Freeride World Tour ’24 Kicking Horse Stop Two Recap

Featured Picture: Dom Daher | Skier: Astrid Cheylus

Oooh, Canada! The land of Tim Hortons, Geddy Lee and dreamy deep snow. What higher place on Earth is there? Particularly, is there wherever higher than Kicking Horse, British Columbia, the place we witnessed cease two of the 2024 Freeride World Tour (FWT)? The competitors had lots of strain driving on it, as we have already got seen two cancellations and one relocation for comps this season. However Kicking Horse offered good snow and a lineup of riders that had extra juice than a toddler after a Purple Bull tasting.

The standard competitors face at Kicking Horse, the Ozone Venue, was out of fee at this time. The official description of the Ozone sounded lower than optimum, because the press launch relating to the venue learn, “The highest part was high quality, however the center part had very poor snow circumstances with inconsistent high quality, starting from a thick crust to respectable, after which to sugary snow over 50 cm deep, immediately on prime of rocks. The underside was suffering from ice cookies the scale of watermelons.” Yucko. FWT organizers made the decision to maneuver the scene to a zone referred to as T1 South, a lovely part that, whereas suffering from timber, has loads of cliffs, gaps and straight traces. We had been even handled to feedback within the sales space from FWT veteran and Canada’s personal Tom Peiffer, making this cease a real must-watch. We noticed backflips, tomahawks, big drops, loads of 3s to go round (shoutout to Marcus Goguen for racking ’em up) and a plethora of different motion, so let’s dive in.

Within the Girls’s Ski Area, it was a day for the younger weapons. The snowpack was variable all through the face, which caught a few riders off guard. Punchy landings and thick turns had been considerable, nevertheless it didn’t deter all! Three out of the highest 5 finishers had been of their first or second yr on the tour, exhibiting how a lot expertise is pouring into the sphere these days. In third place was the veteran Hedvig Wessel. She began off with a huge cliff on the very begin of her run, barely clearing the rocks within the touchdown. It was an extremely spectacular begin, however she blazed by means of the remainder of the run, sadly showing to overlook a couple of options she was trying to hit. She was nonetheless one in every of solely three riders within the subject who had been awarded a rating above 80. Second place belonged to the Purple Bull rookie Manon Loschi. The flying Frenchie put collectively a improbable run, full with a technical air, an enormous 3 and a backflip off the wind lip close to the bottom. If it wasn’t for the backslap off the three, she might effectively have ended up in first. Nonetheless, the cease spot belonged to Manon’s good good friend and driving companion, Astrid Cheylus. Additionally a rookie on the Tour, Cheylus gained the judges’ hearts by scoring big within the Line choice class in addition to Air & Model. She took on a number of giant drops and topped off the technical run with a backflip on the finish. Vive la France!

“I don’t know if that is actual or a dream; I’m so stoked. The circumstances had been higher than I believed, and it wasn’t the road I had deliberate, however the little lip on the finish was calling me. It’s my first time in Kicking Horse and I prefer it. I look ahead to Georgia and would possibly attempt one thing larger and can attempt to get pleasure from it much more.”

– Astrid Cheylus, 2024 Kicking Horse Golden BC Professional winner

Within the Males’s Ski Area, we noticed a well-recognized face on prime of the throne. It was a little bit of a shake-up beneath that, nonetheless, because it was a scattered mixture of veterans and rookies all through. The difficult circumstances rang true as we noticed 5 riders not have the ability to end their runs, together with defending champion Maxime Chabloz and FWT wildcard rider AND Whistler legend Stan Rey, who logged the tomahawk of the yr. Third place belonged to the Canadian Marcus Goguen, who threw down a wildly entertaining run. The 19-year-old put down three left 3s (attempt saying that 5 instances quick) within the first 15 seconds of his line. He then diverged into un-skied territory and located an enormous cliff journey for the diving. It was a lovely exhibiting of freeride at its finest. Simply sneaking into second place by a degree and a half was Oscar Mandin. He had a line crammed with velocity and air time, full with an enormous backflip in the course of the face and a directional pin out the underside. With a couple of exact actions, he earned his spot on the rostrum. This was the third medal for France on the day within the ski fields! The gold belonged to none aside from Max Hitzig. The German powerhouse, defending champion from the earlier Verbier cease, clinched a 94.00! It was a blink-and-you-‘ll-miss-it line, reminding everybody of the entertaining fashion that Hitzig at all times brings. He had a couple of stunning airs, nevertheless it was the enormous proper 3 to bolts that despatched the group roaring.

“I’m tremendous excited and stoked with the win. Circumstances had been higher than anticipated, however I attempted to ski a protected line, so I used to be blissful to complete. Touring with my buddy Vale [Valentin Rainer] is a lot enjoyable, and competing right here has been superb. Wanting ahead to Georgia. They’ve had lots of snow, and circumstances look nice, so I’ll attempt to keep within the prime spot.”

– Max Hitzig, 2024 Kicking Horse Golden BC Professional winner

Beneath, you’ll discover the rostrum outcomes, profitable runs and a full picture gallery of the occasion.

Click on right here to observe the complete protection of Kicking Horse cease two on the official FWT web site.

The subsequent FWT showdown is at the moment lined up for Georgia, marking the extremely anticipated inaugural cease within the nation. The comp has a climate window of March 1-6.