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  1. #126
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    Quote Originally Posted by muted View Post
    Why do most of you think the problems of the FWT are solve-able? The FWT isn't watchable for most people that don't ski (and do ski), does not attract enough sponsor money to solve some of the problems, and the event is hard to control due to limited venues and variable snow conditions. I don't think there is a magic solution out there. I think it's great to watch though.
    Agreed

  2. #127
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    Nov 2006
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    I talked to Max a couple of weeks ago and he (they) was pretty bummed that they lost that gig. Apparently losing it was a bit of a surprise. They did have a good handle on the actual athletes and could actually pronounce their names properly!

    Quote Originally Posted by gaijin View Post
    With the merging of the tours we lost the one announcer who brought everything this far and who knew the histories of the athletes more than anyone. I cannot believe Frankie is not on that mic. I don't know why, but if was FWT's decision, they sure fucked that one up.

  3. #128
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    Some fly-by pics from a few days ago of the venue in Haines from my old boss Nick T's FB. It's looking pretty sick and should be view-able from the highway/airport.






  4. #129
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    Um, fuck yeah. Now we're talking.

  5. #130
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    Quote Originally Posted by stalefish3169 View Post
    It's looking pretty sick and should be view-able from the highway/airport.
    Bring yer telescope!

    Really hope conditions line up for this event, the potential is incredible.
    Drive slow, homie.

  6. #131
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    So they moved the Fieberbrunn stop to Kappl again (same as last year, also venue for a 2star every year). Second rider Julien Lopez crashes after cliff, hikes back up to get lost ski, triggers pretty massive slab, goes for a ride, pulls airbag, he's fine but competition is cancelled for the day......
    Ich bitte dich nur, weck mich nicht.

  7. #132
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    Apr 2007
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    Like I said before. They seem to be plagued by poor decision making.
    powdork.com - new and improved, with 20% more dork.

  8. #133
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    yup.

    pics of slide here: http://www.skipass.com/news/115179-f...ien-lopez.html

    that could have turned out worse than it did...
    Ich bitte dich nur, weck mich nicht.

  9. #134
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    Holy shit! Have there been slides like that in a competition before? stay safe guys!
    Last edited by abraham; 02-03-2015 at 02:16 AM.

  10. #135
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    Jan 2006
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    I think Julien Lopez is onto something here. Like, airbag demonstrator.

    Scary shit.
    "Typically euro, french in particular, in my opinion. It's the same skiing or climbing there. They are completely unfazed by their own assholeness. Like it's normal." - srsosbso

  11. #136
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    It obviously sucks for everyone involved but if they handle this well and publicly talk about it, they could turn it into something positive. Too many people think freeride competitions are representative of what your average day of freeriding should be like, when the major part of your average day freeriding is figuring out what is safe to ski, not what is coolest to ski (at least in the Alps and particularly at the moment, when there seems to be a new avalanche fatality every few days. 42 deaths so far this season in the Alps).

    Quote Originally Posted by abraham View Post
    Holy shit! Have there been slides like that in a competition before? stay safe guys!
    In 2010 3 people got caught (1 buried with minor injuries) in a large slide which occurred right after the start of a 50 people chinese downhill type event in Ischgl, AT.

    Other than that I've seen a few smaller pockets rip out in FWQs.
    Ich bitte dich nur, weck mich nicht.

  12. #137
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    Quote Originally Posted by stalefish3169 View Post
    Some fly-by pics from a few days ago of the venue in Haines from my old boss Nick T's FB. It's looking pretty sick and should be view-able from the highway/airport.





    Like...

  13. #138
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    Dec 2006
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    Quote Originally Posted by klar View Post
    42 deaths so far this season in the Alps.
    Jesus. That's a big number. We're sitting at 4 in the US.

  14. #139
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    In 2010 the Tram Face at Squaw ripped out just prior to the start as a camera man stepped out onto the course.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd18VXQj95k
    powdork.com - new and improved, with 20% more dork.

  15. #140
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    Jan 2006
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    Glad to hear Julien is OK.

    Was thinking some video would be floating around already.

    Everyone was stoked to get a comp in with great snow... bummer that the avi danger is what it is right now.
    www.dpsskis.com
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    formerly an ambassador for a few others, but the ski industry is... interesting.
    Fukt: a very small amount of snow.

  16. #141
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    Quote Originally Posted by adrenalated View Post
    Jesus. That's a big number. We're sitting at 4 in the US.
    Well, Europe has approximately 10 times more skiers and 10 times more/scarier snowpack right now so that fits. apart from such factors the numbers are indeed high this season because of our fucked up snowpack.
    It's a war of the mind and we're armed to the teeth.

  17. #142
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    Quote Originally Posted by subtle plague View Post
    Well, Europe has approximately 10 times more skiers and 10 times more/scarier snowpack right now so that fits. apart from such factors the numbers are indeed high this season because of our fucked up snowpack.
    Is "10 times more skiers" an estimate by you or is there actual data on that? (I would generally agree with the estimate, just wondering if it's 10 or more like 20 times more when averaged over the alps and all of NA)

    powdork's squaw video is impressive. I bet some people didn't sleep so well that night. The reason for moving the fieberbrunn stop last year was the entire contest venue sliding during control work.
    Ich bitte dich nur, weck mich nicht.

  18. #143
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    Nov 2010
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    There was also a huge slide on Baldy at Snowbird last year right before the FWT comp was to be held.

  19. #144
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    Yep, I remember the two before opening the venue for competition. I meant camera rolling, spectators and all. I suppose either way it's still scary

  20. #145
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    ^ Way back in 2008 Kaj Zackrisson / Cody Townsend had a lucky escape 2 days before the Verbier FWT xtreme when Bec De Rosses avalanched above them on course inspection.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLQb9zMURMQ

  21. #146
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    Quote Originally Posted by adrenalated View Post
    Jesus. That's a big number. We're sitting at 4 in the US.
    by my alpcount it is 56 deaths (edit: including the two in baden-württemberg). not sure on skier visit numbers alps vs. na. are the euro numbers published somewhere? perhaps there over 20 million skier visits in the alps, though that does seem high.

  22. #147
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    ^^ yeah quite possible. the 42 I read somewhere probably didn't include last weekend. Visit numbers alone probably wouldn't do it, would need people skiing "out of bounds" to make a comparison I guess.
    Ich bitte dich nur, weck mich nicht.

  23. #148
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    Quote Originally Posted by SkiersLeft View Post
    by my count it is 56 deaths. not sure on skier visit numbers alps vs. na. are the euro numbers published somewhere? perhaps there over 20 million skier visits in the alps, though that does seem high.
    I think it would be hard to compare skier visit numbers in the Alps vs. NA as they relate to avy fatalities, since the concept of ski resorts is very different between the two. Really, we'd need to compare the number of NA skiers that ski in the backcountry and sidecountry, vs the number of off-piste skiers in Europe. Still curious to know overall skier numbers, I would not have thought it'd be 10X higher but I don't know shit about Europe.
    How many fatalities are there in Europe on average?
    (Taking this thread on a real tangent...)

  24. #149
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    Video from Julien Lopezs slide during FWT event at Kappl now online via facebook.
    Scary....

    https://www.facebook.com/FreerideWorldTour?fref=nf

  25. #150
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    Dec 2004
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    Oberstdorf
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    based on what i see on a daily basis and have seen, a rather large and alarming amount of people ski "off-piste", even if it is only between pistes, or next to the piste with reckless abandon. of course the majority do not perish. that number includes both touring and lift accessed as per the wepowder website (which has a excel type chart with newspaper quotes that one can scroll through), perhaps those categories should be separated.... the numbers here for "backcountry/slackcountry" appear to be way higher than in na at first glance.

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