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A word from Warren Smith (Event Director)
A word from Francine Moreillon (Technical Director)
A word from Nick Mills (Head Judge)
Warren Smith
This year was always going to be a struggle. With the worst starts to a season I have witnessed and the time frame given to run the event it was harsh.
After already rescheduling from the end of Jan to the end of Feb a lot of hard work had already gone in by myself and all involved.
The Big Air jam session on the 25th Feb was a great chilled out vibe. Riders were going off in Verbier's La Chaux snowpark. Riders of the day were Nick Draxl and Jason Schutt. Check out pictures. Quicktime clips to follow next week of the coolest air's
The Freeride Qualifying day on the 26th Feb saw many of the worlds top freeriders (check out start list) at the bottom of the Mont Gele face checking out lines and hits to create the best possible impression for the judges. By 10.30am winds unfortunately picked up to 100km which prevented the Mont Gele cable car from running and by 11.30am the winds had reached 120km. It was soon after this that myself, Televerbier Security, Jean Yves??, Nick Parks (guide) and Nick Mills (head Judge) took the decision to call off the days activity. Big disappointment but the riders safety is always our first interest.
The next two days were great for skiers in general all over the alps puking it but not so good for us. We unfortunately couldn't run the comp any further due to bad weather.
For me although the initial outcome was negative not being able to finish the comp, the bigger picture is that this year the Verbier Ride really became recognized as a truly international event with a truly international location and with Mont Gele face (JPEG attached) getting everybody psyched for a major decent, next year can only be an even bigger event! Provisional dates are 9-13 March 2003. This is not confirmed as yet.
See you in Verbier.
Warren Smith
Francine Moreillon
Could have been beautiful!! ....it will be next year!!! After postponing the event due to a lack of snow in January, we thought we could get the best conditions to have a beautiful Verbier Ride at the end of February.
Unfortunately, the snow gods weren't with us once again and the wind picked up so hard that the snow that fell the days before just blew away and plastered some other mountains around... The Mt-Gelé was the chosen mountain for the Freeride event.
It can be such an amazing course that everybody was very positive until the last moment. We had the full support of Televerbier and we can't say that we didn't try: even the riders tried to walk up the ridge of the Mt-Gelé, but the wind was so strong blowing at more than 100km/h that the first riders up there decided it was too dangerous to run the competition. For the Skier X course, the decision was taken on the Tuesday that there was no way a Skier X course could be built with the little snow there was this year.
Although we selected a beautiful venue and designed a wicked course. Let's just cross the fingers for next year. There is now the necessary support, the ideal venues selected, the best course designers, the interest of the riders, and of the media. It can only be bigger and better next time!! See you all in March 2003 for the next Verbier Ride.
Francine Moreillon
Nick Mills
The Verbier ride has now become the mid-season meeting point for the most-part of the worlds freeriding family. This was immediately obvious to me this year, the caliber of competitors as internationally strong as any ofthe principle European free-ride stops.
The top athletes from Europe, North America, Australasia (and other mountainous sub-continents), came to mix it with local verbier riders for a week of skiing, snowboarding and subsequent sinking. Standing among the riders at the bottom, checking out the competition face, looking at the breadth of line options available, one could feel the energy. They were all amped, ready and able to express their individual riding styles to max.
The family feel of this event is also a large part due to the inclusion of the up and comers, the willing and ready, who get to have a crack at those, the already proven performers.
Mix it all together and you find a fully progressive, professionally run event where, when even the weather comes in, the brew starts bubbling underground...we wake up in the haze, the mo(u)rning of leaving, knowing that it's only going to be even better next year.
Nick Mills
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