By Hywel Williams, Special to the Review
While big snow flakes fell and Gnorm’s body vanished, athletes from across the globe gathered at Revelstoke Mountain Resort for the IFSA 4 Star Freeride World Qualifier last week. The competition saw them compete over two days on Separate Reality and North Bowl, in the pursuit of joining the prestigious Freeride World Tour.
Day one of competition saw a classic Revelstoke issue: good snow, but limited visibility. With no weather window in sight, the day’s competition was postponed midday.
A clearer but by no means perfect start to day two allowed competition to get underway on Separate Reality. The male ski category described by competitor Keegan Morrone to be “packed with heavy hitters” dropped first. The crowds began to gather, the tunes were pumping and the stoke built with every second of air time with an extra boost if it was spent upside down.
The ladies exited the warming hut, headed for the start gate as the sky thickened and snow began to fall but nothing would stop them putting on a show of their own with some fast controlled skiing.
The male snowboarders powered through a now tracked venue. Some riders chose the full send, go big or go home approach, others with more calculated runs and a fair showing of the the most stylish grab of them all, the method.
At the end of day the field was cut for day two. Unfortunately due to weather and daylight the female snowboards would be diving in at the deep end and strapping in for a one-run competition in North Bowl the following day.
Finals day, and the flat light returned as competitors prepared for North Bowl, a venue that favours a more traditional hard charging big mountain line.
“Some of the more experienced riders chose to place pine needles in the landings of their airs to add contrast to what seemed to be an ocean of white,” said Morrone.
This is serious terrain and mistakes could be costly.
The day started off with the women snowboarders dropping in and looking to show everyone what they missed out on on day one. Canadian Nicole Kelly showed us the best of it, raking up a 29.40 to top a podium separated by just 0.80.
Next came the male snowboarders and the chance for Revelstoke-based ripper Kai White to take yet another win here, but after scraping through the cut on day one not even a couple of decent cliff drops and silky hand drags giving him the second highest score of the day could do the trick. The category ended with Ben Smith of the USA taking the win with a combined score of 62.57.
The ski women take to the air, making use of the plethora of cliffs at their disposal at the top of the venue, whilst we saw stylish grabs and even a big 360 attempt on natural hits down low. Elsa Smith put on a fine show to take the top spot on both days and overall.
The male ski category truly became a spectacle, full commitment to their lines, they were there for the win. The big double cliff drop in Sweet Spot being the choice line, the second of which seemed to become the proving ground for huge floaty backflips. Canadian Tom Peiffer sneaked ahead of two Americans with a winning score of 73.33 to round out the competition.
