Great success for the SCOTT team at 1st FWT stop in Andorra
25 January 2016
The 2016 edition is the second time the SWATCH FREERIDE WORLD TOUR makes its appearance in Vallnord-Arcalís. 61 male and female professional riders across two disciplines have made the trip to Andorra for the first out of five stops on this world championship tour.
Riders and spectators alike were treated to blue skies and some high clouds with excellent riding conditions in the Andorran resort. After a relatively dry start, a recent storm dumped enough snow on the fantastically featured peaks of this ski resort that is quickly becoming the most important freeride destination in the Pyrenees Mountains.
Riders made their way to Basser Negre zone after a short climb from the Basera chairlift. The terraced and feature-dense Coste Negre face offered riders a combination of tight couloirs along with clean run-outs and a multitude of options for taking big air. From its summit at 2680m, the competition face measures nearly 400m vertical meters at 40° allowing competitors ample opportunity to get creative as they make their way towards the finish line.
After the building anticipation of the summer months, riders were finally able throw down their best lines for the first time this season. While shady aspects harbored excellent riding conditions, the sun-kissed aspects offered a bit more of a challenge for riders as conditions were less consistent on these faces.
This season SCOTT’s team consists of 7 riders. In the women ski category we have 3 strong riders such as Jackie Paaso (US), Lorraine Huber (AUT) and Arianna Tricomi (ITA). Our SCOTT rider Jackie Paaso (USA) always sends it big and today was no exception. With some huge airs up high on the venue and strong skiing all the way to the finish, Paaso was able to once again emerge victorious in today’s event.
Lorraine Huber skied fast and strong, showing her great skills dropping the biggest cliffs in the girls ski category. However sadly during her second drop she was a bit short and got hooked up on some rocks and had a tumble down the mountain.
Our rookie for this year, Arianna Tricomi skied a fun and creative line showing how much she loves this sport by throwing down some awesome tricks with good control over some big drops on her way down the fall line. Her strong performance gave her a wonderful 4th place, just missing the podium with a few points after Swedish Evelina Nilsson.
For the men ski category, we have again this season some amazing skiers on the team such as Jérémie Heitz (SUI), Stefan Häusl (AUT), Juan Bergada (ARG) and Loïc Collomb-Patton (FRA). The level of competition was incredibly high for the first stop as riders were able to combine creative freestyle tricks with full-throttle runs.
Jérémie Heitz (SUI) had a screaming fast run, with the straightest fall line run of the competition. Where other riders had technical difficulties, Jérémie Heitz feared nothing and showed all of us what skills this young Swiss rider has. After a long time on the hot seat, Jérémie had to see himself beaten when the Swedish rookie Kristoffer Turdell hammered an incredibly run taking the top spot.
After the incredible performances by these top freeriders, their fate will be determined during the upcoming four stops as they make their way to the finals in Verbier, Switzerland. Don’t miss out on the next stop on February 6, 2016 in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, France, where our riders will prove themselves at the fabled freeride Mecca.
