The North Face Ski Challenge is overThe weather improved slightly after the snow storm and Val Thorens woke up under a thick layer of snow on Sunday.
Riders met in their Lounge for a briefing at 8am only to hear that they would have to wait until the Service des Pistes had finished the avalanche control and the park would be groomed from the fresh snow.
Not long after the briefing the skies cleared and the riders made their way to the Val Thorens snow park. The conditions, although acceptable were quite difficult because the riders didn’t always have the necessary speed to clear some of the landings. After a jam session and training, participants were able to start the first run early in the afternoon. Although it seemed hard or even impossible for positions to change after the freeride competition, the day was full of surprises and the end results totally changed.
In the Kids category, Finnish rider Lauri Kivari won the contest after having doubled his score from the freeride day. Måns Bertz Wågström (SWE) placed second and another Finn - Kim Sallinen- completed the podium.
The Queens saw the overall victory of Emma Dahlström (SWE) and no-one was really surprised by her win as her skills are outstanding freestyle. She regretted that she had skied poorly in the freeride part of the competition but was extremely happy with her success. “It didn’t go well for me in the freeride and I thought that I had lost it, but here I am, so happy to take home the title !!”
The Teens was the highest scoring category in Freestyle for the event finals and Till Matti from Switzerland won the contest with an impressive 65.4 overall. He’s the first winner in The North Face Ski Challenge by GORE-TEX to come from this country and came accompanied by his father who is also his biggest fan! Second was Otto Venäläinen (FIN) who was third last year and Lucas Mangold (GER) completed the Teens podium.
High interest was shown in the new Emperors category present for the first time in the history of The North Face Ski Challenge. If Raphaël Vouillamoz seemed to have a strong grip on the category, he scored a disappointing 9 after a fall and slipped off the podium. Markus Brandauer (Austria) won after a solid freestyle run in the Val Thorens park course, exactly matching his score from the freeride day. Second was Chamonix 2009 winner Timothée Picq (FRA) and third was ex-judge for the 2009 edition and multi participant Rembert Notten (BEL) who was sad that his involvement in the event was coming to and end. He said “I feel sad that will be too old to participate next year. I’ll have to find a way to keep on coming, maybe join the organising team if possible.”
The crowd waited with baited breath for the announcement of who had won The North Face® Ski Challenge presented by Gore-tex® 2010, the skier whose ski-ing career would probably change forever. The judges enjoyed a lively discussion whilst coming to the decision on who would be the winner.
Simone Canal (ITA) and Niklas Granlund (SWE) who had dominated the freeride competition were both unlucky as neither managed to land clean runs which meant that they could no longer win the event. They were replaced by two new possible winners both from Sweden: Mårten Grape (who had won The North Face Ski Challenge qualifying event last year) and Lukas Stål Madison, originally from Stockholm but now studies in Kiruna, in the very north of Sweden.
The Judges debated for a long time and decided to give an extra point to Lukas making him the second Swede after Tom Oliver Hedvall to win the overall King’s title of The North Face® Ski Challenge. He immediately called his parents and surprised them with the good news. Amazed, still in shock by his unexpected victory, he could hardly find the words and they came more like questions: “So you will contact me next week and what’s going to happen now? A photo shoot with The North Face and Atomic?! New gear?! Clothes, skis, boots and what then? Travel budget also??!!! Ski with pro riders from both pro teams?!!!”
The North Face® Ski Challenge presented by GORE-TEX® comes to an end with one skier’s life changed, new perspectives for the best skiers in Europe and the possibility for many to take their ski careers to the next level both in freeride and freestyle.
It will return next season for its fifth edition and will tour Europe, once again searching for new talent and helping them grow and fulfill their potential!
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Posted by Online Editor - Sun, 04/04/2010 - 5:14pm
The weather improved slightly after the snow storm and Val Thorens woke up under a thick layer of snow on Sunday.
Riders met in their Lounge for a briefing at 8am only to hear that they would have to wait until the Service des Pistes had finished the avalanche control and the park would be groomed from the fresh snow.
Not long after the briefing the skies cleared and the riders made their way to the Val Thorens snow park. The conditions, although acceptable were quite difficult because the riders didn’t always have the necessary speed to clear some of the landings. After a jam session and training, participants were able to start the first run early in the afternoon. Although it seemed hard or even impossible for positions to change after the freeride competition, the day was full of surprises and the end results totally changed.
In the Kids category, Finnish rider Lauri Kivari won the contest after having doubled his score from the freeride day. Måns Bertz Wågström (SWE) placed second and another Finn - Kim Sallinen- completed the podium.
The Queens saw the overall victory of Emma Dahlström (SWE) and no-one was really surprised by her win as her skills are outstanding freestyle. She regretted that she had skied poorly in the freeride part of the competition but was extremely happy with her success. “It didn’t go well for me in the freeride and I thought that I had lost it, but here I am, so happy to take home the title !!”
The Teens was the highest scoring category in Freestyle for the event finals and Till Matti from Switzerland won the contest with an impressive 65.4 overall. He’s the first winner in The North Face Ski Challenge by GORE-TEX to come from this country and came accompanied by his father who is also his biggest fan! Second was Otto Venäläinen (FIN) who was third last year and Lucas Mangold (GER) completed the Teens podium.
High interest was shown in the new Emperors category present for the first time in the history of The North Face Ski Challenge. If Raphaël Vouillamoz seemed to have a strong grip on the category, he scored a disappointing 9 after a fall and slipped off the podium. Markus Brandauer (Austria) won after a solid freestyle run in the Val Thorens park course, exactly matching his score from the freeride day. Second was Chamonix 2009 winner Timothée Picq (FRA) and third was ex-judge for the 2009 edition and multi participant Rembert Notten (BEL) who was sad that his involvement in the event was coming to and end. He said “I feel sad that will be too old to participate next year. I’ll have to find a way to keep on coming, maybe join the organising team if possible.”
The crowd waited with baited breath for the announcement of who had won The North Face® Ski Challenge presented by Gore-tex® 2010, the skier whose ski-ing career would probably change forever. The judges enjoyed a lively discussion whilst coming to the decision on who would be the winner.
Simone Canal (ITA) and Niklas Granlund (SWE) who had dominated the freeride competition were both unlucky as neither managed to land clean runs which meant that they could no longer win the event. They were replaced by two new possible winners both from Sweden: Mårten Grape (who had won The North Face Ski Challenge qualifying event last year) and Lukas Stål Madison, originally from Stockholm but now studies in Kiruna, in the very north of Sweden.
The Judges debated for a long time and decided to give an extra point to Lukas making him the second Swede after Tom Oliver Hedvall to win the overall King’s title of The North Face® Ski Challenge. He immediately called his parents and surprised them with the good news. Amazed, still in shock by his unexpected victory, he could hardly find the words and they came more like questions: “So you will contact me next week and what’s going to happen now? A photo shoot with The North Face and Atomic?! New gear?! Clothes, skis, boots and what then? Travel budget also??!!! Ski with pro riders from both pro teams?!!!”
The North Face® Ski Challenge presented by GORE-TEX® comes to an end with one skier’s life changed, new perspectives for the best skiers in Europe and the possibility for many to take their ski careers to the next level both in freeride and freestyle.
It will return next season for its fifth edition and will tour Europe, once again searching for new talent and helping them grow and fulfill their potential!