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00:00We are in Val Thorens, France for stop number two of the Freeride World Tour, the Val Thorens Probe.
00:31Welcome back to sunny Val Thorens, France. It is the return of freeride.
00:37This place is absolutely magical, part of the Trois Vallées complex.
00:41Val Thorens is absolutely packed with freeride terrain.
00:45It is one of the jewels of the French Alps for skiing and snowboarding.
00:49It's been so welcoming, it's incredible. The feeling, the vibe around here is just electric right now.
00:56We have a new face. It is the Lac Noir, the black lake you see here as the drone moves across the top.
01:02Extremely steep at the top as we dig into it.
01:05Yeah, starting at 2,500 meters, we'll have three starts today.
01:09So riders can choose where they're going to enter the face.
01:12And then we've got these fluted, perfect splines.
01:15Huge airs are possible on this face.
01:18I think you're going to want to keep your eyes open and not have too much time to blink
01:23because the riders are going to be able to really go big.
01:28It's a blank canvas for the best athletes.
01:32The best riders on the planet ready to go to Unleash in France.
01:37Val Thorens Pro, stick around.
01:54Club's Wei Tien Ho, peak performance rider.
01:57He is so unique in his line choice.
02:04Into the powder, picking up speed with a huge 360.
02:07Wei Tien Ho executing, getting things started.
02:10Oh, screaming semen all the way down, landing, getting control again.
02:14His feet are so quick. Huge 360 for Wei Tien Ho.
02:17Sticks it! Oh!
02:20Massive backflip. Oh!
02:23Oh no, Wei Tien, another victim to that low air.
02:28As we're back up to start one.
02:30And this man made a huge splash in his rookie debut.
02:34It is Toby Rafford out of the gate and straight into the air.
02:39Oh!
02:44He certainly went out aggressive.
02:47Starting from start number one, he will be wearing the golden bib.
02:51That is the current leader of the French Grand Prix.
02:54Oh, he's got it!
02:56He's got it.
02:58He's got it.
03:00He's got it.
03:02He's got it.
03:07He's got it.
03:09He's got it.
03:11He's got it.
03:13He's got it.
03:15Golden bib, that is the current leader of the free Ross Tester.
03:19Well, a 360 right out of the start gate.
03:22And another one. Ross Tester getting control.
03:26A little hung up on the rocks there, Hadley,
03:28as he makes his way into this extremely steep part of the face.
03:31Oh, are you entertained?
03:36Yeah, coming across now onto this nugget, laying out a backflip.
03:40With a late 180.
03:42Wow, what did I just see?
03:45Maximum creativity.
03:47This guy is a force on the Freeride World Tour.
03:53And it is Carl Ragnar Eriksson.
03:56He is straight out of the gate and in terrain than we saw on the other side.
04:00Very much so. Everywhere you put your ski, you have to have full confidence.
04:05And the slough pouring down on both sides of Carl
04:09as he motors through that steep upper section,
04:12having to wipe his goggles to keep some vision
04:15as Carl now approaching this huge cliff up on top.
04:19Setting it looks like for the double.
04:22Oh, releasing quite a lot of snow.
04:24And it has to be much faster than his slough.
04:27Carl comes cooking out of there.
04:29So he released a little surface slab on the pad of that double,
04:33but safely escaping.
04:40For Tendla, just adjusting his trajectory a little bit as he gets cross court.
04:44Going side hill with another backflip.
04:47If you thought he was out of control, you thought wrong.
04:49As Tendla now lofting off this one, popping a nice shift.
04:53Tendla is cooking one up.
04:57Ben Richards, 24 years old.
05:00And oh, the smoothness of that 360.
05:04He just makes it look so effortless.
05:06Floating a lofty cross court, exploding into the powder.
05:09And a totally different take on this feature.
05:17Wow, Ben Richards, full pin.
05:23That is textbook Ben Richards.
05:25As Virgil Didier on this kind of untapped section,
05:29now coming into some tracks,
05:30popping a big backflip over the entire section.
05:34Virgil Didier comes out of the cloud.
05:36Who knows what happened there? Not us.
05:39Perfect control, perfect technique where other people have been having problems.
05:44As you see, he's lining up this first air.
05:46Huge backflip, perfect stomp.
05:49That's what we knew was coming today, that great landing.
05:52Disappearing into the powder with another backflip.
05:56Timo Rooshoven, the former gymnast,
05:59and now a huge 360 connecting.
06:02A little bit of a hip check there as he gets it back.
06:06He's going to get the fans juiced up.
06:09Matisse Fournassier.
06:12Even bigger, what a backflip.
06:14Pulling it back into control.
06:16Going with the flatspin, sailing past the bomb hole from Timo.
06:21Getting up and over, kicking over the rocks.
06:23Another clean landing from Matisse Fournassier.
06:26Now we're really seeing what this young Frenchman has to offer.
06:29Getting on those edges and across.
06:34He's out of the powder cloud.
06:36Yes, that's perfect. That must feel so good for him.
06:41Marcus Goguen kicking out on the Lac Noir.
06:45What? Are you kidding me?
06:48Backflipping off the corners, over the rocks, onto the left ski.
06:52Marcus Goguen getting a little tangled up in the powder.
06:54Another speed as Marcus above all these rocks.
06:58Just holding on there.
07:00Oh my, mouth is on the floor.
07:03What? Another 360.
07:06Marcus Goguen packing more into the shortest piece of terrain on this run.
07:11A big shifty down into the powder.
07:13What are they feeding this guy?
07:1588.67.
07:18Poking his nose over the void and getting things started.
07:23Here we go, straight into it.
07:25Perfect 360 transfer.
07:28Jiu-Jitsu straight into the center of the gut.
07:31Making another transfer with a shifty.
07:35Valet now coming into this big cliff.
07:37Lofty 360, perfect landing.
07:40Valet Rayner showing exactly what he's capable of.
07:44Valet Rayner showing exactly such perfect judgment on the rotation of that 360.
07:50I'm speechless with the perfection of that coming cross-court.
07:54Here we go, the score coming in for Valet Rayner.
07:5789.67.
07:59He is one of the most excited skiers, Martin Bender.
08:04Dropping out of start two, heading towards these first cliff bands.
08:09Setting himself up on top of this monstrous rock.
08:13Huge 360.
08:15Going for this first hit.
08:18Oh, big 360 from Martin Bender now following Valet's track,
08:22but in the other direction with another big three the other way.
08:25So spinning both directions there for Martin Bender.
08:29The slough pouring down and he is not done yet.
08:32Oh, I'm dizzy just thinking about switching directions.
08:36Tricks all over the place in both directions.
08:39Martin Bender, incredible skiing there.
08:4891.67.
08:51A huge score for Martin Bender as he takes over the hot seat.
08:59Wow, well, the level just keeps going up.
09:03The bar getting raised again and again by these riders.
09:07So we've got Martin Bender, the Swiss rider, in first.
09:11Valet, the Austrian, in second.
09:13Markus Gogen with a heater run in third.
09:15Oscar Menden, the French legend.
09:18And Matisse rounding it out in fifth.
09:21Here we see our podium.
09:25Swiss, Austrian and Canadian.
09:34Welcome back to beautiful Val Thorens, France.
09:38The Freeride World Tour by Peak Performance.
09:41We have been treated to a spectacular show so far.
09:46Val Thorens turning it on for us.
09:50Out of start two, Zsuzsanna Vitek.
09:52Straight into it. Perfect off that top clip.
09:55Full commitment. She is not afraid to send.
09:58Going full throttle, absolutely pinned, as is her style.
10:04This big spine forming on the top of that cliff
10:07as Elisabeth approaching off the spine into the powder
10:10and a perfect powder reception there for Elisabeth Gerritsen.
10:14And you can see the feature stacking up underneath her,
10:17getting her bearings, moving across right off the nose.
10:20Elisabeth Gerritsen exploding.
10:23Down to 81 to 6'7".
10:26And a huge grin there from the world champ Elisabeth Gerritsen.
10:35Such good snow over there.
10:37And going where no one else has gone before.
10:40It's a beautiful day.
10:42It's a beautiful day.
10:44It's a beautiful day.
10:46It's a beautiful day.
10:48It's a beautiful day.
10:50Such good snow over there.
10:52And going where no one else has gone.
10:54Opening up a face is such a unique skill set.
10:57You see her riding perfectly through the slough,
10:59through these airs.
11:01Really solid skiing.
11:08And now into it with some intent for Ariya Takomi.
11:12And straight into that transfer like Wei Ten.
11:14Such a nice full commitment.
11:16And really making use of that short landing space
11:19that you have by going cross-court.
11:25Quickly lining herself up for her next air.
11:27360.
11:29Holding on.
11:30First woman to do a 360 in a comp,
11:32and that's become her signature.
11:36Right back up to the top with Taylor Dobbins.
11:40And getting things firing.
11:42The Dynastar rider going way out into the powder
11:45and getting a fresh turn there to start off her campaign.
11:50Fast footwork there.
11:54Another different angle on that one.
11:56And Molly Armanino going aggressive.
12:01She has got quick feet, technical skiing,
12:03and out of start one is Chloe Hare.
12:05Here comes Chloe.
12:06I don't know if we're allowed to have favorites,
12:08but I certainly have mine.
12:10Chloe points her skis towards rocks.
12:13If you watch her GoPro run in Spain,
12:15she just knows how to handle pepper.
12:17Pepper, such a nice run through that double.
12:20And just getting G'd out in the transition.
12:39We're back here to the top.
12:41Scott and peak performance rider,
12:43Elena Kohler.
12:44Absolutely electric athlete.
12:48Proving that she can handle these top full commitment lines.
12:51Coming in with a ton of speed.
12:53And skiing those pow turns strong and powerfully.
13:01Elena Kohler now just enjoying.
13:03Look how deep the powder is there.
13:05She makes her way onto this spiny takeoff
13:08and going way further.
13:11Deep into that landing.
13:12Going huge there.
13:13Elena Kohler.
13:18Pumping off that one as well.
13:20Finding a nice trajectory there.
13:22And going pretty big.
13:23Yeah, a new feature there.
13:24Elena Kohler dropping in,
13:26getting completely engulfed in the powder.
13:28And pinned.
13:29Turn that into a triple and flying out.
13:41Yeah.
13:45So a big start here.
13:47Heavy hitters.
13:48Current Freeride World Tour leader.
13:50And into the heart of her run.
13:52I really think she's up.
13:55Exactly for that reason.
13:57One of the most exciting female riders to watch right now.
14:00She's so good at being a competitive athlete.
14:04So following the track of Elizabeth Gerritsen there.
14:06Off a slightly different trajectory.
14:08Powder landing again.
14:09This section proving popular here with the ski women.
14:12Approaching this little nose here.
14:14Popping off with a backflip.
14:16Justine.
14:17Perfect!
14:19It's becoming her trademark.
14:21She's got the freestyle.
14:27Her skiing on point.
14:28Another feature here for Justine.
14:30And connecting again perfectly.
14:33This is why this woman is wearing the golden bib.
14:39Woohoo!
14:45This is so cool.
14:47Thanks guys.
14:48Love you.
14:49This woman in the start gate.
14:51From right here in France.
14:53Astrid Chellouz.
14:55Now starting her campaign here at home in France.
14:59Huge tricks.
15:00Huge stomping errors.
15:02Launching off that one.
15:03Disappearing into the powder cloud.
15:05Getting trajectory for this next feature.
15:07Popping a backflip.
15:08Astrid Chellouz landing it.
15:10We are witnessing an electric performance here from Astrid Chellouz.
15:18Perfectly in control now.
15:20She's got this looming section underneath as she lines up.
15:24She wants to get the trajectory right.
15:25Popping off.
15:26And a perfect landing.
15:28Astrid Chellouz has the French crowd going absolutely ballistic.
15:32She has put down a run for the ages in front of the home crowd.
15:39Woohoo!
15:40This is so cool.
15:41The judges have had their say.
15:43It's up, up, up, up.
15:4493.67.
15:46Astrid Chellouz takes over.
15:50Here's our overall standings now for the ski women.
15:53We have Astrid taking the top spot.
15:56Justine Devore the point now in second.
15:58Lena Kohler in third.
16:09The next group to drop.
16:10Snowboard women.
16:11The fans fired up.
16:16Mikayla Davis-Meehan with an aggressive start here on the Lac Noir face.
16:20Feature stacked up below her.
16:23She's got a chunky one below her.
16:25And a perfect powder landing into a double.
16:28Holding on.
16:29Plugged again.
16:32And Audrey Hebert right now.
16:34Canadian rider.
16:36Kicking off her campaign at a start too.
16:41Boom!
16:42Audrey Hebert lighting it up out of the start.
16:45That is an electric way to start a Freeride World Tour run with that huge air.
16:53And she's got more in store.
16:54Launching out into the powder.
16:56Audrey Hebert showing exactly why she won the Challenger Tour.
17:00And why she was on the podium in the first event loving these powder conditions.
17:08She's really strong on her feet.
17:11She crosses through and gets all the cheers from the Freeride friends.
17:19Nuria Castanberon having a huge impact in the last event.
17:23So see if she can pull things back together.
17:27Wow!
17:28Amazing.
17:29Dropping straight out of start two.
17:33As we see Nuria out on the way.
17:35Riders right side.
17:36Getting a shifty there.
17:37Popping completely in control for the Spanish rider.
17:40She's feeling pretty good.
17:42I think she's having fun.
17:43Enjoying the snow.
17:44But also really strong riding.
17:46Full commitment.
17:54Okay, here we go.
17:55The score dropping for Nuria.
17:57It's stacking up.
17:58Up, up, up it goes.
17:5983 points for Nuria Castanberon.
18:02The French fans are going to go nuts.
18:05Noemi Aki, a rookie on the Tour.
18:08But already with a win under her belt in Spain for Noemi Aki.
18:13And right off of her first and second feature.
18:16Lining them up.
18:20As she has the pedal down.
18:22Flying.
18:23Flying.
18:24Noemi Aki going so fast through that section.
18:28As Noemi now sending in.
18:30And stomping again.
18:32This girl is on fire.
18:39Well, the score coming in for Noemi Aki.
18:41The judges loving it.
18:4388.33.
18:45We have another French athlete in the hot seat.
18:48The crowd loving this.
18:54Marianne Aerti.
18:56She's a mentor to the woman sitting in the hot seat.
19:00Now the mental game here of going for Noemi.
19:04Marianne Aerti right out of the gate and into it.
19:07Dropping in on to her toe side edge.
19:09Lining up that first cliff that's gotten quite a bit of traffic.
19:12Being really smart about the speed and control.
19:14Coming out of it no problem.
19:16See it ramping up as she moves down.
19:19Right off the nose again.
19:21Disappearing into the snow.
19:22But such control of her board.
19:25The queen is back.
19:27And she is showing exactly why she has those four titles.
19:32Right off the top.
19:33Marianne Aerti landing that one perfectly.
19:36Again, the crowd is going absolutely bananas out here.
19:39At full speed.
19:41Full intensity.
19:42Marianne, she's not done though.
19:43Clouding herself out.
19:44Popping off that lower feature.
19:45That one was just for her.
19:48Marianne Aerti, the French snowboard god.
19:52All right, here we go.
19:55As the score ramping up.
19:5688 is the score.
19:5795.
19:58Oh, come on.
19:59Marianne Aerti returning to Freeride with authority.
20:04Incredible.
20:05Noemi Aki, the first one to come and hug her.
20:09All right, well, let's take a look at the standings here
20:12for the Val Thorens Pro in Snowboard Women.
20:14Marianne Aerti with the top where she's used to being.
20:17Followed right behind with Noemi.
20:19Local hero.
20:20And Nuria rounding out with three.
20:22Audrey and Mikayla Davis-Meehan at the top five.
20:37We are live with snowboard men.
20:39With the heavy hitters.
20:40The big dogs.
20:41All lined up.
20:42Snowboard men.
20:43Snowboard men rounding out the day here at the Val Thorens Pro.
20:50Lofty backflip.
20:51Oh, no.
20:53Cody Bramwell all the way to the bottom and then getting caught up.
20:56I think that was the bomb hole that we saw earlier on in the day.
21:14Coming right out of start two and directly into this zone.
21:18Proving very popular with our snowboard friends.
21:21A super athletic guy.
21:23Grew up riding with his skier brother, so he picks new lines.
21:29Liam Rivera now front three with the shifty.
21:32Oh, perfect landing for Liam.
21:38Trajectory going one way and your body going the other.
21:41Trajectory going one way and your body going the other.
21:43But Liam Rivera not done.
21:44He's got the nose of this in his sights.
21:46With another big 360 and landing that one perfect.
21:49That's a real run of contrast.
21:54Tilden lighting it up at the top.
21:56The fact that his heel side edge is in and his back is touching the snow.
22:00Shows how steep that is.
22:02Spinning 360.
22:03Perfect for Tilden Woolley.
22:08On the face.
22:09Tilden plopping off that one.
22:10Turns it into a double landing.
22:12Getting the tail of his board down.
22:14Whoa, here we go.
22:15Lining himself up to the same cliff that I believe we saw Marion hit.
22:20Perfect landing.
22:21He knew with that.
22:29And we are going back up to the top.
22:32Victor De La Rue currently leading the standings.
22:36Got a little nugget here.
22:37Back 360 over the bomb hole.
22:40Perfect connection.
22:41So great start to this run here for Victor as he approaches this next feature.
22:45Wasting no time to get into the backflip.
22:48It's the landings are on cry out.
22:52The Freeride World Tour champion three times for a reason.
22:56Single, double, but going down.
23:00Victor losing his front side edge and flopping over onto his chest.
23:08Ah!
23:15Looks like he's searching for something fresh though.
23:18Huge air.
23:20I love this aggressive fall line approach.
23:22Perfect landing for Kemi.
23:23Bouncing out.
23:24So here, zero visibility.
23:26Angled wrong.
23:27Boards hit the rocks.
23:29Send him into that front flip.
23:32The only person we saw go over this way was Jenna.
23:36Yeah, and she definitely proved.
23:38Oh, look at that landing.
23:40He is on a film line here.
23:42Back three.
23:43Jonathan Penfield.
23:45It's so steep over there.
23:47Handling this like an absolute veteran.
23:49Look at where he is on this face.
23:52But he's still got more to come.
23:54Lobbing a front three now.
23:56So he spun both ways.
23:57Getting a little hooked up there, but not going down.
24:01Wow.
24:02Jon Penfield.
24:03He's always a podium threat.
24:05And Michael Mann is on the Lakhnoar face.
24:08Going again, like you said, straight into it.
24:10Toe side, lining up for this first cliff.
24:13It's huge and the transition is quick.
24:15So you've got to get that speed right.
24:18Which proves no problem for Michael Mann.
24:20Coming out hot and cooking.
24:24He rolls away.
24:25The vision is difficult here as Michael Mann approaching.
24:28He's got this spine feature right off the end.
24:31Perfect landing for Michael Mann.
24:33Getting himself into this billy goat section on the heel side.
24:36Popping off his heel side edge into a double.
24:39Yes, full commitment.
24:55Into it with snowboard men.
24:57Here's the Freeride World Tour.
24:58The Val Thorens pro, Remy Benhamot.
25:01He is just born and bred for snowboarding.
25:03He absolutely loves it.
25:05Oh, huge 360.
25:08Hot, hot start for the Swiss rider.
25:12Lining up this section.
25:13He's a quiet guy, but his riding style is loud and speaks for himself.
25:20And Remy Benhamot with two huge tricks already.
25:24Coming right into the nose.
25:26Another back three.
25:27Holding on to that heel side edge.
25:29Having to readjust it now.
25:30Just pointed into the fall line.
25:50I can hear chainsaws in the background.
25:53Enzo Nilo chucking a 360, but somehow coming out of that on his feet.
25:59He had a very different takeoff approach than we saw the other riders.
26:02Big backflip for Enzo.
26:04Landing.
26:05Oh, the French crowd is going bananas now.
26:11Such strong riding.
26:12He is on fire with the double.
26:15No problem.
26:16Perfect stop.
26:19Let's go.
26:25Let's go.
26:27Good shot, Diego.
26:29Enzo Nilo, the score is coming up.
26:30Oh, my gosh.
26:3290.67 for Enzo Nilo.
26:35There you go, buddy.
26:39Let's take a look at the event scoreboard here from the Valtarosa Pro.
26:43Enzo Nilo taking the top spot with Remy, rookie Remy, right behind him in second.
26:47Michael Maughan rounding it out at third.