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Word up to Matty Richard - Rip Strong Ragin Cajun

In the women's race, the twenty qualifiers laid it on the line. They skied it strong and hard. Just how hard was shown by Kelly Holland, who rode a powerful run and was scoring high, before she went for a last 25footer near the bottom. She caught in the soft snow and burst out her skis, blowing her qualification chances, but garnering more respect for just how far female freeskiing has come.

Martha Burley on her telemarks went big and tumbled too. Otherwise her descent was its usual strong, elegant riding, but the fall off the big huck cost her place in the super-final as well.

The six skiers who did qualify combined tough routes, with fluidity and control. Amelie Simon showed her trademark grace and power - beautiful turns, a technical route and a cute chute and drop to finish. Laura Ogden is skiing exceptionally at the moment. She is a full-on aggressive rider, but smart with it and her run, though perhaps not quite her best, still secured her third on the day.

However the top two were a step ahead today. Marte Lise Karlsen just charges on the slopes. Her leg strength and exceptional balance enabled her to ride the sketchy conditions as if she was on a bed of perfect powder. Her run was super smooth, but fast and aggressive as well. She stayed smart as well and as a result rode into a close second.

Top spot went to Jess McMillan. Her approach was in contrast to Marte Lise's. Jess chose the most direct route, an extremely technical descent through a no-fall zone. She took it steadily, but kept on the move, billy-goating brilliantly down the fall line and wowing both the spectators and the judges with her line and control. She took the lead.

Still with only 0.6 separating the top two and the top five within four points, it is still all to play for tomorrow as attention switches to the infamous Mont Gele and the Super Final.




The men's competition saw a full fifty IFSA World Tour riders set to tackle the Attelas face. Perhaps the most impressive thing was the way they went about it. Head Judge, Jim Jack, had mentioned at the rider's meeting the previous night that while he wasn't going to rule out any sections of the course, it would be up to the riders to take responsibility for themselves and also for the sport of freeskiing. And they did. They pushed the boundaries, while still remembering that there were boundaries there. To many of the spectators watching their routes seem plain crazy, but to the judges watching through their binoculars, it was clear that everyone was staying just the right side of insane.

As we keep mentioning the conditions were tough. Sketchy snow cover in places meant there was a bit of grass skiing going on through a couple of the most technical sections as previous riders had scraped the rest of the snow off. Noddy Gowans even threw in some genuine rock skiing, as he slid a good portion of a cliff on the actual stone. He held it together and road off with his skis gliding even better after an impromptu stone grind.

There were a couple of huge hucks. Jonas Delognes stomped an enormous cliff, 50_ foot at least. Urs Baumgarter hit one of similar size, but lost a ski on exit. However, air of the day went to Togrim Vole, who burned in to the top of a rock section and just launched the whole thing. 60 feet down he nailed a butter-soft landing and cranked it out to the finish.


But back to those who actually won through to the Superfinal on Wednesday on Mont Gele. It was a tough job for the judges, not least cos with the conditions as they were, many of the riders had wobbles, backslaps, unplanned hip checks and even falls as the snow grabbed or rocks snagged their skis. This obviously counted against their control score, but, given it was so common, the situation of the fall and the speed and skill of recovery all played a factor in deciding the overall effect of the mistake on the rider's total.

However, it just reiterates the risks these professional athletes expose themselves to and also just how important a sense of personal responsibility and strong protective gear is to rider safety. Still, as Warren Smith, Verbier Ride's organizer, made clear “today's competitive freeskiers have become smart riders. They push themselves to the limits, but they don't overstep them.” Luckily, Verbier Ride sponsor Dainese was providing free body protection gear to athletes who didn't already have their own.





This was clear today in the men's competition. Peak Performance rider John Larson was last man down, but still found a very cute new route through the top section. He stayed strong and smooth through the technical middle and then somehow found a new exit route out as well. His run took him through to the Superfinal and will make him a serious contender on Wednesday.

Freeski icon, Guerlain Chicherit (nursing a sore jaw from the previous day), rode a route that showed all his usual imagination and creativity, but was careful and controlled as well. He took himself into 4 th = on the day, but is only 1.2 points behind the leader. Joining him in 4 th was Aaron Estrada. Aaron went big up top, then went neat and quick through the most technical section of the slope and nailed a very challenging exit route.

In 3 rd was Craig Corbeij. His skiing was exceptionally strong and technically good. He kept it exceptionally fluid through the no-fall zone in the mid-section and rode a garly exit supper smoothly.

The top two were very hard to separate. Adrien Corier chose a new start route from start gate two off skiers left. His first move was a huge drop into a seriously exposed area of the mountain. He wobbled on landing, but held on to shoot out of his exit line across to a technical middle section. He took his time, but never stopped moving, billygoating brilliantly through an area that had left other riders side-stepping down. It was an amazing run and, if not for the little wobble in the no-fall area, would have scored even higher than his 32 points.




In the end though, it was Olivier Meynet who got it just right. He rode a challenging line, but also one that he could really let rip on. He burned up the slope linking super smooth, fluid turns with big hucks, finishing up with a very strong double drop near the bottom, before somehow skiing away from what looked like a heavy landing form his final air. As a run it had it all – a tough route, aggression, control, great technique, but above all awesome fluidity. His run just flowed down the mountain. If he rides like that in the Superfinal he'll be tough to beat.

So 19 men and 6 women have made it through to the Superfinal. Some will feel unlucky, some will feel they didn't do themselves justice, but in the end the Verbier Ride 2006 Superfinal on Wednesday will be showcasing the talents of 25 of the world's best freeskiers on the legendary Mont Gele face.

It's a feast of Big Mountain action presented by Peak Performance and the Verbier Ride for your (and their) enjoyment. If you can't be there in person, keep tuned to the Verbier Ride website to hear how it all turns out tomorrow.


Results Big Mountain FINAL 2006

POSITION
BIB No NAME SURNAME AVERAGE

1 33 Olivier Meynet 32.2
2 9 Adrien Corier 32
3 12 Craig Corbeij 31.6
4 13 Aaron Estrada 31
4 24 Guerlain Chicherit 31
6 40 Mathieu Richard 30.8
7 47 Cedric Pugin 30.4
8 5 Aurelien Ducroz 29.8
9 37 Justus Meyer 28.4
10 50 Jon Larson 28.2
11 45 Tom Dunbar 27.4
12 7 Julien Gaidet 26.6
13 6 Thomas Diet 26.4
14 27 Jon Mullens 26
15 39 Nick Greener 25.6
16 35 Reine Barkered 25.4
17 38 Victor Galuchot 25.2
18 8 Hamish Acland 25
19 1 Wille Lindberg 24

CUT OFF FOR THE BIG MOUNTAIN FINAL

20 49 Ryan Kindervater 22.4
21 3 Sam Smoothy 22
22 22 Jonas Delogne 21.8
23 17 Brendan McLean 21.2
24 19 Neal Valiton 20.8
25 42 Nick Southwell 20.6
26 10 Gerhard Stocker 20.4
27 26 Jean Mi Gouadain 20.2
28 48 Magnus Loo 20
29 44 Noddy Gowans 19.4
30 15 Romain Raisson 17.2
31 25 Tyson Bolduc 17.2
32 41 Jim Netzer 16.4
33 30 Phillip Ribis 16
34 34 Urs Baumgartner 15.8
35 29 Thibaud Duchosal 15.4
36 36 Per Jonsson 15
37 4 Ted Davenport 15
38 46 Togrim Vole 14.2
39 18 Kiffor Berg 13.4
40 28 Jurg Graf 12.8
41 43 Ross Janzen 12.4
42 23 Justin Modroo 11.2
43 32 Damien Chailloux 8.6

11 Stefan Hausl TDQ
20 Cory Zila TDQ
31 Jean Yves Michellod DNA

WOMEN
POSITION BIB No NAME SURNAME AVERAGE

1 71 Jess Mcmillan 29
2 68 Marte Lise Karlsen 28.4
3 64 Laura Ogden 26.2
4 78 Ameile Simond 25.8
5 67 Amy Holland 25.2
6 65 Katharina Mihaljevic 23.2

CUT OFF FOR THE BIG MOUNTAIN FINAL

7 77 Beanie Milne Home 20.8
8 72 Lena Stoffel 19.8
9 80 Carrie Jo Chernoff 18.6
10 76 Martha Burley 17.6
11 74 Rachel Burks 16.2
12 79 Maria Opelz 15.4
13 75 Erica Martling 15
14 66 Marie Pieronne 14.4
15 69 Jennifer Farde 14.4
16 61 Jana Lindqvist 13.6
62 Giulia Mongeo TDQ
63 Kelly Holland TDQ