Janina Kuzma sixth back to back title in Big Mountain at the Voelkl NZ Freeski OpenThe 2010 Völkl NZ Freeski Open wrapped up in spectacular style last Thursday culminating with The North Face Big Mountain competition.
Marker Völkl rider Janina Kuzma managed an astonishing sixth consecutive victory in the women’s, while her teammate Fraser McDougall took the third spot on the podium in the men’s.
Initially scheduled for Monday organisers had to push the event back to today due to unfavourable weather conditions. Treble Cone was the setting for this years Big Mountain competition at the Völkl NZ Freeski Open, and the Motatapu Chutes, some of the most testing skiing in the area, provided the athletes with great opportunities to show off their skills.
As a three star qualifying event for the Freeride World Tour and as the biggest event of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, this competition attracts some of the world’s best riders, and this year was no exception.
The level of riding had spectators scrambling to pick their jaws up off the floor, and it was a great showcase of the unbelievable progression in the Big Mountain discipline.
The biggest news of the day was Janina Kuzma’s 5th successful defence of her title as the New Zealand Freeski Open Big Mountain champion. There was no doubt she had her work cut out this time around with a highly competitive field, including Olympian skiercross athlete, Mitchey Greig vying for the title as well. In the end though the Marker Völkl rider held her nerve.
Skiing strongly from top to bottom in her typically aggressive style, Janina linked two big drops together and seemed to not even notice the avalanche debris at the bottom of the face as she flew over it to the finish.
Her winning score of 8.65 was enough to separate her from the rest of the field, with Mitchey Greig and Lorraine Huber rounding off the podium, and this performance once again justified her starting slot in the main events of the upcoming Freeride World Tour.
Janina was happy with her performance. “It was a great day...all in all it couldn’t have been better. I’m stoked to hold my title and be six time champion.” With a second place in the halfpipe this has been a great event for Janina, and she continues to prove herself as one of the most talented freeskiers in the world.
Meanwhile in the men’s event her teammate, Fraser McDougall continued his meteoric rise as a freeski star with a third place finish. Fraser narrowly lost out to fellow Kiwi, Alex Lynden and American, B Devine with less than a point separating the top three.
The podium was still a great present one day after his 20th birthday. The North Face Big Mountain competition concluded the 2010 Völkl NZ Freeski Open and there was unanimous agreement that this was a fitting finale to what has been another spectacular edition of the Southern Hemishpere’s premium freeski event.
Posted by Online Editor - Tue, 24/08/2010 - 3:38pm
The 2010 Völkl NZ Freeski Open wrapped up in spectacular style last Thursday culminating with The North Face Big Mountain competition.
Marker Völkl rider Janina Kuzma managed an astonishing sixth consecutive victory in the women’s, while her teammate Fraser McDougall took the third spot on the podium in the men’s.
Initially scheduled for Monday organisers had to push the event back to today due to unfavourable weather conditions. Treble Cone was the setting for this years Big Mountain competition at the Völkl NZ Freeski Open, and the Motatapu Chutes, some of the most testing skiing in the area, provided the athletes with great opportunities to show off their skills.
As a three star qualifying event for the Freeride World Tour and as the biggest event of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, this competition attracts some of the world’s best riders, and this year was no exception.
The level of riding had spectators scrambling to pick their jaws up off the floor, and it was a great showcase of the unbelievable progression in the Big Mountain discipline.
The biggest news of the day was Janina Kuzma’s 5th successful defence of her title as the New Zealand Freeski Open Big Mountain champion. There was no doubt she had her work cut out this time around with a highly competitive field, including Olympian skiercross athlete, Mitchey Greig vying for the title as well. In the end though the Marker Völkl rider held her nerve.
Skiing strongly from top to bottom in her typically aggressive style, Janina linked two big drops together and seemed to not even notice the avalanche debris at the bottom of the face as she flew over it to the finish.
Her winning score of 8.65 was enough to separate her from the rest of the field, with Mitchey Greig and Lorraine Huber rounding off the podium, and this performance once again justified her starting slot in the main events of the upcoming Freeride World Tour.
Janina was happy with her performance. “It was a great day...all in all it couldn’t have been better. I’m stoked to hold my title and be six time champion.” With a second place in the halfpipe this has been a great event for Janina, and she continues to prove herself as one of the most talented freeskiers in the world.
Meanwhile in the men’s event her teammate, Fraser McDougall continued his meteoric rise as a freeski star with a third place finish. Fraser narrowly lost out to fellow Kiwi, Alex Lynden and American, B Devine with less than a point separating the top three.
The podium was still a great present one day after his 20th birthday. The North Face Big Mountain competition concluded the 2010 Völkl NZ Freeski Open and there was unanimous agreement that this was a fitting finale to what has been another spectacular edition of the Southern Hemishpere’s premium freeski event.