Kiwi women take clean sweep of the Ski Podium at The North Face Frontier 4- Competition
The Winter Games NZ returned to New Zealand’s home of freeride, The Remarkables ski area in Queenstown, today for The North Face Frontier four-star competition. There were plenty of thrills and spills as skiers and snowboarders pushed themselves in tricky snow conditions in the exposed terrain of the Alta Chutes. Up against strong international competitors, Kiwi athletes put together some impressive performances to come away with seven of the twelve podium spots.
Fresh snow just covering some rocky conditions beneath made for some gnarly course conditions with the judges warning competitors to err on the side of caution today. Competitors had their work cut out finding a fast and fluid line through the exposed terrain while also going for top scores by incorporating tricks in their runs and making solid landings.
With today’s competition ranked as a four-star event on the Freeride World Qualifier Tour, the goal for many was not just to earn a podium placing but also some early season qualifying points and a ticket to the international competition stage.
Kiwis took a clean sweep of the women’s ski podium with Jessie Violet backing up her 2023 win and happy to bag some early season points before she heads to the northern hemisphere to follow the Freeride World Qualifier Tour.
The men’s ski category saw twin brothers, Kiwis Fynn and Lach Powell, finish in first and third place respectively, separated by Canadian Matthew Vankka who also won the 2-star competition two days ago.
Lach Powell was the first of the three to drop into the course, landing a huge backflip which initially had him sitting in the hot seat. Brother Fynn was excited to hear over the radio that his brother was in the lead, using this as extra motivation for his own run.
"I was so unbelievably stoked when I heard the call over the radio and I had to try and back him up," explains Fynn. "I won this event last year, so I’m really stoked to be able to come back and put another run down."
Fynn started his run with two huge 360s at the top of the course before crossing into the narrow pipeline feature and dropping two rock features with impressive control.
One of the last competitors to drop into the course, Matthew Vankka pushed hard for the top spot hopping over a rock on the top ridge before launching into backflip to start his run and skiing an incredibly fast run. The judges scored him 94 points from a possible 100, just shy of Fynn Powell’s winning scoring of 96.33 points.
Canadian Jaimie Figueira was the clear winner in the women’s snowboard category, the judges awarding her 90.33 points for her strong line choice, well-controlled airs and maintaining fluidity down the steep face.
After a third-place finish in 2023, Jaimie came into today’s competition with her sights set on the top step of the podium.
"I really want it so I’m trying to push myself out of my comfort zone and hit more features," she explained.
Sweden’s Johanna Lindqvist finished in second place, backing up her win in the 2-star event. France’s Swanny D’Agostini, had the tricky job of being the very first competitor on course today and was rewarded with some untouched powder turns and third place in the final rankings.
Kiwi competitor James Thompson described his win in the men’s snowboard as "a dream come true" after a previous best result of sixth place at The North Face Frontier.
The judges awarded him top points for his technical line choice as he tackled the narrow pipeline feature, also including well-controlled airs and maintaining speed and fluidity throughout his run.
Fellow Kiwi Mitchell Davern was a close contender for first place, riding incredibly fast through the venue and throwing a huge backflip and a stylish 360 before losing a little bit of control at the bottom of the course and dropping points to finish in second place.
France’s Tristan Legru-Yildiz was the third-place finisher in men’s snowboard, showing a good variety of airs in his run and maintaining control in the challenging snow conditions at the bottom of the course.
Judge Andrew Pollard summed up the day saying, "It was really important today that people skied and rode smart. At one point we were concerned we might not have enough snow to safely run an event so it was good to see people making smart decisions, that’s how you win a freeride event.
"It was a sharky one, some of the men’s ski runs in particular were absolutely mindblowing, and it was just incredible what they were able to do in there".
The Winter Games NZ action changes gear tomorrow with the first of the FIS alpine races scheduled to be held at Coronet Peak. Winter Games NZ is the Southern Hemisphere’s largest snow sports event with ten world-class events set to be held across alpine, freeride and park and pipe disciplines between the 23rd of August and the 9th of September in Queenstown and Wānaka.
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