UPDATE: Competition CONFIRMED for tomorrow 1/6 to re-stage the Hakuba event at Kicking Horse. Check back for more action!
After yet again playing the waiting game for several days, the world's best freeriders showed up on the Freeride World Tour stage at the brand-new Kicking Horse venue. And by brand-new, we mean truly virgin. After a longstanding permanent closure, the infamous “Ozone” face right outside the resort boundary was opened to competition. Kicking Horse and the Purcell Range may be better known for endless pillow lines and insanely deep blower pow, but this completion face rivals those found strewn across the Alps, featuring 50+ degree fall lines, huge cliffs, and plenty of trickable features.
Athletes arrived late last week to overcast skies, heavy snow, and a weather window that did not look promising. The season’s first competition in Hakuba, Japan was postponed following a week of storms that left the venue too dangerous to compete on. Luckily, a weather window opened early this morning and the competition was called on.
Snowboard men dropped first, followed by snowboard women, ski women, and finally ski men. Conditions were near-perfect, with close to a foot of fresh snow falling in the last three days. That fresh snow did lead some riders to biting off a bit more than they could chew, as it barely covered many of rocks on the face, making many lines look rideable when they were in fact not. However, the riders donned their send hats anyway and put on quite a show.
Click here for a full replay of the event.
Local legend Logan Pehota (who's won a few things here and there, like Kicking Horse's infamous Wrangle the Chute comp) took home the Men’s Ski title by starting off his run with an enormous 360 and keeping his speed to send a cliff everyone else had simply skied around, barely edging out Markus Eder’s freestyle prowess and Ivan Malakhov’s comically large sends. Logan's 98-point score is one of the highest ever in FWT history. Here’s a shoutout to George Rodney for sending it into oblivion, despite the crater and no points!
Logan Pehota sending one of the biggest airs in the venue on his way to first place. FWT photo.
The Women’s Ski title went to the current defending champion, Austria’s Eva Walkner, for absolutely charging through the steepest parts of the face. Italy’s Arianna Tricomi and Canada’s own Kylie Sivell took second and third respectively.
The small but stacked Women’s Snowboard field was dominated by Austrian Andrea Mandl, who was the first to venture into the big cliffs on the far lookers right of the venue. Russia’s Anna Orlova and France’s Marion Haerty put down heavy lines for second and third respectively.
Finally, the Men’s Snowboard title was taken by Alaskan Davey Baird, edging out Austrian Thomas Feuerstein and fellow American Blake Hamm. This must have been a dream run for the eight snowboarders, dropping in first into fresh tracks on such an enormous face.
Pehota, Eder, and Malakhov atop the Men's Ski Podium. FWT photo.
Ski men
Logan Pehota 98
Markus Eder 94
Ivan Malakhov 90.33
Ski Women
Eva Walkner 86
Arianna Tricomi 81
Kylie Sivell 75
Snowboard Women
Manuela Mandl 80
Anna Orlova 69.33
Marion Haerty 65
Snowboard Men
Davey Baird 88.67
Thomas Feuerstein 78
Blake Hamm 68
About The Author
stash member Max Ritter
I manage digital content here at TGR, run our gear testing program, and am stoked to be living the dream in the Tetons.