With the south side of Mont Blanc as the perfect backdrop, a bluebird day with fresh powder greeted the strong line up of 33 skiers and 15 snowboarders at the men’s only competition.

The athletes enjoyed the great conditions and showed their top skills on the 600-metre north face of Tête d’Arp. Excitement filled the air as no one had ridden the face in competition before.

Riders described the top section as steep, 45 degrees big mountain style, and the
lower part giving various options for more playful riding and multiple airs. Any style of riding could take victory at this interesting venue.

The men’s snowboard competition kicked off the day with Chamonix, France local Jonathan Charlet taking the win with a score of 90.33. Charlet had a fluid run starting with two nice features at the top and concluding with a gigantic air at the bottom of the venue. He added a final element of style to the end of his run with a 360 rotation.

“I am very happy with my run. I felt a lot of pressure this morning competing at home with all my friends and family coming to see me. I competed here three years ago and rode a similar line. I stomped my airs and felt my run was fluid. Even more importantly, I had a lot of run riding,” said Charlet at the bottom of his run.

Following Charlet on the snowboard podium, Ralph Backstrom from Squaw Valley, USA, had a very solid run creatively linking a series of features together. Backstrom earned a score of 88.00 and is currently leading the men’s snowboard division. Rounding out the men’s podium with a score of 76.33 from Mount Baker, USA, Sammy Luebke impressed the judges with his speed as he jetted down the looker’s right side of the competition venue.

The top 3 Mens runs went to:

1. Routens Aurélien FRA
2. Rodosky John USA
3. Badoux Emilien SUI

Laura Dewey had a string of bad travel luck upon arriving in Chamonix less than 24-hours before the competition due to a delayed flight. Nonetheless, she managed to take the women’s snowboard title even though she was riding on borrowed gear due to lost luggage. Dewey had a very solid and clean run, which linked many features together throughout the venue. Her run earned a winning score of 70.00.

“It is unbelievably awesome to have won today’s competition and I am so happy to be here in Chamonix. Although I have only been here a short while I am having such a fantastic time here and look forward to enjoying these prolific mountains,” commented Laura Dewey upon completing her run.

Margot Rozies of Pyrenees, France scored 69.00 for a second place finish. And finally, Aline Bock from Germany, executed a smooth run which was rewarded with a 57.33 score for the third place finish.

“This has been a fantastic day in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc with progressive riding down the north face of Aiguille Pourrie,” said Freeride World Tour General Manager Nicolas Hale-Woods. “The weather was perfect and we have seen amazing riding today both with the pros and also with the juniors who competed on another venue at the same time for the first stop of the Freeride Juniors by Dakine. Freeriding was at its best today and Chamonix-Mont-Blanc demonstrated why it is the Mecca of the sport.”

The top 3 women were:

Snowboard Women

1. Laura Dewey - USA

2. Margot Rozies - FRA

3. Aline Bock - GER