Nissan Freeride de Chamonix Mont-Blanc (Courmayeur) results

French dominate first stage of the Freeride World Tour 2011 at the Nissan Freeride de Chamonix Mont-Blanc 2011 by Swatch

Image taken by D. Daher at the Nissan Freeride de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc 2011 by Swatch

The Nissan Freeride de Chamonix Mont-Blanc 2011 by Swatch went off in Courmayeur on the Italian side of Mont Blanc yesterday. A strong field of freeriders were surprised by the quality of both the snow and the number of features. As a result, the north face of Mont Fortin produced high-quality runs that were fast and fluid with loads of jumps and drops.

The world’s best freeriders kicked off the official Freeride World Tour in Courmayeur during a day that boasted an astonishingly high level of action. It was difficult to know what the conditions were going to be like until the riders dropped in – thankfully we hear they were really happy to find a face this good despite such poor conditions throughout the Alps. The 300-meter face was crowned by three different starting options and competitors described it as having loads of playful line choices, any of which could have produced the winning run.

In the end the day the competition was dominated by the French who took all three podium spots in men’s snowboarding and the top two spots in men’s ski.
 
For the skiers it was Aurélien Ducroz’s (FRA) fast, smooth line and big, cleanly stomped airs that enabled the Chamonix local to return to glory and put him in the lead to regain his 2009 Freeride World Champion title. Setting the tone of the day, Adrien Coirier (FRA) has returned to 100% after two years of back injuries and opened the day with fast, committed skiing. Coirier’s line also proved to be a successful line for 3rd place Reine Barkered (SWE). Although the women all started from the same starting gate their lines were varied with many ladies focusing on fluidity. However, it was the impressive combination of fast, smooth lines combined with a couple of cleanly stuck airs that distanced Angel Collinson (USA) from the rest of the pack.

In the Men’s Snowboard division, Freeride World Champion Xavier de Le Rue (FRA) threw down what many thought to be the best run of the day with a fast clean double drop to straight line at the end of his run. With this win, de Le Rue continues his dominance of the Freeride World Tour by extending his streak of consecutive FWT wins to four. In the women's category it was the wild cards who stepped to the plate when freestyler Anne-Flore Marxer (FRA/SUI), competing in her rookie season of the tour, proved that women snowboarders can rip world class faces with aggressive grace. Second place was also taken by wild card Ursula Wohlschlager (AUT) which puts a new face on the women’s snowboarding division.

Image taken by J. Bernard at the Nissan Freeride de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc 2011 by Swatch
 

Final Results

Ski Men

1. DUCROZ, AURELIEN  FRA
2. COIRIER, ADRIEN  FRA
3. BARKERED, REINE SWE
4. SUNNERHEIM, ERIK SWE
5. WINDSTEDT, HENRIK SWE
6. PETERSEN, KYE CAN
7. PREVOST, JÉRÉMY FRA  
8. LOPEZ, JULIEN FRA 
9. ANTHAMATTEN, SAMUEL SUI
10. DUTTON, TIM USA
11. HAUSL, STEFAN AUT
12. VOLE, TORGRIM NOR
13. SMOOTHY, SAM NZL
14. FAVRET, SAM FRA
15. HANNEMANN, SEBASTIAN GER
16. MICHAUD, SEB FRA
17. HOLMES, JT USA
18. PERMIN, RICHARD FRA
19. IMBERT, MATHIEU FRA
20. HAUNHOLDER, MATTHIAS AUT

DNF – HEITZ, JEREMIE SUI

Ski Women

1. COLLINSON, ANGEL USA
2. PERSSON, MARJA SWE
3. HARGIN, JANETTE SWE
4. KUZMA, JANINA NZL
5. WALKNER, EVA AUT
6. NIC WIDMESER, PIA GER
7. PAASO, JACLYN USA

Snowboard Men

1. DE LE RUE, XAVIER FRA
2. CHARLET, JONATHAN FRA
3. ROUTENS, AURELIEN FRA
4. ANNETTS, MATT USA
5. TOELDERER, MITCH AUT
6. ORLEY, FLO AUT
7. BULLET, RAPHAEL SUI
8. ZIPSER, MAX AUT
9. STENTIFORD, JAMES GBR
10. KHRYACHKOV, GENNADY RUS
11. CERNIK, MARTIN CZE
12. FINCH, ANDY USA

Snowboard Women

1. MARXER, ANNE-FLORE FRA/CH
2. WOHLSCHLAGER, URSULA AUT
3. ZENKLUSEN, NATHALIE SUI
4. KRISTOFERITSCH, LIZ AUT
5. AASEN, VIVIAN NOR
6. BOCK, ALINE GER
7. KUZMA, MARIA NZ