Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Going into Verbier, it doubles up.
00:06 It's more consequences, but also more opportunities.
00:09 It's kind of the goal from the start of the season.
00:12 You can see the atmosphere in Verbier.
00:14 It's a big event.
00:15 Now it's all about the finals.
00:17 All of a sudden, world titles are at play.
00:20 And these days, most of the riders have nothing to lose.
00:23 It's the nature of sport.
00:25 It's kind of like what everybody in the freeride competitions
00:28 are looking forward to and striving to be at.
00:32 I want to send it.
00:33 I want to go big.
00:35 Go fast.
00:36 They're definitely going to be extra challenging,
00:39 and I'm looking forward to it.
00:41 There's more on the line in the finals,
00:42 and anything can happen.
00:44 Now we are in finals, and it's go time.
00:47 Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Freeride World
00:57 Tour by Peak Performance.
00:59 We have reached our crowning event in Switzerland,
01:02 the Yeti Extreme Verbier.
01:05 This is the final showdown for FWT 2024,
01:09 and we couldn't ask for a better arena.
01:11 World champions will be crowned on the hallowed grounds
01:13 of Verbier today.
01:16 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:19 Checking out the Bec de Ros, today's venue
01:31 for the Yeti Extreme Verbier.
01:34 The women's category is kicking things off on the Pitibec.
01:37 This is a northeast face, which has been a little more
01:40 protected from the wind.
01:41 So the riders are expecting good, consistent snow up
01:44 until they reach the bottom of the venue.
01:46 And then we have the big kahuna, the Bec de Ros.
01:51 Now talking about how steep it is,
01:53 there's an average gradient of 48 degrees
01:56 with some seriously consequential zones
01:58 in the upper third of the face, pushing well into 50 degrees.
02:01 And we are ready for a show of shows.
02:07 A lot of nerves at play today.
02:11 And Estelle Rizzolio is ready to kick things off as she drops
02:15 in, and we are on.
02:17 Heading down to one drop right.
02:20 She wants to go trajectory critical here
02:23 if you want to land this.
02:24 So Estelle into the fall line, and she's off.
02:26 But not being able to stick it.
02:28 Dropping in from start one, already catching some airtime,
02:34 and looking super solid and comfortable
02:37 in that steep terrain.
02:38 She's looking to get some more features here.
02:41 Beautiful landing.
02:42 And another chunky one here as Anna lines it up
02:45 on that toe side edge.
02:48 And stomps it.
02:51 She's got the confidence.
02:52 She's got the skills.
02:53 She's got the ability to do it.
02:55 Now it's just time to execute.
02:58 Making a big toe side turn there,
03:00 finding the right take off, stomping it.
03:03 Again, no hesitation.
03:05 Oh, perfect stomp.
03:06 Brilliant.
03:07 Incredible riding here from our rankings leader.
03:11 Nuria has another one lined up straight off the end
03:14 and stomped again.
03:15 Into a cheeky double.
03:17 All right, well, we are back to the start gate
03:23 for Rosslyn's Erin Sauve.
03:26 She's lining up her first feature here,
03:29 finding the right take off.
03:31 Stomping that one, and really good board control.
03:34 Pretty big feature, lining that one up perfectly.
03:38 Going huge there.
03:40 Yes, Erin.
03:41 That was dope.
03:42 That was a spectacular run there from Erin Sauve.
03:44 So she knew coming into this that with a win--
03:48 and we've got the Yeti Cooler Jump there in the finish area.
03:52 All right, well, judges have had their say quickly.
03:54 89.33.
03:56 Erin Sauve becomes a world champion and a champion
04:00 on the Bec de Ross.
04:03 I love you guys at home.
04:04 Thanks for watching.
04:06 Thanks for supporting.
04:07 Love you all so much.
04:08 Your podium, third place in the bronze medal for Anna Martinez,
04:12 second place, Nuria Castanberan, and Erin Sauve,
04:15 the champion on the Bec.
04:16 Welcome back to the Yeti Extreme Verbier.
04:32 We are underway.
04:33 With ski women here, 2024.
04:36 These are basically the three that are in contention.
04:39 My goal since I started freeriding
04:46 was to become the Freeride World Champion.
04:48 And let's say it's been a journey to try to get there.
04:54 I'm going to do everything I can to do it.
04:57 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:00 And Manon Lowski now kicking things off on the Petit Bec.
05:08 She's just so fast and so confident in her skiing.
05:15 Big double doesn't quite pull it around.
05:26 Oh my god.
05:29 Sybille Blanchon from Verbier is on the Bec.
05:33 Just navigating her way to find her first air.
05:36 Slamming some turns down there.
05:38 Carrying some real speed through into the next section.
05:42 And another one sneaking through that little door.
05:44 No hesitation, not even a slight speed check.
05:47 Sybille Blanchon using that technique that
05:49 got her the win in Georgia and wanting desperately
05:52 to back that up with another win here on her home soil.
05:57 Well, here we go.
05:58 We've got Zuzanna Witek.
06:01 Heading over to find her first bit of air time.
06:04 Test that knee out.
06:06 And looking pretty solid there.
06:10 Such strong ski technique from the Polish rider
06:13 as she sneaks through the side door here
06:15 and right off the nose of that air.
06:17 Zuza stomping.
06:19 Coming up to find her takeoff.
06:21 Perfect landing.
06:22 What an impressive run.
06:24 We see the score dropping now.
06:26 And it is going way up 88.67 for Zuzanna Witek.
06:34 We are going to check in with one of our other title
06:36 contenders.
06:37 Hedwig Wessel, she is in contention for the title.
06:40 But she needs to win if she wants to win.
06:43 [MUSIC PLAYING]
06:46 Hedwig Wessel coming out with intention
06:57 as she gets high on this face.
06:58 This is the most aggressive pace we've seen so far
07:01 in the ski women's category.
07:03 Sailing over the bomb holes from the other riders
07:06 and connecting absolutely perfectly with the transition.
07:10 Hedwig Wessel now with a couple of control turns
07:13 and lining up this bottom feature right off the nose.
07:17 Going huge.
07:20 Incredible run from the peak performance athlete.
07:23 Full throttle from Hedwig Wessel, top to bottom.
07:27 She wanted it.
07:29 And she got it.
07:30 That was unbelievable.
07:32 We see the score, the numbers up, up, up.
07:35 93.33.
07:39 OK, Astrid, I wish you the best.
07:43 But don't beat me.
07:45 Fuck.
07:47 She has more pressure and that balance.
07:49 She wants to go big, but she needs to stay on her feet.
07:52 How do you balance that as a rider?
07:54 I need this.
07:55 Please.
07:56 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:00 [WIND BLOWING]
08:03 She is on the face, catching some air time straight out
08:16 of start one.
08:18 It is steep over here, skiing above exposure.
08:20 Astrid, with that trademark speed,
08:23 she always is skiing fast.
08:25 And she is above no easy way out of this section.
08:29 Big stomping the landing.
08:31 Nice.
08:33 OK, good job, girl.
08:35 Lining it up here and taking a big chunk out of this one.
08:41 Oh, the ski just getting caught up twice in the crust.
08:45 That left foot kicking out, Astrid.
08:47 Oh.
08:54 For these athletes, here is the score.
08:57 It's up.
09:00 It's an 86.00.
09:07 I think this happy.
09:11 Incredible scenes.
09:12 We've got the results from today.
09:14 Hedvig Wessel locking down the win here with Susanne Wittek,
09:19 overcoming that knee injury to pull in second place.
09:21 And Astrid Shea-Luz with an incredible recovery
09:24 from that tough landing in third position.
09:27 Here we go.
09:27 This is what it's done to the overall rankings.
09:30 Your brand new world champion from Norway, Hedvig Wessel,
09:35 sitting on 36,000 points with that win today.
09:38 After a seriously long battle, she
09:42 is going to be your brand new freeride world tour champion.
09:47 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:56 Starting at the top of the back is really intimidating.
10:00 It's a whole different level.
10:01 It's almost like a different sport to other venues.
10:03 And I'm for sure a little bit nervous about it,
10:06 but also can't wait to have it done.
10:09 Our next stop is the big back.
10:14 The Bechderas riders starting from the top
10:17 for the first time in a long time.
10:19 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:29 All right, Victor De La Rue.
10:31 He is your world champion.
10:33 He's looking really comfortable in this hyper exposed terrain.
10:37 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:41 Victor off the brake.
10:42 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:44 As he lines it up off the Hollywood.
10:46 But not able to stick it.
10:47 Looks like a little short.
10:48 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:52 This is Holden Samuels.
10:53 Taking some big air there and hooning through this bowl.
10:57 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:59 Lining up the big air there, letting it rip.
11:03 Yeah, the dog leg as it snows, it
11:05 tends to flush itself out with the slough.
11:07 Another big one for Holden.
11:08 Pointing it off the nose of that.
11:10 And perfect landing.
11:11 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:14 Timmy Schroeder.
11:15 Works his way down the ridge there.
11:17 And he did tell me before his run
11:19 that he has the biggest balls of the game.
11:20 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:26 He's lining up another big feature at the bottom there.
11:30 Oh, Timmy going just over a quick punch front.
11:33 Just pinballing his way through the lower section.
11:36 Pretty scary moment there on the Bechderas.
11:38 The consequence on this face is real.
11:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:45 We are back up at the top with Michael Maughan.
11:48 The gnarlier the better for this guy.
11:49 The steeper it gets, the more at home he is.
11:51 And Michael Maughan is on the Bech.
11:54 Working his way into the dog's leg couloir.
11:57 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:01 Getting into the gnar.
12:03 Yeah, no other way out but to air as he makes now
12:06 his entrance into the central couloir
12:08 as Michael Maughan now approaching the Hollywood
12:12 cliff.
12:13 And good landing there.
12:15 Managing to control his speed.
12:17 Nailing it.
12:18 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:21 And he's certainly found his way.
12:24 All right, some words there from Michael.
12:26 An 85.
12:27 3-3, a big score there for Michael Maughan.
12:30 Our next rider who is in the gate from right here
12:33 in Verbier, Liam Rivera.
12:34 He's been on the top of the Bech,
12:36 but he said it's very different doing it
12:38 with a competition mindset.
12:40 We saw Michael go through here on the toe side edge,
12:43 but Liam having to do it on the heel side
12:44 adds even another element of difficulty to that.
12:47 Airing into the central, that is a bold move.
12:50 As you see now, there's nothing under him but ginormous cliffs.
12:55 And one of those is going to be his aim.
12:57 The Hollywood cliff, straight off the nose.
12:59 Liam Rivera stomps it.
13:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:05 And Liam now still not letting go with a back flip.
13:09 Bringing it around to his feet perfectly.
13:11 Liam Rivera showing that he is at home in his backyard.
13:15 Well, here we see the score is coming in for Liam.
13:18 It is a big one.
13:19 89 flat.
13:20 So he moves into second.
13:22 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:26 As we head back on up to the top,
13:28 another very dangerous man on this face, Jonathan Penfield.
13:32 I cannot wait to see what he brings to the Bech.
13:34 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:36 So he is dropping into the steep section on the Lucas left,
13:39 right into the dog's leg, Kua.
13:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:43 Yeah, delicate balance between having
13:45 the line being tracked out.
13:48 Jonathan with a huge 360 to enter the dog leg.
13:51 What a move.
13:52 He is on fire.
13:54 Yeah, and he's been in this zone before in 2016,
13:57 so he knows what he's doing.
13:58 Another decent air there, and just keeping
14:00 his speed under control.
14:01 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:05 Well, Jon Pau now on the heel side
14:07 and going way over into an area that we
14:10 haven't seen much action.
14:11 Airing over that rock section and stomping clean again.
14:15 Look at what he's doing at above.
14:16 You cannot overstate.
14:18 Another big one from Jon.
14:20 Going huge there.
14:21 Now he's letting the brakes off and letting
14:24 it run out into the bowl.
14:26 OK, score coming in.
14:27 The number's up.
14:28 And 92 for Jonathan Penfield.
14:32 And he is pretty satisfied with that.
14:37 So Jonathan Penfield showing that experience counts.
14:40 The local boy, Liam Rivera, backing it up
14:43 in second position.
14:44 Michael Morn in third.
14:46 And this is going to be our podium.
14:48 Jonathan Penfield with a huge win, a 92-point run
14:53 on the back.
14:54 The overall ranking shortly, Victor De La Rue
14:57 not able to be pushed off the top.
14:59 Jonathan Penfield jumping up into that second spot.
15:03 And Liam Rivera rounding out the overall podium.
15:06 What a huge thing.
15:07 Open the Thunderdome.
15:13 We're open for business.
15:14 It's on right now.
15:15 This is the big category.
15:17 Well, it's really steep and a bit scary for me.
15:24 But it was a dream of mine when I watched the tour
15:27 to ski the back from the top.
15:29 And on Friday, it's the day.
15:33 So he actually took the more aggressive entrance
15:36 off the top there.
15:36 When we were all standing there the other day,
15:38 those were two of the scariest turns
15:39 that I thought you could make.
15:41 Doing really quick work of it, too.
15:43 That is so steep up there, so gnarly.
15:46 How steep this is as he is making his way down
15:49 into the Xavier De La Rue clip and landing it perfectly.
15:54 [MUSIC PLAYING]
15:57 Above this big block of rock, tossing a backflip,
16:00 comes around, a little bounce, but he's up and clean.
16:04 Into the central, there's So with another huge 360.
16:09 720.
16:11 Yeah, from the dog.
16:14 Unfortunately, not coming clean on that one.
16:16 But wow, talk about the progression of the sport.
16:19 [MUSIC PLAYING]
16:23 Christopher Turdell with surgical precision.
16:36 You can see the slough moving behind him,
16:38 but he's keeping himself at a pace
16:40 where it's not catching up.
16:42 And now, lining himself up over the Xavier De La Rue,
16:45 taking it absolutely huge, landing perfect.
16:48 [MUSIC PLAYING]
16:51 Same thing, 360 down the pipe, and yow, gaining control.
16:58 But getting almost a little high-sided there
17:01 as he makes his way into the dog leg.
17:03 Skinny little entrance, Andrew, you called it.
17:05 Craig Murray, inspiring.
17:07 Most of these riders have been watching past competitions
17:10 with a backflip.
17:12 Takes it huge.
17:13 [MUSIC PLAYING]
17:17 Now, Ben coming into the Hollywood.
17:19 We saw Finn spin this.
17:20 Ben taking it deep and landing perfectly,
17:22 getting on the right foot just to shed a little bit of speed.
17:25 Holding on now, trying to control his speed.
17:29 Huge 360 there, and riding out so relaxed.
17:33 Ben Richards with a front flip into the finish.
17:35 Perfect.
17:36 And that is why he is the people's champ, folks.
17:39 That's why he's your favorite skier's favorite skier.
17:42 [MUSIC PLAYING]
17:45 You can't really put your skis in the fall line
17:47 unless you're willing to let go all the way.
17:51 Maxime, really technical now, coming
17:54 across this enormous one.
17:55 And with a 360, lands again clean.
17:58 Getting a lot of play on that clip.
18:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
18:03 Standing on the top, a couple of final breaths
18:05 as he readies himself.
18:08 You can see what he's traversing above.
18:11 Airing off that little blade feature with a nice turn.
18:15 The slough ripping down as Vin Bilas just
18:18 into the heart of the Bechdelross.
18:20 [MUSIC PLAYING]
18:23 Coming in on the Hollywood.
18:26 Huge 360.
18:28 That is, Andrew, you just said a world's first.
18:31 Vin Bilas tossing a 360 off the Hollywood.
18:33 [MUSIC PLAYING]
18:38 And landing absolutely perfectly.
18:41 Now picking up a gut full of speed.
18:43 White rooming himself.
18:44 Hopefully he can still see where he's going.
18:46 Taking that one super deep, carrying so much speed here.
18:51 Another three.
18:53 Cross court, so smooth from Vin Bilas.
18:56 Incredible display of skiing there for Vin.
18:59 Hand in the air.
19:01 He's going to be elated.
19:02 Yeah, that was a special one to see.
19:04 I've been waiting for that for a long time.
19:06 Ross Tester and I used to joke about spinning the Hollywood.
19:08 He thought it went.
19:09 I didn't.
19:10 And Vin just proved that it goes.
19:12 [MUSIC PLAYING]
19:15 We only have two riders that are in contention
19:18 for the world title.
19:19 Whichever one of them takes it is going to be a new champion.
19:23 [MUSIC PLAYING]
19:26 Marcus Gogan, if he wins today and hits it,
19:28 gets fourth or less, then Marcus is world champion.
19:32 The building excitement and intensity
19:34 of this reverse order start is definitely exciting.
19:37 The last person to drop being the one with it all to lose.
19:40 [MUSIC PLAYING]
19:43 Enormous exposure, backing himself to place
19:49 in turns above all those rocks.
19:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]
19:53 Yeah, and I was talking to him.
19:55 He actually wants to open up this new way
19:57 to get into the central couloir that hasn't been skied yet
20:00 today, which is a pretty intimidating task.
20:02 Marcus Gogan now on this big exposed spine.
20:07 [MUSIC PLAYING]
20:08 Airing in, riding out strong, heading over above Gil Warolde.
20:15 360, stop.
20:17 [MUSIC PLAYING]
20:20 Marcus has something else planned here.
20:23 Setting up, making the turn, and then he wants to double here.
20:28 Bouncing and stopping.
20:30 Wow.
20:30 Hold it.
20:31 Marcus Gogan with a brand new line on the Bec de Ross
20:34 and the absolutely enormous triple.
20:38 Unbelievable line there.
20:41 That was so much bigger than it looked.
20:44 Holy guacamole.
20:46 The judges got their work cut out for them.
20:48 [MUSIC PLAYING]
20:51 Oh, they loved it.
20:56 96 points for Marcus Gogan.
21:01 Wow, and it's on.
21:03 Max Hitzig is at the top.
21:07 Marcus Gogan, you neither.
21:09 [MUSIC PLAYING]
21:12 Max Hitzig, three, two, one, go.
21:17 [MUSIC PLAYING]
21:20 He's going to try and enter into the central couloir
21:24 from this spicy little corridor.
21:27 Yeah, and opening up that entrance for the day,
21:29 the judges are going to love that, entering right
21:32 where Abandoned Finn entered.
21:33 And yeah, here we go.
21:35 Taking an air huge above all this exposure below him.
21:40 Unbelievable.
21:41 And now Max coming down above the Hollywood,
21:45 lining it up, getting his last vision,
21:47 and pumping off the Hollywood cliff with a perfect landing.
21:50 [MUSIC PLAYING]
21:53 Big 360 there.
21:57 Looks like a clean landing.
21:59 We didn't quite catch it, but he's riding out strong.
22:03 And one more feature last for him to make his statement here.
22:07 And going way bigger than everyone else.
22:09 Oh, with a little bit of a backslap.
22:12 We've got a man in the hot seat with a 96.
22:14 The drama building here.
22:17 It's in the judges' hands, both the event and the world title.
22:23 What a time to be alive.
22:24 Time while I love you, but I also hate you.
22:27 I love you, Max, man.
22:29 All just electrified by the show we have seen today
22:33 in the Yeti Extreme Verbier.
22:34 Now it's in the judges' hands.
22:38 Here we go.
22:38 The score is coming in for Hitzig.
22:40 It goes a 94, 6'7".
22:44 Max Hitzig, say hello to the new world champ, baby.
22:49 I'm so excited, man.
22:50 One and two right there.
22:51 Like I said, that's the future.
22:54 Those are the two of the best gigs
22:55 I've ever seen come and do this.
22:59 Here you see bronze medal to Finn Villis, silver medal
23:02 to Max Hitzig and Marcus Gogen of the Whistler Freeride Club
23:06 locking down a win on the back.
23:09 World Tour by peak performance.
23:11 We see the world champion, Max Hitzig,
23:15 with just incredible season of consistency.
23:18 Marcus Gogen sitting in second spot overall.
23:21 And Ben Richards holds on to that third spot.
23:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]
23:29 [MUSIC PLAYING]
23:32 (electronic music)
23:35 (whooshing)