ContestHappening 5 2016/17 | FWT Chamonix on standby

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The FWQs on the Hochkar and in Hochfügen were successfully completed at the weekend, FWT still has to wait

The FWT 2016 competition slope above the Flégère ski area. Due to the current lack of snow, the contest cannot be held on this slope.

Marc Stal

The Freeride World Tour season opener should have actually taken place last weekend, January 28-29, 2017, in Chamonix. However, due to the poor snow conditions (see picture of the competition slope), the organizers decided to postpone the start of the season until Wednesday (2 February).

In the official opening ceremony of the FWT on Friday, Nicolas Hale-Woods, founder and director of the FWT, explained that the safety of the skiers is paramount and that the competition day therefore had to be postponed. Alternative competition slopes in the region around Chamonix have been examined in recent days, but so far no slope with sufficiently good snow conditions could be found that would allow the competition to be held safely. With just over one meter of snow, the current snow depth in the region is only around 30% of the long-term average at this time of year.

The FWT riders are not letting this spoil their fun and are using their time in Chamonix to go on a ski tour together, inspect potential competition slopes or compete in the Riders Lounge with mini table tennis and on the Playstation, if they can't do that on skis and boards.

A large stage has been set up in the center of Chamonix, where various events will be held: DJs will be playing and there will be autograph sessions with the riders. It remains to be hoped that the forecast snow on Monday and Tuesday will be sufficient and that the FWT season opener can be held in Chamonix.

Alternatively, there are discussions that the next stop in Andorra (February 10-16, 2017) could be raced twice. Some athletes already suspect that this will be the case.

The Aiguille du midi with a view of the famous Mallory descent. — The Aiguille du midi with a view of the famous Mallory descent
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Marc Stal

Qualifier events in Austria could take place

While the snow conditions in Chamonix made life difficult for the FWT, it was enough for the 1*FWQ on the Hochkar and the Bigmountain Hochfügen (4*) in Austria at the weekend - albeit rather narrowly, at least in Hochfügen. There will be more on this soon from our rider reporters, who were at both events.

The winners at Hochkar were: Ellen Håkman(Ski F), Bertrun Waldhans (SB F), Sebastian Hiersche (Ski M), Gabriel Indrist (SB M). The winners in Hochfügen were: Lotten Rapp (Ski F), Anna Orlova (SB F), Craig Murray (Ski M), Alexander Hoffmann (SB M). Here are the other results: