Nendaz Freeride 9th Edition!
This Saturday saw the finals of the ninth Nendaz Freeride, best competition of the FWQ in Europe and the only one retransmitted live with the same means as the Freeride World Tour!
This year, despite the small amount of snow, the riders let themselves go and offered a grandiose spectacle. There were 54 at the departure point of these finals which began at 9:30 a.m., on the magnificent face of the Mont-Gond upon which the sun also invited itself for the day. An edition which took place under the best auspices where security was concerned, because no accident is to be deplored.
Category Snowboard Men
1. Johannes Schnitzer (GER) 83.33
2. Mickael Bimboes (FRA) 78.00
3. Joel Rouge (SUI) 74.33
The men snowboarders were the first this morning to throw themselves onto the face of the Mont-Gond, and thus profit from the untouched snow. Johannes Schnitzer (Germany) succeeded in exploiting the whole face, giving a show with several freestyle jumps. Thanks to a fluid and rapid line, he therefore takes the 1st place on the podium.
2nd, thanks to a fluid run and perfectly controlled jumps, Mickael Bimboes (France) also qualified himself in the ski category where he finished 4th.
In the 3rd place we find Joel Rouge, canton of Vaud, 2nd of the Freeride World Qualifier 2012 general classification, who played on the right of the face and delivered a beautiful rocky bar, with a technical style without the least hesitation.
Model of the 2015 poster, Mike Aeschbach, 8 times finalist at the Nendaz Freeride, threw himself for the last time into this competition today. He arrived at the 12th place, with a very original line on the left of the face, but which unfortunately did not pay.
Category Snowboard Women
1. Mikaela Hollsten (FIN) 75.33
2. Anna Orlova (RUS) 70.00
3. Tiphanie Perrotin( FRA) 58.00
The women snowboarders all threw themselves onto the right of the face where the snow remained powdery at the beginning of the afternoon, in order to guarantee runs of the best quality.
Mikaela Hollsten (Finland), who was classified first in the qualifications of Friday 13th March, takes the 1st place equally today with a very rapid run and 3 beautiful, well-posed jumps. She was followed by Anna Orlova (Russia), second due to her very beautiful jump. In the 3rd place, Tiphanie Perrotin (France), was remarkable by using an original and very technical line.
To note the riders, Nendaz Freeride was able to count on the international experience of the judges: the Slovak Monika Tatarkova, the Spaniard Raul Diez, and the Swiss, Head Judge, Florian Buhler.
The organizers are very happy with this 9th edition, which marks a turning-point in the competition, with a more consequent media budget, new sponsors and a team of volunteers always more active. From now on the 10th year promises to be exceptional! Nendaz Freeride will soon unveil the dates for 2016.