THE THRILL OF FREERIDING
Phenoms bring show to Golden
The first (and only) comment on the outrageous YouTube video clip of ski phenom Logan Pehota’s jaw-dropping winning run at Haines, Alaska, in the 2016 Freeride World Tour summed it up rather nicely. “That was insane.” No exclamation points, no extra clutter, no hyperbole. The author of the comment, obviously a proficient poet from, well, somewhere in the cyberworld, said everything that needed to be said with those three succinct words. Although thousands of other people watched the video, no other prose was added. The truth had been spoken. Enough said.
But, truthfully, there are numerous freeriding videos
— you can find them at www. freerideworldtour.com or on YouTube, Instagram, etc. — that will make you wonder if “sanity” plays any role in this fastgrowing sport. Massive cliff jumps, high-speed lines through rock-lined chutes, backflips off five-metre cornices, perfect 360s over giant chasms, you name it, it’s been “thrown down” in the fast-growing sport of freeriding.
And Pehota — a 22-year-old from Pemberton, B.C., who is considered one of the best freeskiers in the world — and the rest of the top freeriding phenoms are bringing their show to Golden for the first Freeride World Tour (FWT) event to be contested at the legendary Kicking Horse Resort. The event (it’s fan-friendly and unlike any other snowsport you’ve witnessed) will be held from Feb. 3-9.
“Golden is a world-class freeride destination and a perfect fit for the Freeride World Tour,” says Andy Brown, communications and social media co-ordinator with Tourism Golden. “Not only is one of the best freeride mountains (Kicking Horse Resort) on our doorstep, but we are renowned for our backcountry terrain and activities. But, without a doubt, big mountain skiing has become synonymous with this town.”
Of course, you certainly don’t need to be a Goldenite to appreciate the philosophy, including their grassroots definition of what freeriding and the FWT is all about. “It’s a vertical, freeverse poem on the mountain,” the FWT states on its website. “It’s the ultimate expression of all that is fun and liberating about sliding on snow in wintertime. It’s called freeride and it’s arguably the most exciting snowsport competition of the 21st century. Forget placing slalom poles down the mountain. Forget building artificial jumps and hips and half-pipes and tabletops. Forget grooming the slopes. Freeride contests are 100 per cent natural, 100 per cent clean. Indeed, the event is all about celebrating the God-given terrain found on any mountainside in the most exciting and elemental format possible. There’s a start gate at the summit and a finish gate at the bottom. That’s it. Best run down wins.”
So how do they determine what is the best run? A (sane) judging panel doles out a score based on five criteria. While the overall impression of the run certainly weighs heavily, the criteria — the difficulty of the line, control, fluidity, jumps and technique — are all awarded a score. And, at the end of the competition, the skier with the most points hoists the trophy and gets the bulk of the cash. (The total purse will be $75,000 in Golden.)
For contestants, of course, the challenge is picking a potential winning line, committing to it, skiing it perfectly, and executing a number of fluid jumps and tricks at high speed in the extreme and inhospitable terrain. And, to make matters even more difficult, no practice runs or on-course inspections are allowed.
Contestants are given pictures of the location and the terrain (typically, an ultra-steep face with numerous extreme features and possible routes to the bottom is chosen) and must plot their desired path to the bottom. Pick a line that’s too easy and, well, you’re not going to score very high. Choose a line or a trick that’s too extreme and, well, we all know how that can end.
For Pehota — who was groomed and mentored by his father, Eric Pehota, a pioneer of the sport — “choosing well” and blasting down death-defying lines is par for the course. And so is hoisting trophies. In fact, he’s coming back to Golden with fond memories of Kicking Horse Resort and its famed chutes, bowls and cliffs. In 2012, as a fearless 16-year-old, he won the Wrangle the Chutes freeriding competition there and since then has steadily moved up the ranks in the sport. He’s become one of the superstars in freeriding and, unquestionably, is one of the favourites.
“Last year was not a great year for me on the tour,” says Pehota. “But right now I’m healthy, skiing lots, and stoked for a return trip to Golden. The terrain there is rugged and rocky. It’s definitely extreme. And I’ve got a lot of good memories there.”
Regardless of how it all shakes out in Golden, there is no doubt Pehota, and the rest of the freeriders, will author their own original — and, yes, “insane” — freeriding “poem.” And all those watching (at least the ones who won’t be too flabbergasted) — whether live or via all the videos that will undoubtedly surface after the event — will also be able to offer their own short and sweet soliloquy of what they’ve witnessed.
Golden is a world-class freeride destination and a perfect fit for the Freeride World Tour. ... Without a doubt, big mountain skiing has become synonymous with this town. Andy Brown, communications and social media co-ordinator, Tourism Golden