What happens when you hold the Freeride World Tour on the same face two days apart, but give the worlds best riders a fresh reset blanket of snow? ABSOLUTE MADNESS. Today we got to witness to skiers and boarders ripping around the Port del Rat face in Ordino Arcalís, Andorra. Due to the Covid-induced cancelation of the FWT Hakuba, Japan, stop, Ordino Arcalís was reduced, reused, recycled and brought back up as stop number two on the 2021 tour. The new snow was exuberantly welcomed by all, making the face look practically brand new. The start gate, higher up on the face than in round one, provided more creative fuel and, with sunny skies overhead, the hounds were unleashed to paint their way down the refreshed face.
Spinning was the new flipping today, as both the Men’s and Women’s top finishers spun their way to victory. We got to see the Women’s Ski champion of the day, Elisabeth Gerritzen of Switzerland, sticking out her devilishly huge 360. Just by watching the run from above you can tell that she has been putting in the work behind the scenes, getting in a rough estimate of 2,000 squats per hour, per day. Riding out of a bomb hole landing that throws you in the backseat like that is anything but easy, so big hats off to Elisabeth. On the men’s side, the Utah artist and skier Andrew Pollard tore one out for the people, spinning a lofty, composed 360 off the top section wind-lip. Stomping down towards the start of a speed inducing chute, he tore out of there with the wind on his back and the dub in sight. We also saw the return of 2018 champion Kristofer Trudell to the podium, with beautiful riding and a silky smooth backflip, showing us why this workhorse is still one of the best there is.
With the first two Andorra stops of the tour complete, we must now sit patiently for the onslaught that awaits in the awe-inspiring Fieberbrunn, Austria.
Men’s Ski Podium
- Andrew Pollard (USA)
- Kistofer Trudell (SWE)
- Reine Barkered (SWE)
Womens Ski Podium
- Elisabeth Gerritzen (SUI)
- Juliette Willmann (FRA)
- Tracy Chubb (USA)
Image Gallery
Photography by Dom Daher & Jeremy Bernard
