Contemplating the Bec De Rosses

The final competition of the Freeride World Tour, the Verbier Extreme. The season has gone by so fast and now it is the last chance to prove that you have what it takes to be on the Freeride World Tour and it will take place on the biggest venue in competition history.

All of the competitors spent the day contemplating the venue. The Bec de Rosses is an intimidating face. The top 2/3’s of the venue are a no fall zone. (a no fall zone: if you were to fall, you would seriously hurt) It is riddle with dead end chutes, sharky rocks, and rolls over to 50+ degrees. In good conditions, it is intimidating and difficult to ski. The winds have come from the north and have scoured much of the face. For the first time in the history of the Bec De Rosses, the competitors were allowed to hike to the top of the venue and take a look at the snow. We were not allowed to ski the venue, but it was an opportunity to see what the lines looked like from the top.

The snow conditions are inconsistent at best. As I hiked to the top, I found bullet proof ice, breakable crust, 3cm of powder, and sugar. It is hard to know where to ski. The women are starting on the shoulder of the Bec. The men will start from the top. I do not envy the men. The question of the day is, “Is it worth it?” There are lines that have won year after year, but can they be done in these conditions and are they worth attempting?

The competition has been postponed to Sunday due to high winds. So we have one more day to choose our destiny.

Day 2 Tignes – Face Inspection and Bib Draw

It was a beautiful day in Tignes today. The sky was blue and the sun was shining. It was the first time all of the competitors were able to look at the competition face, Pramecou. The face looked pretty good, with a variety of lines and descent snow. There will be two starts available, each above the most obvious chutes. Even better news, there is snow in the forecast and the competition has been put on hold in hopes of fresh snow. The competition will not be held on Tuesday. The exact date will be announced monday night at the riders meeting.

After spending a couple of hours inspecting, we spent the rest of the day exploring Tignes and skiing powder. The skiing was great and there were smiles all around.

The day ended with the bib draw ceremony. I was so nervous to draw “luckily” bib #55, DFL. I chose my bib and could barely look, but I was happy to draw bib #46 which will be the third skier woman. So all is good in Tignes and I am looking forward to skiing tomorrow.

I can’t forget the american men. Drew Tabke will be skiing 11th, Craig Garbeil will be skiing 15th, and Griffen Post will skiing 25th.

Photos from the Competition

These photos are from the website, www.xsochi.ru. The author of the website did a great job covering the event and took some really good photos. Check it out.