Fresh snow in the dolomites was a good reason for Alex Hoffmann and me to leave the austrian mountains behind for a few days. The goal was to ride as many "canali stretti" as possible, obviously it has to be challenging and with good snow.
Sella
Considering snow quality and stability we had to decide with which couloir we start. In Italy they have different law and the consequence of releasing an avalanche can be quite serious. Anyway we wanna stay safe, but it`s always important to have all facts and options of what can happen on the mountains in your mind.
Within 3 days we could manage to ride the following couloirs: Canale Vallencant, Canale Holzer, Canale Larsei, Canale Larsei est, Canale Sass de Forcia, Vallone d`Antermoia, Canale di Creste Bianche and some more smaller "freeride lines" we hiked...
Thank you Burger, Joi and Simon for all your effort - was so much fun last winter! Happy to enjoy epic days again with my friends - be prepared for the project we are doing this season.
Within 30 minutes you can go from Courmayeur to Chamonix by taking the tunnel just through the Mont Blanc massif. The difference between this two places is much bigger than the distance...
The whole set up for the event here in Chamonix in huge and it`s great to be one of the riders who is qualified. It`s always a good atmosphere in the event village at the center of Chamonix where BIB draw and price giving ceremony take place.
face check
my line in Chamonix
Luckily the snowboarders start first again, this means also that we have to wake up very early on contest day: 5:30am breakfast time, 6:30 first gondola, 7:00 start hiking in the dark and finally 9:00 we are supposed to drop in.
Knowing that the snow is good, I decided to go for a line that could be good enough for a podium. I started good, had some fresh turns and went fast and clean till the double drop, which was my last feature in my run. Unfortunately I had a butt check, which was not good at all - 12th place.
always important to scope the line with different angles
"on mountain" riders meeting
upper part of my run
After watching the other riders, I went up to Aiguille du Midi together with Christina, Otto and Laura who came here for the first time. We enjoyed the great panoramic view up there and went down the "Valleè Blanche" - a 2800 vertical metre descent to Chamonix.
After missing the first FreerideWorldTour event in Revelstoke, I had a good feeling about competing in Courmayeur, Italy. Right after face check on friday weather moved in and the contest was postponed till Tuesday. Not too bad, Courmayeur is a good place to stay and we got some nice turns during that waiting period.
espresso break with Stefan and McFly
This time snowboarders started after skiers, who are about 30 competitors. As the venue did not allow so many different options, I choose a line I felt comfortable with, even if there would be quite a few tracks before I start. It could ride pretty much as planed and finished 6th place with a solid run and not taking too much risk.
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