At first glance more fear than harm.

It was the turn of the leader, Markus Eder, who committed the second start. True to form, he puts a 360 and a backflip on a transfer jump, his trademark. 82.66 points. That's enough to secure him the title, so he'll be the 2019 freeride world champion.

Tom Pfeiffer will score 71.66 points. Behind him, the last Frenchman to leave: Léo Slemett. He starts from the second start, and gives us a nice line with a 36 transfer and then a grooos backflip. He took second place with 89.66 points, behind Wadeck and ahead of Kristoffer. Drew Tabke seems to have lost his way, and Aymar Navarro unfortunately crashes on his last reception.

The step:

1 Wadeck Gorack (FRA)
2 Leo Slemett (FRA)
3 Kristoffer Turdell (SWE)
General:

1 Markus Eder (ITA)
2 Kristoffer Turdell (SWE)
3 Leo Slemett (FRA)

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