The North Face Ski Challenge 2009 Presented by Gore-Tex in CHAMONIX
Chamonix, March 1rst, 2009
Chamonix Hosts The North Face® Ski Challenge Presented by Gore-Tex® & Breaks Record Number of Young Freeskiers Participants and Number of Qualified For Final in Val Thorens !
The North Face Ski Challenge presented by Gore-Tex was on the mountain slopes of the Grands Montets, in Argentière, over the Chamonix valley. And this week end , Europe?s premier contest for young freeskiers enjoyed a record crowd of 63 young freeskiers participating. Twenty one additional qualified boys and girls will compete in the final in to maybe a sponsoring contract and get help to become pro riders and change their ski lives !
The event was back in the famous valley of Chamonix and enjoyed in this region a popularity that sees French, Swiss, English and Belgian riders come to participate in the event. On the hills of the Grands Montets, the event had two wonderful and full of action days.
Plan Joran & Breakfast For All !
The Compagnie du Mont Blanc helped us prepare the park, Dynastar in its test center invited us for breakfast on the Plan Joran plateau. Early start, early inspection in the shadow of the world mountains of Chamonix and at around 10:30 the event started. The park in Chamonix is split in two separate parts and the jury decided to take one run in the upper section of the park, designed for less experienced riders and two runs in the lower part, with bigger jumps.
Amazing Spring-like Weather And Air, Air and More Air !
The shining sun left us with tan faces and the feeling that the best was yet to come after each rider coming down the park. Corkscrew 720s, 900s, 1080s, you could name it: it was on display in the action the participants threw during the competition. Judges Michel Beaudry and Quentin Mermet were quite impressed and sometimes, a bit scared « it seems to us that the kids often want to impress the judges with tricks they don?t completely master and control. We think they need to rethink their strategies !» And indeed we saw a crowd of skiers so eager to do well that their landings were often approximative, if not sketchy... The bruises were in the end very few, but we felt we had seen a lot of dare devil action and only a few riders with a real plan.
White Out in Freeride
The freeride was going to change that since the weather didn?t allow a good visibility on the steep, bumpy part of the ski area we had selected. « It hasn?t snowed for a week and since it?s winter vacation time this week, the crowd skies everywhere and it?s all tracked out « Romain Raisson said. Because of the pooor visibility, organizers hesitated to do a second run and the decision was finally made to run twice the same course but start a bit lower for the second run. Almots everyone seemed this time to have a plan and if some grades obtained during the freestyle were only confirmed, some were improved. And in the Kings? category, a newcomer Thimothée Picq qualified in first place and rejoiced: « I?m going to train during this coming month for the final. I could definitely use the gear should I win the contest...But also now, after this victory, I want to win again !»
Join Now !
The North Face Ski Challenge presented by Gore-Tex is now heading east to discover Jasna, Slovakia ( March 7-8). All qualified riders will then meet in Val Thorens, France on March 27-28 to determine who?ll win the ultimate prize: a sponsoring contract with The North Face, Dynastar and Lange and become a pro rider ! More info and applications online on www.thenorthface.com/skichallenge
About The Competition
The Ski Challenge idea came to life when J.P. Baralo, a former freeski team manager, realized that there was no European outlet to showcase the potential of young, undiscovered freeskiers. Baralo approached The North Face, and together they created a new, unique event in which unknown kids from across Europe could demonstrate their skills and have an opportunity to make a name for themselves. The North Face Ski Challenge Tour is open to all European residents, boys and girls, aged 12-18.
www.myspace.com/thenorthfaceskichallenge
Chamonix Hosts The North Face® Ski Challenge Presented by Gore-Tex® & Breaks Record Number of Young Freeskiers Participants and Number of Qualified For Final in Val Thorens !
The North Face Ski Challenge presented by Gore-Tex was on the mountain slopes of the Grands Montets, in Argentière, over the Chamonix valley. And this week end , Europe?s premier contest for young freeskiers enjoyed a record crowd of 63 young freeskiers participating. Twenty one additional qualified boys and girls will compete in the final in to maybe a sponsoring contract and get help to become pro riders and change their ski lives !
The event was back in the famous valley of Chamonix and enjoyed in this region a popularity that sees French, Swiss, English and Belgian riders come to participate in the event. On the hills of the Grands Montets, the event had two wonderful and full of action days.
Plan Joran & Breakfast For All !
The Compagnie du Mont Blanc helped us prepare the park, Dynastar in its test center invited us for breakfast on the Plan Joran plateau. Early start, early inspection in the shadow of the world mountains of Chamonix and at around 10:30 the event started. The park in Chamonix is split in two separate parts and the jury decided to take one run in the upper section of the park, designed for less experienced riders and two runs in the lower part, with bigger jumps.
Amazing Spring-like Weather And Air, Air and More Air !
The shining sun left us with tan faces and the feeling that the best was yet to come after each rider coming down the park. Corkscrew 720s, 900s, 1080s, you could name it: it was on display in the action the participants threw during the competition. Judges Michel Beaudry and Quentin Mermet were quite impressed and sometimes, a bit scared « it seems to us that the kids often want to impress the judges with tricks they don?t completely master and control. We think they need to rethink their strategies !» And indeed we saw a crowd of skiers so eager to do well that their landings were often approximative, if not sketchy... The bruises were in the end very few, but we felt we had seen a lot of dare devil action and only a few riders with a real plan.
White Out in Freeride
The freeride was going to change that since the weather didn?t allow a good visibility on the steep, bumpy part of the ski area we had selected. « It hasn?t snowed for a week and since it?s winter vacation time this week, the crowd skies everywhere and it?s all tracked out « Romain Raisson said. Because of the pooor visibility, organizers hesitated to do a second run and the decision was finally made to run twice the same course but start a bit lower for the second run. Almots everyone seemed this time to have a plan and if some grades obtained during the freestyle were only confirmed, some were improved. And in the Kings? category, a newcomer Thimothée Picq qualified in first place and rejoiced: « I?m going to train during this coming month for the final. I could definitely use the gear should I win the contest...But also now, after this victory, I want to win again !»
Join Now !
The North Face Ski Challenge presented by Gore-Tex is now heading east to discover Jasna, Slovakia ( March 7-8). All qualified riders will then meet in Val Thorens, France on March 27-28 to determine who?ll win the ultimate prize: a sponsoring contract with The North Face, Dynastar and Lange and become a pro rider ! More info and applications online on www.thenorthface.com/skichallenge
About The Competition
The Ski Challenge idea came to life when J.P. Baralo, a former freeski team manager, realized that there was no European outlet to showcase the potential of young, undiscovered freeskiers. Baralo approached The North Face, and together they created a new, unique event in which unknown kids from across Europe could demonstrate their skills and have an opportunity to make a name for themselves. The North Face Ski Challenge Tour is open to all European residents, boys and girls, aged 12-18.
www.myspace.com/thenorthfaceskichallenge
