Pulling off a backcountry (freestyle) event during a pandemic AND a snow drought is pretty next level.
But that’s what Nendaz Freeride, Mont Gele Gear, and Tanner Hall managed to do this weekend.
The night before the comp, at the riders' meetings, both hopes and expectations were low.
A direct result of a face check that didn’t look positive, not just speculation.
The next morning we were greeted by clouds and a thin crust on the snow.
It was 10 am, well past ‘start time’ and things didn’t look great.
During the unplanned pre-comp coffee break, expectations hadn’t improved.
But eventually, it was drop or cancel, and thankfully, the decision was to drop.
The snowboard men dropped first and run one saw sevens.
Suddenly, it was on.
The landings were all better than expected and things spiraled out of control from there.
On the men’s side, things started crazy and built from there.
But at the end of the day, the winner was pretty unanimous.
But the day wasn’t really about who won or what tricks they threw.
There’s certainly a space in skiing for more of these events.
Hopefully, this weekend’s show can provide the impetus for that.
_
Ski Women:
1.
Elsa Sjostetd
Ski Men:
1.
Markus Eder
Full highlight edit coming soon
