It appears that the Red Bull Linecatcher and the French Alpine weather don’t get along. Despite near-perfect snow conditions in Les Arcs, today’s competition was postponed due to low visibility at the event venue. “Today we were really unlucky,” said Linecatcher athlete Romain Grosjean, a Les Arcs local. “We thought today was going to be the day, but it looks like we’re going to have to hold out.”
The crew heads back to the hotel.
Word’s gone around that Wednesday will potentially offer the next weather window for skiers to storm the Cirque du Fond Blanc. Until then, the 21 invited athletes will have to settle with skiing the rest of Les Arcs’ seemingly limitless freeride terrain and enjoying the amenities at Linecatcher base camp, the “Villages Clubs du Soleil” hotel in Les Arcs 1800.
“The plan is to hang out and keep the pow shred going with the homies,” said Tim Durtschi. “Everyone was pretty pumped and ready to go today, but we’ll just have to wait. At least there’s no lack of pow.”
There is, indeed, no lack of pow. Skier: Mark von Roy.
Despite the postponement, spirits are high among the crew. Because tomorrow is a guaranteed down day, the riders used this afternoon to relax and defuse any competition nerves. A bottle of a local specialty liquor made its way among the crew; Richard Permin started a food fight in the restaurant of our 4-star hotel; and Parker White, while practicing his rudimentary French, accidentally told a female hotel bartender, “Thanks, nice butt,” instead of, “Thank you very much.”
Not a bad sunset this evening here in Les Arcs
Nice French butts aside, all eyes are now on Wednesday for the next chance to get at the Linecatcher venue. “The snow is really good,” said Linecatcher chieftain Julien Regnier. “So now we’re just waiting on a window.”
Checking in with the athletes, Linecatcher weather day
Stay tuned to freeskier.com for the latest on Linecatcher. To see who’s on the official start list, follow this link. To catch a glimpse of the venue and some of the man-made features, click here.
