Day 9 is in the books and we’ve narrowed this thing down to a handful of riders. For six of the last nine days, Mike Riddle has finished first or second in the voting. This morning, just like the Lakers, he is out of the playoffs. He is not alone, however. Bobby Brown, Russ Henshaw, Sean Field, Shea Flynn, Justin Dorey and countless other North American, Aussie and Kiwi athletes are no longer in the running. That’s right, the newest member of the 4FRNT team is a European. Surprised? Pierre Millien isn’t (he won today) and you shouldn’t be either. I spent a lot of time across the pond this year and the talent level I saw was staggering. Sure, the Scandinavians have had a freeride heritage with guys like Jon Olsson leading the way. The French have, likewise, had their living legends. But the talent in Europe is running deep and spans across virtually all of the continent. Our guy, and, yes, at this point, I will confirm that it is a guy, competes day-in and day-out against a field of talent that is extremely deep. Who is this 9 or more time podium rider that finishes in the top-5 routinely? We’re one day closer to finding out.
According to your votes, its Kalle Leinonen, um, or AJ Kemppainen, um, or Xavier Bertoni, um, or….. Well, its obvious you are just not sure. Mike Riddle had more votes than all three of those riders combined. Not to mention there are other European riders in the mix, such as PK Hunder, Roy Kittler, Anders Backe, Kevin Rolland, Vivien Thiery, Thomas Hlawitschka and Pekka Hyysalo – some of whom fit the criteria to date and some of whom don’t. Looks like you have a bit of research to do.
As we have done on occassion throughout this contest, we’ve tried to incorporate the threads on Newschoolers that are worth looking at. Yesterday, only a few stood out.
The final word today comes from Kevski who said "I’m not entering but I bet it’s Riddle. He’s been doing great." Yes, he has, but like you, he won’t be riding 4FRNT next year unless he buys them. Or, you could register, make your guess each day from now until June 20 and give yourself a chance to win a daily prize or walk away with one of the pairs of skis. One thing you can bet on – you will not win if you do not play.
Today’s question will knock at least one name off that list for good. We are asking you in which direction does this rider spin naturally. We know its hard to tell sometimes, but Luke Van Valin can tell and that’s good enough for us. To recap, at this point we know that this European based rider has proven him or herself by being on the podium 9 or more times this season, is between 17 and 23, is a slope/pipe athlete, does not incorporate a Whiskey Flip into his or her pipe run and is a virtual lock to finish in the top-5 against X-Games caliber talent but did NOT attend the Jon Olsson SuperSessions and spun 3,241 or more degrees in one of his or her US or Orage European Open runs. Now, which way does this rider spin? To answer today’s question, click here.
On the 21st of June, we will not only be announcing the answer to the final question and name of the Grand Prize winner, but we will also be physically introducing the athlete at Camp of Champions’ arrival day for Session A. So start guessing, sign up for Camp of Champions and meet 4FRNT’s latest pro, win some skis and shred the best summer terrain park in history.
