Freeride World Tour

[toast2266]

Was there ever a shot of Navarro's line at any point in the comp? There wasn't during his run or after the crash and it never appeared in the pre event video (which for some reason looked like there was more snow than during the event).

I didn't see one, but he posted some good shots of his run on his instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZFgHLQg..._web_copy_link
(scroll to the second clip)

[ill-advised strategy]

[kathleenturneroverdrive]

Agreed.

It would be cool if the mission of the drone work would be more like finding a really good view of the venue, then hover/hold and shoot from there.

I do this sort of thing for a living (but have no inside knowledge of the FWT) so my guess is the drone likey has to stay tight on the skier to avoid any safety and/or camera coverage conflicts with the real heli. Which, from a production POV, I get. If I was running the event I'd also use the drone for super-tight follow shots no other camera can get, then direct the big heli to snag angles with more context.

Was there ever a shot of Navarro's line at any point in the comp? There wasn't during his run or after the crash and it never appeared in the pre event video (which for some reason looked like there was more snow than during the event).

Aymar's run was really odd. There's a tiny chance he went into a blind spot they didn't have coverage for beyond the drone, but given the big heli is in view I don't think that's the case. I would guess they had a tech issue that kept them from having other angles of the run for the live broadcast, but I have no intel to back that up.

[jackattack]

Ditto on the drone footage. I like the close ups out of the gate but after they drop in and start hunting around it’s chaos until the rider settles into the fall line.

Also, HOLY MOGA, that line was so sick. I’m sure the judges know their rubric but from where I’m sitting that was the one.

[thefrush]

Same - really interesting to see some POV shots in better snow conditions. Gnarly zone.

BAnd yeah, could have been scored higher but backslaps have been penalized hard for a good few years now which always make big cliff line choices like that a risk when it comes to the judging. Sick to see him hit a different zone to the rest though. Must have been so scary trying to line up that take off.

The drone angle of his cliff drop was pretty wild, he was pretty close to the cliff for the majority of the drop.

[muted reborn]

Aymar's run was really odd. There's a tiny chance he went into a blind spot they didn't have coverage for beyond the drone, but given the big heli is in view I don't think that's the case. I would guess they had a tech issue that kept them from having other angles of the run for the live broadcast, but I have no intel to back that up.

My guess is when he popped up from behind the ridge, the long lens cameras had no clue exactly where he was (just a dot in the rocks) until he jumped the 1st cliff and then it was over in an instant and they couldn't tilt that fast, he went 0-100 in seconds. The drone guy knew exactly where he was the whole time because he was following him from the start. If the director could see the drone angle in the production tent, maybe he radioed all cameras frantically telling them where to look and everyone didn't quite understand in time. You'd think if it was a tech issue all cams would still have the footage in-camera for the highlight reel to show.

As for the big heli, maybe they were changing batteries right then, ha.

[grskier]

I do this sort of thing for a living (but have no inside knowledge of the FWT) so my guess is the drone likey has to stay tight on the skier to avoid any safety and/or camera coverage conflicts with the real heli. Which, from a production POV, I get. If I was running the event I'd also use the drone for super-tight follow shots no other camera can get, then direct the big heli to snag angles with more context.



.

1) I thought the drone brought some condition context for a for of the skiers...
2) what Kathleen said

[meter-man]

https://youtu.be/F5M9HM4H9SE

winning run at the 4:00:00 mark. Martin Bender. Love that Kappl face - such an awesome venue.

[bobinch]

freeride junior world championship

check out ski man winning run martin bender at 4:00:00 exact at 4hours
very nice skiing... i want to see bender on the tour : ) could be great to hear the kiwis announce him

Particularly given the state of the snow and fact he went right at the end. He came 2nd to Max Palm last year. Really nice kid, amazing mountain biker too.

[powdork]

The Great Britainer after him (Jordan ray) was awesome too. i thought his run was better but he had a bobble up top.

[thefrush]

Wow, that is an awesome venue! Great to see the young guns gettin' after it.

[powdork]

THIS is the kind of preview I've been looking for leading up to an event. more info less hype

[TahoeJ]

It seems like a lot of the guys they're hiring to get these drone shots are more interested in showing the capabilities of the drone by getting crazy high speed swoopy shots, and less interested in getting stable footage that's actually beneficial to the viewer. This has been an issue with almost every bike and ski edit I've seen that uses drones for anything more than b-roll.

The drones really open the door for some nice shots without the expense of a helicopter, but it seems like it's gonna take another year or two before the operators figure out that the drone doesn't need to be flying all over the place at a million miles an hour to get good footage.

This. "Your <drone pilots> were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."

Currently co-wearing the yellow leader's bib in the TRG Fun bet league... because of my snowboarding predictions in the part of the event I barely watch. ;-)

[Angle Parking]

It seems like a lot of the guys they're hiring to get these drone shots are more interested in showing the capabilities of the drone by getting crazy high speed swoopy shots, and less interested in getting stable footage that's actually beneficial to the viewer. This has been an issue with almost every bike and ski edit I've seen that uses drones for anything more than b-roll.

The drones really open the door for some nice shots without the expense of a helicopter, but it seems like it's gonna take another year or two before the operators figure out that the drone doesn't need to be flying all over the place at a million miles an hour to get good footage.

This.

I would imagine the 'playing with the new toy' phase will end soon and the drones are used to their real potential. Hopefully!

[muted reborn]

The drone ops mainly come from a racing drone background so that's what they do - go fast and spin around. It's the directors job to tell them to mellow out. I completely agree it's often too fast but the director needs to explain to them why it sucks to watch when following the skiers. Or the director actually likes what they do - he's to blame either way, not the ops.

Loved the up-close drone shot of Aymar skidding into the line - it really showed how thin the coverage was and the drone was NOT circling him like a vulture right then which was great. Used right they are awesome for events!

[Clownshoe]

Thoughts on this next venue? Anyone seen it in person? It looks pretty good from the video the FWT posted today.

Hard to tell what’s in play and what’s not without a terrain photo showing the potential boundaries and the start/finish lines

[total_immortal]

I think it looks cooler than the previous year's venue, but hard to tell scale and where exactly folks can go. That video motivated me to change my fun bet picks to more big mtn style riders

[subtle plague]

Some of the cliffs Look pretty limiting? Wouldn't they funnel most of the riders into certain Sectors ?

[meter-man]

This. "Your <drone pilots> were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."

Currently co-wearing the yellow leader's bib in the TRG Fun bet league... because of my snowboarding predictions in the part of the event I barely watch. ;-)

Nice work! WAGs still count!!

Get yer bets in: https://peakperformance.pronosticgames.fr/

[skier666]

Navarro's line was my personal highlight...I definitely preferred the steeper lines the guys took down the center than hitting the windlips on lookers left. But what do I know?

[Clownshoe]

None of you euro types have any good terrain photos of this face?

[powdork]

From the video






Lots of wind lips to hit and obviously lots of cliffs but it looks like the take offs are burnt back a bit

[Clownshoe]

It would be sweet if the start gate was the summit in that first pic, with the whole face in play. Looks like it’ll be a sunny face with no pow and spring conditions on comp day.

I’d like to see a bit more billy goating in the gnar and less 360s off wind lips. But perhaps I’m in the minority on that

[powdork]

It would be sweet if the start gate was the summit in that first pic, with the whole face in play. Looks like it’ll be a sunny face with no pow and spring conditions on comp day.

The lone track in the last pic looks pretty good though

I’d like to see a bit more billy goating in the gnar and less 360s off wind lips. But perhaps I’m in the minority on that

I like the billy goating and the Aymarring too but the billygoating won't ever score well in this format

[TahoeJ]