| Results, Reviews, Summary 2005 |
| Click here for Verbier Ride 2004 Results |
Big Mountain Qualifier - 06/03/05 |
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Today, Verbier woke up under a dreamy-white cloud, but when the inspection on Mont Gelé's west face was opened, the cloud was blown away, and the skiers could enjoy a glimmering powder face under a bluebird sky for checking their lines. Unfortunately, the weather always wants to have the last word, and by the time all competitors hiked up a second time to one out of three possible start gates ready to go, the mist came in again and brought some big snowflakes with it. |
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“ Today the choice of the line combined with a maximum control is very important, because there are many rocks and stones hidden under the powder layer. We want the riders to choose intelligent lines. These are the main points. Other important things after an appropriate terrain choice are the technique, aggressiveness, control and the fluidity”, says French IFSA Head judge Laurent ‘Rouby' Niol.
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Nine girls had the pleasure to open the official first day of the Verbier Ride 05 – knowing that four of them would qualify.
German Katharina Mihaljevic impressed the panel of five (plus one head judge) most, choosing a very different and technical line, combining aggressiveness and fluidity with a well-considered line.
”I am happy with my run. Unfortunately, I missed the jump I wanted to do at the end, but I guess I've chosen quite a different line from the others, and I tried to be fluid, so that was ok. The light was not that good at the start, but my line went close to a few rocks, so it was alright for me.” |
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Austrian Lorraine Huber also showed a very fluid run, packed with two jumps and all under good control.
Italian girl and Verbier local Giulia Monego took a fast and fluid line with little jumps and got third : “At the top I didn't really ski the line I'd chosen. Later I found it again but then got stuck in some rocks so I couldn't jump where I wanted to afterwards. But it was still good, I had fun!” |
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Fifty men had to go through the qualifications, knowing that twenty-five would qualify. Right for the men, the sunshine was back and American Cory Zila opened this part of today's Verbier Ride.
Cory admits loving the Swiss Alps, having bigger mountains, being more open and not having to worry so much about hitting trees like in the US.
“It was a bit ‘sharky' up there today, but you've just to watch where you're going. My run went good, I went right off the top without hesitation and made it down safely.” His fast but controlled line and his nice cliff drop at the bottom convinced the judging panel. |
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Again the sunshine disappeared behind some snowy clouds, which didn't impress second ranked Canadian Ross Janzen at all: He choose a very fluid and aggressive line, showing confidence even in more difficult conditions and in flat light. |
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It just cleared up again before Frenchy Thibaud Dushosal started his very fluent run with a cliff drop right at the top of the face, continuing without hesitation his line and showing two more beautiful and controlled drops on his way down.
“I wanted to do a ‘quicky', which wasn't that obvious, as there were a few rocks and stones. I guess I had quite a bit of adrenalin in my blood when I decided to do the major cliff drop, and it went well. I was fluid afterwards without hitting any stones.” Thibaud qualified on the third place.
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Tomorrow, we'll find the top 4 girls and 15 men from today, plus 8/27 pre-qualified stars such as Ian McIntosh, Aurélien Ducroz, Thomas Diet, Daisuke Sasaki or Brendan McLean a bit further on the west face of Mont Gelé, which offers several choices of very technical lines through tiny, steep couloirs, cliffs of all sizes, and of course: some of the worlds best Big Mountain skiers!
Weather forecast blue sky and fresh. Get ready for some great powder show at the Verbier Ride 05 at Mont Gelé! |
Written by Melina Holzer (melinaholzer@verbierride.com)
Images by Marco Shapiro, Peter Charaf, Yves Garneau |
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