This weekend the Freeride World Tour stopped off at the world renowned town of Chamonix, ready for another weekend of huge cliff drops and death defying skiing. Due to the conditions the event organiser had to take a trip though the Mt. Blanc tunnel over to the Italian side of the mountain in Courmayeur, though this didn't stop the Chamonix locals dominating.
The competition that had been due to take place on the Pentes de l'Hotel face in the Brevent ski area set up its new home of the north face of Mont Fortin. The new location offered fast & fluid lines, double drops and huge airs. Local skier Aurélien Ducroz and snowboarder Xavier de Le Rue have been dominant in the tour over the last couple years, with Ducroz winning the 2009 tour and de Le Rue on the back of three consecutive tour wins, and didn't disappoint.
Another French skier, Adrien Coirier, opened the day with some fast, committed skiing that netted him second place following two years of back injuries. Aurélien Ducroz took a different, fast, smooth line and stomped some huge airs resulting in the win. Swedish skier, Reine Barkered, followed a similar line to Coirier and took the final podium position. The women's event started using the same three gates as the men's, and though the hits weren't as big, the top women were throwing down some very smooth, technical lines. US skier Angel Collinson took the win and was followed onto the podium by two more Swedish riders with Marja Persson and Janette Harhin in second and third respectively.
The snowboarding was dominated by the afformentioned Xavier de Le Rue and the French-Swiss rider Anne-Flore Marxer. De Le Rue took what was arguably the best line of the day, using his smooth, incredibly fast style and no fear approach. The Chamonix resident finished his run with a double cliff drop to straight line that would impress even the tightest of judges. Anne-Flore came into the Competition as a wild card, and as one of Europe's leading freestyle snowboarders questions were asked to whether she could perform with the best freeriders. Though her line didn't include any huge drops, her styled-out airs and smooth line earned her a much deserved win.
The men's snowboard podium finished with an all French line-up. Xavier took the win, Jonathan Charlet took second and Aurélien Routens rounded off the dominance with third. The women's snowboard event finished an all European podium with Austrian, Ursula Wohlschlager and Swiss, Nathalie Zenklusen taking second and third place behind the Marxer.
Xavier de Le Rue's inspirational run:
Angel Collinson taking the win:
Written by Stephen Adam
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