FREERIDE WORLD TOUR KICKING HORSE RECAP
The 2018 Freeride World Tour (FWT) stop at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, B.C. delivered for spectators and competitors alike, as the first-ever event to take place at the legendary Canadian freeride destination was held in nearly picture-perfect conditions. Known for its technical lines, deep snow, and playful freeride-friendly terrain, Kicking Horse welcomed 47 riders in four categories for its inaugural competition and the only FWT stop on North American soil.
Logan Pehota. Photo by Guy Fattal
Competitors made their way to the 2504-metre summit, an alpine venue known as “Ozone,” where they launched into the 2018 season with spectacular lines. The residual fog burned off mid-morning and riders were treated to velvety Canadian powder all day long.
Eva Walkner. Photo by Dom Daher / Freeride World Tour
Eva Walkner (Austria - 1st Place) took an untouched line with huge and technical airs, impressing judges and spectators alike. Arianna Tricomi (Italy - 2nd Place) maintains her high level as she powered through the technical top part of the venue with speed and then perfectly executed a cliff zone at the bottom of the venue. Confident and solid riding put Kylie Sivell (Canada - 3rd Place), the only female Canadian skier at the competition, in third place.
”I wanted to go a bit bigger on top but still, I won so I'm super stoked, snow was amazing and that was super fun to ride!” says Eva Walkner.
Arianna Tricomi (2nd), Eva Walkner (1st), Kylie Sivell (3rd) Photo by Dom Daher / Freeride World Tour
Ski Women's Results
1) Eva Walkner
2) Arianna Tricomi
3) Kylie Sivell
4) Jaclyn Passo
5) Rachel Croft
6) Elisabeth Gerritzen
7) Hazel Birnbaum
8) Lorraine Huber
Pent up energy lead to huge airs and incredible riding in the Ski Men category. The local favourite and rising star Logan Pehota (Canada - 1st Place) skied a phenomenal line starting off with a massive 360 into an enormous air off the nose of one of the biggest features of the venue, ending up with one of the highest scores in FWT history (98/100). Markus Eder (Italy - 2nd Place) threw a big and stylish 360 into a cleanly stomped cliff line lower in the venue. “Mad” Ivan Malakhov (Russia - 2nd Place) dropped in with his trademark fury, hitting all the features as big as possible with clean style.
Logan Pehota. Photo by Dom Daher / Freeride World Tour
So I just won the first stop of the FWT! On my home terrain! I couldn't ask for anything better, honestly it's just like a dream!” says Logan Pehota.
Markus Eder (2nd), Logan Pehota (1st), Ivan Malakhov (3rd). Photo by Guy Fattal
Ski Men's Results
1) Logan Pehota
2) Markus Eder
3) Ivan Malakhov
4) Berkeley Patterson
5) Leo Slemett
6) Loic Collomb-Patton
7) Conor Pelton
8) Reine Barkered
9) Kristofer Turdell
10) Sam Lee
11) Aymar Navarro Combalie
12) Yann Rausis
13) Fabio Studer
14) Felix Wiemers
15) Drew Tabke
16) Grifen Moller
17) Yu Sasaki
18) Craig Murray
19) Trace Cooke
20) Ryan Faye
21) Stefan Hausi
22) George Rodney
24) Mickael Bimboes
24) Taisuke Kusunoki
It was an incredible start to the 2018 season! Watch a replay of the event above, and be sure to follow us today on the FWT social media channels and freerideworldtour.com for a second event taking place at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, in Golden, B.C. We’re taking advantage of the weather, in order to re-stage the Hakuba, Japan stop that was pushed back due to difficult weather and snow conditions.