Roldal Freeride Challenge 2008

Roldal, in Western Norway is located 500 meters up into the spine of the mountains that run the entire length of the country. Getting there is a couple hour car/bus ride from the major cities of Bergen, Stavanger and Oslo. The town itself is nestled on a lake that is fed by rivers surging out of Hardangervidda National Park. It is surrounded on all sides by towering plateaus that rise steeply from the lake and valley floor. The Ski center is located 2.8 kilometers to the west just before the highway tunnels for 5 km’s under the ridges which are accessible to riders from the ski area. It was at the end of these tunnels that the Qualifier for the Roldal Freeride Challenge, The final of four stops on The Norwegian Freeride Cup, was to take place. Amidst a steady drizzle of rain and poor visibility all of the non qualified athletes would have to brave the elements and marginal snow conditions (it had been raining for 8 straight days and was beginning to take its toll on the snow as large waterfalls appeared out of the snow only to crash back underneath where one could hear the water as it rushed downhill underneath the riders on its way to the fjord.

Day 1 saw 20 men and women looking to advance into the final. On the women’s side it was Elise Gerlie of Norway who would set herself apart by staying on her feet for the entire run as the other ladies had difficulty handling the tricky snow conditions and Phat to flat airs, which would be the undoing of many of the Men who were to come. On the men’s side only two were able to stay on their feet for the entire run. Jan Fredrik Westgaard and Torolf Tofte were the only riders to get points for fluidity and control. They moved on.

Day 2 was Final day 1 and it turned out to be the first sun in a while. But the damage had already been done. All of the water had destabilized the steeper venues and the riders were sent back to the qualifying venue. The peak was about 350 meters above and about 4km back from the road. It had a pitch ranging between 15 and 45 degrees as it started flat on top into the 1^st of three steep sections separated by flats and the final Phat to extremely flat. 6 women and 14 men left the finish with 3 hours to walk up and choose a line. The night before at the riders meeting it was stressed that a fall meant a control score of zero and stopping would be a zero in fluidity. Judging from the scores awarded at yesterday’s qualifier they were serious. There were two starting gates. One on top that could get almost anywhere on the venue, and one to the left to access the steep chutes and rock drops.

The ladies kicked off the comp and it was Charlotte Hagen putting down a fast flawless run not high on line score but with an aggressiveness not seen in the other women. Kaisa Harkonen also put down a solid run with a couple airs to push her into the super final. Eline Garlie rounded out the qualifiers with a 3^rd.

1. Charlotte Hagen NOR

2. Kaisa Harkonen FIN

3. Eline Garlie NOR

Daniel Regensberger started it off for the men from the left gate dropped a 5 meter rock and flew across the flats to the next 5 meter drop which cart wheeled him on the landing before finishing with a clean double through the bottom section. Raphael Bullet went next from the top dropping a 5 meter cornice, splitting the venue into the middle rock section where he had a spill before getting to the final section jumping a crevasse then finishing. Dave Watson followed and took a similar run as Raphael except dropping a 5 meter rock just passed the cornice. Then on the exit air a 3meter drop ass-checked the flat landing. Asle Tangvik then took an easy line down the middle. But what was special about Asle was the fact that he had only one leg. He rode a single ski with poles that had small skis. He had been competing in the snowboard class for the last couple of years. Supposedly he wanted to compete in Alpine but the organizers denied him the Big Top at the Circus and threw him in the Freak show in the side tent with the snowboarders. Asle had a fast line without a fall which boded well for him. Havard Anensen winner of The Lofoton Freeride held a few weeks ago in The Lofoton Island chain tried to drop 10 meters but blew up and slid about 50 meters before getting up and finishing his run. For some reason a DNF was awarded. Then Will Brommelsiek left the top gate for the right side and a smooth triple before zigging where he should have zagged and ended up 2 meters away from a 50 meter cliff. This was out of the venue for good reason and he unstrapped and walked back up. Then came back into the venue finished his run with a 5 meter drop to a double and a DNF. Jan Fredrik took a similar line to his #1 qualifying run carrying more speed but starfished in an easy part of the line. Big time Swedish pro Daniel Furberg followed. From the 2^nd gate into the steep rocky section where he sent it 5 meters into the open carving nice turns down the mellow left side before finishing through the waterfall chute on the left side of the bottom steep section, a nice safe line. Morten Brockermann showed everyone that making turns and avoiding all rocks would put you through to the super final. Then David Magnusson the best Norwegian Freerider, fresh off a 3^rd at Extreme Verbier, the Championship of the Freeride World Tour, started at the top. Coming down the right side making big smooth turns he hit the steep mid section and dropped where Will had come off a few minutes before, went right at the bottom with an easy exit. Drawing the final run for snowboarders was Torolf Tofte who took the exact same run as Magnusson dropped the cliff bigger then the other two and carried a bunch of speed to the finish. The field was cut in half excluding the DNF’s and the top 6 moved on for the men.

1. Torolf Tofte NOR

2. David Magnusson NOR

3. Morten Brockermann NOR

4. Daniel Furberg SWE

5. Asle Tangvik NOR

6. Raphael Bullet SUI

Saturday blew up Bluebird for the super final. Since it had been clear and cold the night before a new venue above the ski area was chosen. Accessed by the only Ski lift in Roldal with a Northwest face and about 200 meters of 50 degree vert. Riders left and center of the venue had mandatory exit airs between 7 and 25 meters. Eline Garlie got the party started down the right side carrying a good amount of speed into the bottom chute and the finish. Kaisa followed her not as aggressively but she dropped a couple 3 meter rocks with out a fall. Charlotte tried to hold the lead carrying good speed down the right side and was on her way to victory until she wiped out off the bottom rock.

Raphael was 1^st to go for the men dropping right of center onto the shelve from 5 meters then working right off the shelf and down through the lower chute carrying good speed and off another 5 meter rock at the bottom. Then Asle came down the right side of the venue and tried to air into the chute but went to his side and got his pole caught underneath him. Daniel Furberg was up next. He dropped onto the top shelf made a big sweeping right turn with a sweet air out and down to the bottom right of the chute but could not manage to hold on to a 7 meter drop and took a cartwheel before finishing. Then Morten dropped the cornice as part of a double over a 5 meter rock lost control and spun out back to his feet where he became the only rider to drop the lower cliffs sticking it from 10 meters and finishing up with the run of the day in Men’s Snowboard. Magnusson then came off the top cornice with some heat and struggled to get it back under control before he exited the shelf over a rock and into the bottom area. Passing up the chute he set his sight on a little shelf but baubled before a 5 meter drop which ended in a double cartwheel. Torolf then took the final run dropping the cornice off the top then heading right with a double to exit the shelf, flying back into the bottom chute and back to back top runs. Here are the final results

Women’s Snowboard

1. Kaisa Harkonan FIN 30.7

2. Charlotte Hagen NOR 26.0

3. Eline Garlie NOR 24.7

4. Diane Seymour NOR 9.3

5. Annina Karvinen FIN 7.7

6. Gina Skjolet NOR DNF

Men’s Snowboard

1. Torolf Tofte NOR 60.3

2. Morten Brockermann NOR 44.7

3. David Magnusson NOR 44.3

4. Daniel Furberg SWE 37.3

5. Raphael Bullet SUI 37.0

6. Asle Tangvik NOR 28.3

7. Olivier Favre SUI 14.0

8. Dave Watson USA 12.7

9. Jan Fredrik Westgaard NOR 12.3

10. Daniel Regensberger AUT 11.3

11. Anders Ekkje Slettebo NOR 10.0

12. Helge Myrvang NOR 9.7

13. Will Brommelsiek USA DNF

14. Havard Anensen NOR DNF