Surprise home win in Freeride World Tour

28th February 2012, by Chris Gill

Contemplating the drop. Røldal mountains, Norway. (c) Visit Norway

Norwegian freeride skier Dennis Risvoll took a surprise win in the fourth stage of the Freeride World Tour this week.

The competition was held in Risvoll’s home country of Norway for the first time, where the skier’s two back flips and technical lines earned him top spot – ahead of Frenchman and world champion Aurélien Ducroz. The competition face in Røldal was a mix of cliffs and wind lips, with packed and icy snow conditions. But Risvoll took a a creative line and scored the best points of the day to win.

Season wild card Sam Smoothy of New Zealand, who won in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, took third with high speed in a powerful run. With his third place today he still sits in first place is the overall standings.

In snowboarding, two Austrians and a Swiss competitor combined the best features with stable landings to take the top three places. In the women’s events, the location was enjoyed by all despite flat light at times. And it was a tight finish in the skiing section, with Christine Hargin of Sweden scoring most points. In the snowboarding a Frenchwoman, Margot Rozies, lead the way; but it is American Maria de Bari that maintains the overall top ranking in the series.

Next stop on the World Tour is Fieberbrunn in Austria.

• freeride
• norway
• roldal

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