FWT 17 Freeride World Tour spoilers within

[klar]

Big respect to the snowboard women. Two nice technical lines in the top spots and I love, love, love that Marxer and Herbert just went for it once they messed up. 360 from Marxer and awesome backflip attempt from Herbert.

[GoldMember]

Great video replay linked below. You can use the tab system at the bottom to get to anyone's specific run. Some awesome skiing. Barkered's escape from being flushed was impressive. Too bad for Tabke, not landing the back and also for my man, Logan Pehota. Rough day for him.

http://www.freerideworldtour.com/eve...ka-2017/replay

[bluesbrother49]

Hazel was robbed! At least 2nd...

[Tye 1on]

Hazel was robbed! At least 2nd...

judging is always a judgement call...

[AlexC]

Conditions looked incredible but does anyone else find that venue was kind of boring? It's Alaska - surely they could find something better.

[kootenayskier]

Most impressed by LCP nailing it in flat light and no tracks for definition, and solid charging by Barkered. Turdell appeared to be on a winner.

[skibum93]

Conditions looked incredible but does anyone else find that venue was kind of boring? It's Alaska - surely they could find something better.

Several of the comp runs were better than TGR ak footage

[TahoeJ]

Several of the comp runs were better than TGR ak footage

I'm going to have to disagree. That segment last year with Ian Mac and crew earning their turns on that AK face was pretty ridiculous.

I do however think the FWT could really benefit from some higher quality cameras. Granted, the fog wasn't helping in this case but still...

[Z]

Conditions looked incredible but does anyone else find that venue was kind of boring? It's Alaska - surely they could find something better.

Top part is legit - multiple rollovers and 45+ degrees making it hard to see anything. Lower part obviously is mellow.

Good show - glad it went off smoothly.

[TahoeJ]

Check out LCP's winning run POV. Pretty crazy...

https://www.facebook.com/FreerideWor...4631586995958/

[pfluffenmeister]

^^^ Tasty.

[Angle Parking]

The previously discussed Fieberbrunn carnage;

http://www.powder.com/stories/opinio...vbJgq8w4HxR.97

As for Alaska, very entertaining stuff. Easily lived up to the hype as far as I am concerned.

[LiveLarger]

Check out LCP's winning run POV. Pretty crazy...

https://www.facebook.com/FreerideWor...4631586995958/

Thanks,

He is sending in a great way, and in total controll. Seriously, I think he is skiing better than a whole lot of the AK film segments I have seen. Not trying to discredit anyone. It's more of a statement of how good this skiing is.

[TahoeJ]

Thanks,

He is sending in a great way, and in total controll. Seriously, I think he is skiing better than a whole lot of the AK film segments I have seen. Not trying to discredit anyone. It's more of a statement of how good this skiing is.

Well, I agree that LCP's run was as good or better than those AK film segments... just not that several of them were better than anything TGR put out.

[kootenayskier]

The FWT provides an opportunity for the world's best big mountain skiers to perform at their limit, and I'll always watch them for those moments of exceptional performance. Movie segments can be beautiful and inspiring, but I'm rarely impressed in the way I am by at least a few runs at most FWT events. LCP killed it, but IMO at least parts of the runs of Barkered, Slemett, Lee, Turdell and Tabke were at a higher level than any movie segment I've seen in a while.

[TahoeJ]

You realize a good number of those skiers you see in the movies were on the FWT previously and moved on to filming, right? Angel Collison's AK segments are at a higher level than all of the women currently competing, which is why when she was on the FWT she won it both times. Sam Smoothy had a successful run last year and moved on to film with TGR. Movie guys like Sage, Cody, Pettit, etc. could go on tour and be right at the top.

How about Ian Mac's line from Tight Loose? (after earning his turns no less)

[Dantheman]

Is the GoPro from Yann or Tabke's runs available anywhere? Can't seem to find it on the FWT site.

[GoldMember]

One thing I think they could improve on is communication to the competitors. When Barkered slid that face, no one relayed that information to the top to let Logan (last ski competitor) know it had slid. When he hit it, the snow was slide bed surface and he skidded out. On Logan's FB page, this is what he wrote:

"Doesn't always go as planned, unfortunately went down twice on some unexpected shitty snow. Always a treat to ski this face none the less, maybe next time. Also check out Reine Barkered's run just before mine if you want to see some Avalanche action�� Congrats to the rest of the field for putting it down!"

In the comments, Scott Gaffney asked if they had relayed the information and Logan replied, unfortunately no. Eric (Logan's dad) wrote this comment:

"I talked with Logan after his run and asked him if he had a coach or safety relaying the face info to him, would he have changed his line. His response was, 'definitely dad, when I flew up in the heli the line looked awesome. Life is just one big learning experience after another.' Congrats to all the competitors the tour for keeping our sons, daughters, husbands wife's safe."

This seems to be an area of improvement that would benefit the comps. If conditions change, as this did, whoever is left up top should have some warning in order to have the best opportunity to ski a good line. As it was, Logan's line was gone without his knowledge. All in all, though, a great bit of skiing by some highly skilled, and gutsy folks. Congratulations to everyone and on to Verbier.

[BFD]

thanks for posting that I was wondering why he went on the south side. figured they had a monitor on top for the skiers to watch the other competitors.

[TahoeJ]

From a safety standpoint that's total amateur hour. Unbelievable. Even if you weren't planning to ski that specific face, you might want to avoid another face on the same aspect considering a huge slide just ripped.

[GoldMember]

From a safety standpoint that's total amateur hour. Unbelievable. Even if you weren't planning to ski that specific face, you might want to avoid another face on the same aspect considering a huge slide just ripped.

I'm not going to go too negative on the organizers for that but yeah, regardless of what the officials might know or not about someone's desired line, the best information available should be forwarded to give them a sense of what's out there and how conditions may have changed from the scout ride up in the heli. I just hope they think this practice through before Verbier in order to keep it as safe and fair as possible.

[freak]

stuff like that does get relayed, even though i dont know how/how fast, whatever.
e.g. eva walkner commented that she had to change her line last minute because she heard that it slid with reine barkered, she just ski a veryeasy run since she wasnt confidet enough in another plan b.


freak~[&]

[kootenayskier]

You realize a good number of those skiers you see in the movies were on the FWT previously and moved on to filming, right? Angel Collison's AK segments are at a higher level than all of the women currently competing, which is why when she was on the FWT she won it both times. Sam Smoothy had a successful run last year and moved on to film with TGR. Movie guys like Sage, Cody, Pettit, etc. could go on tour and be right at the top.

How about Ian Mac's line from Tight Loose? (after earning his turns no less)

I understand how it works. Guys make a name on the tour, retire to the movies, and milk it for as long as they can. They're all great skiers, and comparing runs is pretty subjective stuff, I just don't see the same commitment and high technical standard in the movies. Why put everything on the line when all you have to do is make it pretty? Mac's recovery is exciting stuff, but IMO, just holding it together into a run-out doesn't compare to sticking multiple technical moves.

[TahoeJ]

I'd argue that entire line was technical...

[GoldMember]

stuff like that does get relayed, even though i dont know how/how fast, whatever.
e.g. eva walkner commented that she had to change her line last minute because she heard that it slid with reine barkered, she just ski a veryeasy run since she wasnt confidet enough in another plan b.


freak~[&]

I think that since Eva Walkner noted that she had to change her line at the last minute indicates that, while someone let her know the line had slid, the information should have been conveyed earlier. Logan was just after Barkered whereas the women competed afterward. The timing on letting the competitors know of changing conditions could be improved, I would think.