Freeride World Tour - 2020

[TahoeJ]

Among other things, I think my biggest issue with the commentary was that both commentators were offering the same kind of commentary. If one of them was doing the play by play, and one of them was offering color commentary, that might work better. Or if they both had great chemistry together and could feed off of each others' comments, that'd keep it interesting.

But as it is, they're both just kinda saying the same things, over and over. Oh, he spun a 3. Oh, he backslapped. We'll have to see what the judges think of that. Oh, she crashed. We're collectively gutted for her.

Agree 100%. The previous duo had better chemistry and sounded genuinely excited and stoked by the big moments. Like someone else said, this announcing felt like a tennis match.

[powdork]

There’s no fucking way Hedvig lands that flip without a bazillion reps on the world cup mogul team. She had to fight hard to slow that down.

i was expecting to see blood when she took off her goggles and scarf but all we got was that gorgeous smile

[nickwm21]

I watched it with the captions on by accident.. I was going to turn the captions off but then I noticed they were using some speech-to-text software that didn’t speak Kiwi and was getting most words larger than three syllables wrong. Left CC on for entertainment....


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[oftpiste]

I believe you're mistaken. I was there the first year, and the buzz on the street was that the collective of resorts/businesses in the Hakuba Valley did indeed pay substantially (money that apparently was badly needed) to become a repeat stop over a number of years. I don't know about other stops.

This would be one explanation for the fact that they keep going back there in spite of overwhelming obstacles to holding the comp and live-streaming, or on the other hand, kinda not so great venues.

Venue was okay-ish but horrible snow and some flat light. I doubt venues are lining up to pay to host .............. remember this thing has to be profitable.

[MakersTeleMark]

For others who don't know what a "flung cat mega transfer is":

[GoldenBC]

and they didn't even show him link it straight into one of the better 3s of the comp. That was the reason that line was worthwhile.

[GoldenBC]

I believe you're mistaken. I was there the first year, and the buzz on the street was that the collective of resorts/businesses in the Hakuba Valley did indeed pay substantially (money that apparently was badly needed) to become a repeat stop over a number of years. I don't know about other stops.

This would be one explanation for the fact that they keep going back there in spite of overwhelming obstacles to holding the comp and live-streaming, or on the other hand, kinda not so great venues.

Every stop pays money every year, usually in-kind transfers, rather than cash. FWT pushes for 3 year contracts at each stop. Japan (and the rest of Asia) is a massive market and FWT desperately wants in, that is why it is there.

[madcult]

Navarro and Malakhov go watch Wessel and Nilsson runs. To be at the top of this competition I would expect from them to progress their skiing beyond just fast skiing and add some freestyle.Its getting boring. Bimbo pretty much set the bar at what fast skiing can be at the Verbier (within and beyond the safety) Seeing girls out-tricks you should be enough motivation. Their backflips where big enough even for the men comp.

[Dantheman]

Finally got to watch. How has no one mentioned Issac Freeland's gap over that rock? The gopro footage of that feature is nuts. Seriously sketch.

I have no complaints about the venue. It's way better than last year's and delivered some great skiing even in terrible conditions.

[meter-man]

Finally got to watch. How has no one mentioned Issac Freeland's gap over that rock? The gopro footage of that feature is nuts. Seriously sketch.

That was sick. Looked like he had to pull his skis up just to clear it! Where is the gopro footy?

Tabke's footage shows how easily you could find yourself on crunchy crusties...esp right above the horseshoe feature.



Also...he was on a Praxis ski with an ultralight core. Does not compute. ultralight??

I bet Pollard is going to win the tour. Kid is soooo smooth and stylish, super strong fall-line skiing. Does he have the tricks? Not sure. Also, impressed that Reine is throwing backflips - old dogs can learn new tricks?

[Dantheman]

That was sick. Looked like he had to pull his skis up just to clear it! Where is the gopro footy?

Starts at 1:13:03 in the YouTube replay.

[Norseman]

Congrats to Tabke. Always enjoy watching his skiing.

He got lucky with the sun break for his run. Compare the viz with, say, Turdell's (yikes)... who showed some big skill with his recoveries, imo.

[TahoeJ]

Also...he was on a Praxis ski with an ultralight core. Does not compute. ultralight??

I'm a big fan of these lighter weight skis that are torsionally stiff above their paygrade, meaning they're easier to swing around but can still charge pretty hard and get deflected less than you'd expect (Praxis and Moment have really moved in this direction, in particular). And of course Tabke is just an awesome skier so there's that.

[Island Bay]

Congrats to Tabke. Always enjoy watching his skiing.

He got lucky with the sun break for his run. Compare the viz with, say, Turdell's (yikes)... who showed some big skill with his recoveries, imo.

From the sound of that GoPro footage, he seemed to have found good snow, too. Only sounded scratchy where he slowed down.

[Spooky]

Navarro and Malakhov go watch Wessel and Nilsson runs. To be at the top of this competition I would expect from them to progress their skiing beyond just fast skiing and add some freestyle.Its getting boring. Bimbo pretty much set the bar at what fast skiing can be at the Verbier (within and beyond the safety) Seeing girls out-tricks you should be enough motivation. Their backflips where big enough even for the men comp.

The FWT is a big mountain comp, not a slopestyle comp. Although tricks have become a lot more important over the years and this progression is super exciting, I hope there will always be a place on the tour for aggressive, fall line skiing through steep exposed terrain along with huge straight airs - because otherwise, what's the point? I like that there's a mix of skiers and styles, and I like that sometimes a run with tricks wins and sometimes a particularly nutty but more traditional line wins it. If it turns into a comp of just flips and spins then it gets boring and loses the essence of what is.

[bbrianburke]

bilous' cross-court transfer was completely outrageous.

commentators seemed a little sleepy.

super fun to watch tho.

[meter-man]

The FWT is a big mountain comp, not a slopestyle comp. Although tricks have become a lot more important over the years and this progression is super exciting, I hope there will always be a place on the tour for aggressive, fall line skiing through steep exposed terrain along with huge straight airs - because otherwise, what's the point? I like that there's a mix of skiers and styles, and I like that sometimes a run with tricks wins and sometimes a particularly nutty but more traditional line wins it. If it turns into a comp of just flips and spins then it gets boring and loses the essence of what is.

Are you kidding Spooky? The first adjective that comes to mind when I describe the skiing of Navarro and Malakhov is "boring." Those guys are talentless hacks! I mean, who would want to see a skier take huge, blind, technical take-offs at 50 mph?? Especially in a freeride comp!

Fo real - I love that a mix of styles and skills win.

TJ....yeah, Tabke is just ridiculously smooth and balanched. It's one thing for us mortals to enjoy lighter swingweight - but it's quite another for FWT athletes to stomp on. Very impressive. Seems like the most popular ski (by far) on the FWT is the Rustler 11, followed by the yellow Faction that Pollard was on. Neither are anything like Reine's Dynastar LP105...

[madcult]

The FWT is a big mountain comp, not a slopestyle comp. Although tricks have become a lot more important over the years and this progression is super exciting, I hope there will always be a place on the tour for aggressive, fall line skiing through steep exposed terrain along with huge straight airs - because otherwise, what's the point? I like that there's a mix of skiers and styles, and I like that sometimes a run with tricks wins and sometimes a particularly nutty but more traditional line wins it. If it turns into a comp of just flips and spins then it gets boring and loses the essence of what is.

No one ever said that it will turn into slopestyle comp man. All I'm asking is for variety and progression especially from the athletes that luck completely ANY freestyle. Those guys are boring and I don't think they are in the same league with some others who are more complete skiers. Also I believe doing a trick on big cliff will always have more consequences than just "playing it safe" and just send it big with no tricks. Much more variables what could go wrong...those much harder.

[bw_wp_hedonism]

I enjoyed the big mountain lines that Bimboes put down, but have trouble getting excited for Navarro’s runs. That said, I think he is the banner man for Spanish-speaking ski fans, so until someone comes along to replace him, I don’t think the FWT is letting him go.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[toast2266]

Both Navarro and malakhov have a history of sniffing out some of the most interesting lines that no one else is hitting. I really like that. There wasn't a ton of opportunity for that at the hakuba venue, but I think it'll come into play more once they get to Europe. It's way more interesting than watching a parade of skiers trying to throw the cleanest 3 off of the same couple of features.

[Spooky]

No one ever said that it will turn into slopestyle comp man. All I'm asking is for variety and progression especially from the athletes that luck completely ANY freestyle.

So you want variety and progression by making sure everyone has to throw some tricks in their run? You're missing the freeride bit of the FWT dude.

[Spooky]

Both Navarro and malakhov have a history of sniffing out some of the most interesting lines that no one else is hitting. I really like that. There wasn't a ton of opportunity for that at the hakuba venue, but I think it'll come into play more once they get to Europe. It's way more interesting than watching a parade of skiers trying to throw the cleanest 3 off of the same couple of features.

Exactly. Some of the most boring runs last year were a parade of threes and backflips off similar features.

[grskier]

Exactly. Some of the most boring runs last year were a parade of threes and backflips off similar features.

Japan this year was no exception, especially in the snowboard men's division.


Listen, I think it's dope guys can trick these natural features, and I think they should get rewarded for doing so. But also go into the horseshoe and show you can ski around exposure.

[powdork]

No one ever said that it will turn into slopestyle comp man. All I'm asking is for variety and progression especially from the athletes that luck completely ANY freestyle. Those guys are boring and I don't think they are in the same league with some others who are more complete skiers. Also I believe doing a trick on big cliff will always have more consequences than just "playing it safe" and just send it big with no tricks. Much more variables what could go wrong...those much harder.

Have you watched south lines? Not really any playing it safe there.

Also, not really any tricks here




Also, the idea behind tricking on really big cliffs is that if you start a rotation your body will retain the rotational momentum throughout the freefall. On really big drops without rotating your body wants to revert backwards more the bigger the drop.

[oftpiste]

Thing #2 and I were discussing this whole thing over another round of Hakuba viewing the other night.

The trick is trying to figure out what judges are going to score well comp to comp. It's inconsistent and always has been. Sometimes they seem to dig the tricks, sometimes the charging, and sometimes it makes no sense at all what they like. As a competitor it's tough to figure out, especially if you have tools to trick and/or charge in your bag. Of course, as I've mentioned ad nauseam in this thread, there's more to it than the skiing. And that's kind of a bummer.