The Verbier Ride in its sixth year has grown from a small resort-based ski bash into a feature event on the four-stop IFSA Freeskiing World Tour in 2006. As IFSA international president and World Tour head judge, Jim Jack, commented in the aftermath of some of the finest Big Mountain freeskiing the circuit has seen, "this is a special venue. The atmosphere is incredible and the Mont Gele face just phenomenal."

The Big Mountain freeskiing is the signature event of the Verbier Ride. Big Mountain competition consists of riders skiing a route down a steep and technically challenging off-piste slope in the most creative and stylish manner possible. A judging panel of five drawn from senior figures in the sport assesses the relative merits of each run on the following criteria: line, control, technique, fluidity and aggression. Each category is marked out of ten, giving a total out of fifty. The 'line' score evaluates the imagination, difficulty and risk-exposure of the route chosen and remains the key factor in determining a competitor's overall performance.

Adrien Courier - France

The west face of Mont Gele in Verbier , Switzerland is one of the most fearsome slopes in skiing. Its perfect triangular peak looms over the Attelas lift station, a mass of dark rock and jutting cliff bands, speckled with shelves of snow, narrow couloirs and the occasional open expanse of white. On first viewing, there are few obvious descents. For the sport of freeskiing it makes a perfect venue. As US professional freeskier and Verbier Ride finalist Tyson Bolduc explained "It's such an epic face, it pushes your mental focus and skiing ability to the limit!"

With the qualification round completed on the Sunday, the Big Mountain finals took place on Tuesday 21 February. As the world's leading riders gathered around the start gates, the tension was palpable. Only a select few riders would make it through to the Superfinals the next day and the prospect of gaining World Tour points and sharing in the $10,000 prize pot provided by Ride Freesport and event sponsors Peak Performance and Saab.

The riding was superb, especially given the ultra-challenging snow conditions. For the women Marte Lise Karlsen and Jess McMillan dominated the field. In the men's Craig Gabriel from Kirkwood, Adrien Corier and Olivier Meynet, both from France , showed the best combination of technical skiing, fluidity and creativity to top the scoring. However, ex-world champion, Guerlain Chicherit was lying in fourth and was hungry to regain his crown.

Jon Larson - Sweden

In the women's section Marte Lise Karlsen, Jess McMillan and Laura Ogden won through to the second run. All three displayed superb skiing skill, courageous route choice and great fluidity to impress the judges. When it came to their second run Jess McMillan put in what was clearly the best run of the day for the women, skiing into and successfully out of a particularly exposed funnel chute while snow sluffed off the cliffs around her. However, the results were the combined total of the three finals runs and in the end it was Laura Ogden's consistency that won the day. For her precise, controlled and smooth riding, Ogden walked off with the Verbier Ride 2006 Big Mountain title and a cheque for $2,000.

Line choice is key to scoring well and the Verbier Ride 2006 saw the highest ever line score given in World Tour freeskiing. Tom Dunbar's route was awarded a nine. As judge, Joey Smallwood, commented "I've never seen a '9' line before. I don't think we even have competition faces you can score a '9' on in the US ." No wonder the Mont Gele is considered such a special venue.

Cedric Pugin - France

The rest of the men followed Dunbar 's example and let the skis rip and their imaginations fly as they chose astonishing routes down the overbearing face. Some like Peak Performance rider, Jon Larson, were unlucky. Larson lost a ski on landing a massive 50 foot cliff up top. Others like US rider Justus Meyer plotted a new path down the mountain including a steep-angled traverse on a narrow shelf of snow that sent snow sluffing over the life-threatening cliffs below. His exit out of a seemingly impassable section of rock had not only the spectators, but also the judges on their feet cheering him home.

The five riders who went through to the second run were Julian Gaidet, Cedric Pugin, Guerlain Chicherit, Craig Gabriel and seemingly untouchable, Olivier Meynet.

Again in the second run, the skiers pushed themselves to the athletic limit. Craig Gabriel was the first to buckle under the pressure. Having landed a tricky rock chute near the top, he caught a ski in the deep snow in an 'easy' section and took a tumble that dropped him into fourth. This pushed Cedric Pugin up into third. His runs had been fast and assured all week long, relying on the fluidity and control of his skiing to score well with the judges.

Guerlain Chicherit - France

Guerlain Chicherit - France

In second place, came freeskiing star, Guerlain Chicherit, recently returned following a 3-year hiatus due to contractual obligations with his rally-driving career. He rode with his signature super-nimble, super-fast style and managed to find route variations that no-one else had spotted. His result put him at the top of the IFSA World Tour rankings, but on the podium it was clear he was still not satisfied. Chicherit needs to win and will not settle for less.

Olivier Meynet - France

Olivier Meynet - France

However, in the Verbier Ride 2006, French freeskier, Olivier Meynet, had dominated right from the start. His riding is so smooth, strong and fast that he often makes very difficult routes look far easier than they actually are. This was the case in both Superfinal runs and by the time he reached the bottom of his final descent it was clear who was the Verbier Ride 2006 Big Mountain Champion. His cheque for $4,000 was just deserts for an awesome display of freeskiing brilliance.

From left to right - 2nd Place Guerlain Chicherit - France, 1st Place Olivier Meynet - France, 3rd Place Cedric Pugin - France

Russ Henshaw - Australia

Andy Bennett - UK

Big Air Winners from left to right - 2nd _Place Andy Bennett - UK, 1st Place Russ Henshaw - Australia, 3rd Place Alex Nevrohr - Suisse