Friday, March 9

Big Mountain Championship Preview

freezeonline.com

There's no other ski sector in the world like Les Tufs, situated right in the heart of the resort. This part of the mountain overlooks the Lac de Tignes, from where the entire resort can watch the riders making their tracks.

There are a number of routes down, and that's what freeskiing is all about. Rock jumps, steep couloirs, the finish at the lake, this west-facing mountain side which opens up onto the balcony of Tignes has it all.

The theatre-like setting right in the centre of the resort is a bonus for the spectators, and a high-speed ski lift close by will mean that the race can run smoothly, with the competitors able to get up to the starting point quickly after each run.

To ensure that the race is second to none, and to provide the conditions that the discipline needs for pure skiing and freedom of expression, the Les Tufs sector will be used only for the final runs and will be closed to the public for most of the winter, particularly during the week before the race. The qualifying runs will take place in another great sector in Tignes: the north face of Grande Balme, above Tignes Val Claret.

Rider: Sverre Liliequist

The World Championships program

Sunday March 11: Competitor registration - Tignespace (race office)
- 7 p.m.: Registration closes
- 8 p.m.: Race comittee (all competitors must attend) - Tignespace (Calypso)

Monday March 12: Qualifying course inspection
- 10 a.m.-2 p.m.: Official inspection of the qualifying course - Grande Balme & Petite Balme
- 5 p.m.: «Freeride Update», the latest news from the World Championships - Place du Lac
- 5.30 p.m.: Race comittee (all competitors must attend) - Tignespace (Calypso)
- 6.30 p.m.: World Championships opening ceremony: public bib draw for the top 15 competitors, show on the history of skiing - Millonex slope

Tuesday March 13: 1st qualifying run - face nord Petite Balme
- 9 a.m.: Competitor briefing
- 10.30 a.m.: Start of first qualifying run
- 5.00 p.m.: «Freeride Update», the latest news from the World Championships - Place du Lac
- 6 p.m.: Race committee (all competitors must attend) - Tignespace (Calypso)

Wednesday March 14: 2nd qualifying run - face nord Grande Balme
- 9 a.m.: Competitor briefing
- 10.30 a.m.: Start of second qualifying run
- 5.00 p.m.: «Freeride Update», the latest news from the World Championships - Place du Lac
- 6 p.m.: Race committee (all competitors must attend) - Tignespace (Calypso)

Thursday March 15: Final runs - Les Tufs (Tovière)
- 8 a.m.: Briefing for finalists
- 8.30-10.30 a.m.: Inspection by finalists of the final course
- 11 a.m.: Start of first final run
- 1 p.m.: Start of second final run
- 7 p.m.: World Championships closing ceremony, show featuring the finalists of the Big Mountain World Championships - Millonex slope
- 10.00 p.m.: Official closing party (entertainment, bar, Flair For Freedom fashion show, trophy giving ceremony, live music and DJ mix) - Tignespace (Olympe)

Friday March 16: Day in reserve

This program may be subject to change depending on snow and weather conditions. The qualifying runs may start on the Monday.

Who will be taking part in the World Championships?
12 women and 45 men Made up of pre-qualifiers and riders who will qualify during the 00/01 season

Who are the pre-qualifiers? Some riders have already qualified on the basis of previous results and their ranking in the IFSA Big Mountain World Tour and IFSA Big Mountain Continental Tour. Others will be awarded a wild card by the event organizers. This wild card is an invitation to participate made to riders who have not fulfilled the selection criteria but who have a promising potential and a good chance of reaching the final.

Women: 6 pre-qualifiers, among which - Linda Peterson (USA) - Wendy Fisher (USA) - Jennifer Ashton (CAN) - Anne Cattelin (FRA)

Men: 18 pre-qualifiers, among which - Chris Davenport (USA) - Shane McConkey (USA) - Will Burks (USA) - Gordy Peifer (USA) - Robbie Rollins (USA) - Rex Wehrman (USA) - Hugo Harrison (CAN) - Todd Windle (NZL) - Geoff Small (NZL) - Guerlain Chicherit (FRA) - Seb Michaud (FRA) - Arno Adam (FRA) - Romain Maitre (FRA) - Laurent Niol (FRA) - Sverre Liliequist (SWE) - Stian Hagen (NOR)

Who can qualify during the 00/01 season?

Women: 6 qualifying places
* American circuit: 1 place for the winner of each of the following competitions: Whistler (CAN) and Snowbird (USA)
* European circuit: 1 place for the winner of each of the following competitions: Tignes (FRA) and Oberjoch (GER)
* International circuit: 1 place for the winner of the Red Bull Snow Thrill in Chamonix

Men: 27 qualifying places
* American circuit: 1 place for the 3 top-placed riders in each of the following competitions: Whistler (CAN) and Snowbird (USA). 4 wild cards, awarded on the basis of riders' results in current and previous competitions.
* European circuit: 1 place for the 3 top-placed riders in each of the following competitions: Tignes (FRA) and Oberjoch (GER). 5 wild cards, awarded on the basis of riders' results in current and previous competitions.
* International circuit: 1 place for the 4 top-placed competitors in the Red Bull Snow Thrill in Chamonix.

* Chamonix and Oberjoch events having been cancelled, the qualifying places for the World Championships will be attributed, following the decision of the IFSA, to the 4 first men and the 2 first women of the freeride of les Arcs and Courchevel's finishing lists.
* If a rider wins more than one of the qualifying events selected for the World Championships, his/her place will automatically be given to the runner-up.

Race format:

Qualifying runs: North face of Grande Balme, above Tignes Val Claret. 2 qualifying runs, with the best of the 2 scores counting towards qualification for the final.

The final: Face des Tufs, Tignes Le Lac. The 5 best women and 15 best men from the qualifying runs will qualify for the first final run. In the case of the men, only the 10 best riders from the first run will qualify for the second run of the final. The points total will be calculated by adding the results from the qualifying runs to those for the first and second runs of the final.

The judges reserve the right to qualify riders on the basis of one run only if weather and snow conditions dictate.

The judging panel: Marks will be awarded by 5 international judges, supervised by a head judge, Régis Emery (FRA), who will not be awarding marks. The judges will be:

- Michel Beaudry (CAN)
- Nick Mills (NZ)
- Robert Gustafson (SWE)
- Anselme Baud (FRA)
- Francine Moreillon (SUI)

Marking criteria: The marking criteria are defined by the IFSA, and are:
- difficulty and choice of route
- control (number of falls)
- smoothness (number of stops)
- aggressiveness and gradient of descent (height of jumps, consistency of speed and line chosen)
- style (technique, balance, tricks, etc.).

Prize money: A minimum of 25,000 euros will be divided among the best riders.

Rider profiles

Guerlain Chicherit (22), Tignes - France By far the biggest media star in this discipline, his good looks and dexterity on skis have got him noticed and made him a crowd-pleaser. He has an impressive winning record and his rides will take your breath away. He started his career as a mogul skier, but in 1997 got involved in freeskiing, spending the first two years after that featuring in skiing videos. In 1999, he got onto the competition circuit. So far this skier, born and bred in Tignes, has a string of victories to his name (winner of the World Championships in Valdez, Alaska in April 99; 1st in the New Zealand Rip Curl Heli Challenge in summer 99; 1st in the Tignes freeride in February 2000 and the freeride in Sölden, Austria, during the 2000 season; winner of the event in Whistler, Canada, which counts towards the World Cup, and of the Red Bull Snow Thrill in Chamonix). This season he easily won the World Tour event in Snowbird, USA, in January. Alongside this devastating success, he has launched a line of freeskiing gear, Flair For Freedom, and the high-quality and crazy items in his collection are already being snapped up. Adept at just about any other extreme sport, his other passion these days is undoubtedly motor racing, and the challenge he has set himself to beat the roller blading speed record (over 300 km/h, pulled by a car). A top professional who still has a few surprises up his sleeve.

Thony Hémery (28), Tignes - France A huge figure from the world of hot-dogging (mogul skiing), whose titles include the Crystal Globe (top-placed skier in the World Cup general ranking) in 1997 and 1999, Thony is an ex-member of the French freestyle ski team but now devotes most of his time to freeskiing. A member of the "Ca Envoie du Gros" team, Thony, who was born in Tignes, breaks the sound barrier when he skis and clears the Great Wall of China when he jumps. He proved his worth during the 99-00 season, his first season freeskiing, by winning both the Grand Raid de Chamonix and Grand Raid de l'Espace Killy; he also finished first in the Mountain Challenge (Nuits de la Glisse 00) in Chamonix and topped the podium in the Tignes freeride in 1999. His sporting and human qualities are universally recognised. Game for anything, when training he regular indulges in free fall, paragliding, mountain biking and any other high-adrenaline sport. This season he is expected to be a regular sight at the top of the podium.

Anne Cattelin (29), Courchevel - France A member of the French freestyle (moguls) team for 8 years, Anne, from Courchevel, first got fully involved with the freeskiing circuit in 1997, and in her first year won a number of events, including the Courchevel freeride. In 1999, she hit the big time, confirming her talent by becoming runner-up at the World Championships in Valdez, Alaska and also winning the Tignes freeride. In 2000 she won the Chamonix Red Bull and came second in the event in Sölden, Austria. She is currently at the top of the ranking in the 00/01 Tour, and one of her objectives is of course to win the World Championships in Tignes. In addition to the physical effort, which she loves, she goes for the maximum adrenaline rush, speed and air penetration. Otherwise, the self-effacing Anne dreams of a house full of children and animals ... And why not both?

Andrea Binning (24), Melbourne - Australia Andrea is above all a cosmopolitan and modern young woman. She loves jetting around the world, especially when that gives her the chance to make tracks in fresh, untouched powder. Born in Melbourne, Australia, she started very young as a downhill skier, before going on to prove her talent in freestyle skiing competitions. With wide-ranging talents in a huge number of skiing disciplines, Andrea entered her first freeskiing competition with the New Zealand Heli Challenge in 1997, with no ambitions to win. She finished a magnificent third and decided there and then to become a professional freeskier. And she?s never looked back since. At 24, she is the youngest woman to head the ranking. Her achievements to date: 1st place in both the 1999 and 2000 New Zealand Heli Challenge, and winner of WESC 2000 (the World Extreme Skiing Championships) in Valdez, Alaska. In addition, she recently came second in the Freeskiing Championships in Whistler, Canada, earning her a place in the forthcoming World Championships in Tignes. This series of successes won her a nomination in the extreme sports category at the World Sports Awards 2000, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 16 January 2001. In the end it was Paola Pezzo, Olympic women's mountain biking gold medal winner who won, but it was nevertheless a huge honour for Andrea, the only representative from the freeskiing scene nominated.

Arno Adam (29), Chamonix - France Arno will be remembered first and foremost as the first Frenchman to bring the title of World Extreme Skiing Champion home to France in 1998. His powerful skiing style (he is of solid Chamonix stock) and good looks have earned him a sufficiently high profile to get freeskiing officially recognised even in the pages of Le Monde. Together with the European champion, Seb Michaud (from La Clusaz), who managed to get the international freeskiing scene to adopt the French style, he paved the way for the development of the principal of the pro-model with Dynastar in 1996, a technique in which ski manufacturers did not really believe until they came on the scene. These days, after having lost his place to Guerlain, he is devoting himself full time to putting together and presenting a 52-minute TV programme called "Jours Blancs" for France 2, due to be shown in the early autumn. This is why he has been scouring the world to find just the right spot, the perfect slope and the best pictures? Honoured to have qualified, he is delighted to be returning to the event, after having voluntarily withdrawn last season to make his programme. Everyone is waiting patiently for his return, and you can be sure we haven't heard the last from him yet.

Hugo Harrisson (23), Whistler - Canada Hugo Harrison has undeniably become one of the figureheads of freeskiing. Unknown last year, he is now the person to beat on the freeskiing scene. But all this Canadian is doing is remaining faithful to his worthy predecessors, and his fame rests on one simple fact: he is a down-to-earth and un-showy performer, whose talent lies in his aggressive and solid style; he is quite simply made of the stuff of heroes. Winner of the IFSA tour 2000 and consistently ranked in the top 5 in international competitions, 1st in the Courchevel Freeride Classique after completing a truly magnificent run, and 2nd in the Sölden Freeride in 2000, Hugo is the prototype winner. This January he came second after Guerlain in the World Tour event in Snowbird, USA. A former competitor on the downhill circuit, and having won his first title aged 5, he is as low-key off skis as he is powerful on them. He lives in Pemberton near Whistler, one of the band of freeskiers who have headed for Western Canada in order to find quality snow. But having learned to ski on the east coast, where the snow is always hard, these days he is applying his technique to powder, and is working just as hard to perfect it. On ice, there is no choice, you have to be a powerful skier. By combining the technique of a hardened skier with the smoothness required for skiing in powder, and thereby carving out some inspired runs, Hugo seems to have succeeded in producing some kind of alchemy. It's perhaps too early to tell if he has turned himself into pure gold, but you can be sure that we are going to see more of this Canadian.