Freeride World Tour - 2019

[LHutz Esq]

Growing up watching hockey - I enjoy guys that say stupid shit when they are pissed off. (full disclosure - all I know of his interview is what I skimmed above)

Hockey player on the losing end of a 5-0 blow out- "ya we got a great bunch a guys in the room, character guys, just got to go the net, get hungry, keep it simple, get deep, bring our "A" game next time, play- em one game at a time"

Hockey player on the winning end of a 5-0 blow out - "ya we got a great bunch a guys in the room, character guys, just got to the net, got hungry, kept it simple, got deep, brought our "A" game, got to play- em one game at a time."

While the respect they show for each other (in interviews afterwards) is great - it gets a bit stale.

So, yep he may have said stupid shit, may have come off as disrespectful, gives us something to talk about and someone to like/dislike on the tour.

Really liked the switch hit though.

[TAFKALVS]

It struck me as a huge ego defeat for Kye, I think he showed up with the attitude that he was just going to smoke everyone and then clearly didn't. He did have a unique cliff drop in the middle but also didn't land it cleanly at all.

Is he going to attend the rest of the FWT events or was this just for Hakuba?

[oftpiste]

This, and Turdel is a sweetheart of a guy.

A respectful athlete would have said something like :
"Im a bit disapointed by my performance/run, things did not go as I planned, I have a huge respect for all the competitors who qualified, and tried/managed to send sick tricks and ski sick lines with only a visual reco" (is that bro enough?)

As for TH, yeah, he does not ski as good as kris turdel (but who does ?), but he landed cool tricks, and arrived to the bottom without falling, that's not bad for a first ?

[auvgeek]

Is he going to attend the rest of the FWT events or was this just for Hakuba?

Pretty sure he just had a wildcard for Hakuba. oft prolly has the inside scoop, but from what I've gleaned, one or more FWT riders were injured/couldn't make it, and he was already on site so they offered him a wildcard.

I might be in the minority here, but I think it's actually really cool having a few big name film stars on the tour so the general skiing public realizes the high level of riding from everyone on the FWT.

[oftpiste]

Good, thoughtful comments from Atrain who knows from whence he speaks. Thanks.

As you probably know as a competitor, the video review thing will likely never happen because FWT is a business and that will always influence results to some degree. That's not to say that it's egregiously that way (though there are moments it seems so) but it is a fact that all the athletes are aware of. If you want to play in that arena you just know what's up and if you don't like it you might as well bail.

FWQ's and juniors do not have those considerations - at least not to the same degree - hence the emphasis on real accuracy of scoring.

Re: Bimboes, first skier in the first event of the season = fuggeddaboutit.

As always fun watch. Looking forward to more as the season progresses.

[twat]

first of all this thread is lit.
it´s cool to discuss here the fwt as it is the right place for it. specially with some inside infos etc.
and different points of views.
judging will be always a problem and it is in every sport. even in videocontests people will argue about stuff.
i disagreed with judging many times... but i am not a professional skier nor a professional judge
and people will rate things different. but everybody shall have his opinion and i am happy to hear.

oftpiste you can be really proud how good your son skies. and yeah he is a professional competing against the best in the sport.... tough and getting there tough no question. some lines in 4* events are crazy. and those kids are hungry. really hungry.
ok back to the event

everybody said snow fell with alot of wind and everybody knows how tricky things can be on variable snows.

the skiboss
he is a controversial figure in the industry ever since i guess
and he listens to different music.... but all that hate against a big name for so many things? i couldnt care less. looks like he enjoys skiing.
i bet markus eder was a tanner hall fan 15years ago

so tanners speed check slow down snow plow 3 set up.
it belongs to his way of skiing check at 0:35 there it is snowplow 3
what´s wrong with it? and how much will you deduct for this unstylish manoeuvre on his whole run? 0.1 points ?????
or would you say he did not deserve 2nd place?
i guess he is in it to win it. (not only an event the whole tour)
heres an interview... and yes he is way mature than he used to be

but yeah what ya want... now he sounds like marcel hirscher ( light conditions balbalbal not ideal slopes conditions/piste broke fast - thanks to my service man)

kye sorry no podioum for you this time... blabalbalbala

can´t wait for the next event.... and the discussion here...
how are the snow conditions in kicking horse atm?

fabian lentsch pizzad too

[Dantheman]

Watching that Lentsch run never gets old.

[californiagrown]

Ski Boss wears Ruroc. Mind blown. Holy shit.

[t-the-east]

Ski Boss wears Ruroc. Mind blown. Holy shit.

Wow, had to look them up. Those are some weird, expensive helmets.

I didn’t even see a somewhat normal looking helmet like T was wearing in the interview, unless the full face part comes off and it looks somewhat normal without

[JayPowHound]

Look at that venue compared with Japan.

Im sorry, but IMO that 4 star is what FWT courses should look like.. this past spot just wasn't up to par with terrain.

[TahoeJ]

Ski Boss wears Ruroc. Mind blown. Holy shit.

With the Luxottica takeover, Oakley is shedding athletes left and right. Like Seth, Kye and THall.

[oftpiste]

Pretty sure Ruroc offered virtually everyone on the tour a deal and it sounded like a tempting one. Only a couple took it.

[TAFKALVS]

Pretty sure Ruroc offered virtually everyone on the tour a deal and it sounded like a tempting one. Only a couple took it.

But then you have to wear Ruroc like some kind of beater.

[PNWbrit]

But then you have to wear Ruroc like some kind of beater.

I think those were exactly thing 2's words as oft described to me.

[2FUNKY]

I see them every now and then at my local hill. Everyone one of them could barely stand on skis or board.
I also didn’t see the one tanner had on on their website. Probably just a sticker on a diff helmet.
Personally I’m excited to see tanner on a more traditional, like Lentsch run, venue.

[oftpiste]

Probably just a sticker on a diff helmet.

Good bet.

[steveski]

Say what you will about the venue, but the lure of japow is real. Hometown boy Yamazaki was so in the zone he forgot to throw down any tricks!

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[klauss]

That venue is gnar. That run is just mad

[meter-man]

Fabi Lentsch in Obergurgl. Maybe my fave comp line (on film) ever?

I liked the Hakuba venue. Kicks the snot out of most USA venues, and very unique and unusual. Definitely rewarded planning and line memorization. Plus, my wife and kids were blown away by the Japanese Alps, and now wanna go ride there. Thanks FWT - onsens, sushi, and japow here we come!

Travis Rice vid breakdown of his line: https://www.facebook.com/FreerideWor...2585218639416/

[TahoeJ]

Not only are those hucks insane, when you look at how much exposure there is it really puts that run into perspective.

[auvgeek]

Travis Rice vid breakdown of his line: https://www.facebook.com/FreerideWor...2585218639416/

I don't really know much about Travis Rice (beyond that he's a world-famous snowboarder), but that was one of the best line breakdowns I've ever seen and he seems like a super cool dude.

[toast2266]

Finally got to watch the Hakuba replay. Some great skiing, but a fairly disappointing venue. Dodging (lots of) trees in blind landings based on only a visual inspection has got to be really, really hard.

At a lot of these comps, I come away with a pretty clear inclination as to what the ranking should be for the top ~5. At this one, so many of the runs were just kinda dinking around off of small features, it seemed like more of a toss up. And I don't mean that as a dig at the competitors - there just wasn't a lot to work with at this venue, and to a significant extent, it seemed like there was a good bit of luck involved with getting a clean run.

re: judging bias against the first riders / skiers. There's a bunch of research demonstrating that early competitors score worse than those later in a competition. The bias exists regardless of whether runs are scored after each run, or if they're all scored at the end once everyone's done. Some of those studies argue that the only way to deal with it is to randomize the start order so, over the course of a series, everyone should come out even-ish. Which seems kinda shitty for for something like the FWT where performances can vary a lot from venue to venue.

[oftpiste]

^^^FWT does a random bib draw for every event.

[toast2266]

^^^FWT does a random bib draw for every event.

Are a lot of the guys annoyed if they draw an early slot?

I can't remember - was it always randomized? Or did they ever run it by ranking?

[brraaap802]

Can we give Tom Peiffer some love. For a rookie, coming in and winning with old school hard charging, great technique. After watching him for years on the Juniors it was no surprise to see him qualify after one season, and then do well here. But so quickly. Fuck yeah. And that three being thrown fall line at the top is bad ass. Don't side hit if you can hit it fall line kids.

He rips, and so does his twin brother (as does the younger bro) . Need a lot of skill, hard work and a little luck to get through the FWQ to the show. Looking forward to Kicking Horse in a couple wks.