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Europe’s premier event for young freeskiers in search of support to become pro riders headed east for the last qualifier of the season.north face coat, Tailed by mild south Atlantic winds, we drove through Austria looking at the temperatures rise until we reached Bratislava. And when we reached Jasna, rain had replaced snow. Three days later, after having been washed preparing the event, we met twenty riders that had found their way to the biggest ski resort in Slovakia .Their enthusiasm was obvious, in spite of the weather conditions and after a delayed start, the skies cleared enough for the event to start.
The mountain was covered with clouds that reminded Michel Beaudry - our head judge- of his home resort of Whistler. « I cant believe how much it looks like British Columbia here ! Even the weather and humidity remind me of it ». Visibility didn’t allow an early start, so riders had time to go up the mountain and try the park. north face coats ,At 11 AM, clouds lifted and allowed jumps to be tested without too many risks. Judges took their posts, riders put their bibs on and the show began.
The upper part of the park still in the clouds, judges posted themselves on different jumps and communicated by radio to compare their judgements and inform each other on jumps and tricks made by the riders. We managed to take two runs on jumps in spite of the long rotations by chairlift. The lower park of the park equipped with numerous rails, the riders were able to ski twice through it, but had to hike up back to the start to reduce rotations.
The freeride was reduced to its simplest expression: the slope was steep, unprepared and extremely slushy... Everything we needed to evaluate the level of the riders on ungroomed terrain. Once again, we noticed that if some riders spend a lot of time in the air, they lacked some basics in freeski and this would probably handicap them in the finals.
JP Baralo , creator of the event talking to Suzana Stromkova, winner of the Queens category and overall tour winner last year: « You are really talented in freestyle but are too limited in freeride to one day throw big jumps in the outback, for instance. Think about that and spend some time training also in all conditions, and even on the slope on harder snow. You’ll gain so much from it and will be able to profit from all the mountain!»
On the Kings side,the north face coats, winner Richard Jurecka was asked if he could participate to the finals in Val Thorens and openly answered: « I really don’t know: my Mom is very angry with me regarding school... I hope !»

I have always loved Graffiti that goes beyond the visual pollution of mindless tags and enters the realm of Urban Art.north face coat, One of the things that I have come to love about Rio is the endless supply of eye candy in the form of gorgeous installations of high quality street art. After years of fighting against the growing prevalence of graffiti in Rio, the city designated certain areas “legal” for emerging graffiti artists to explore their craft. A few days ago, we took a tour of some of the incredibly long murals that stretch along the walls of the Batofogo District. Entire blocks of this part of the city are covered in colorfully surreal art.. Everywhere you go around Rio, you will find all varieties of creative, vibrant, masterful art. From street posts, to circuit breakers boxes, to walls, to fire hydrant; in the world of graffiti the possibilities for a canvas are limited only by the imagination of the artist. Driving, exploring the urban art scene, climbing, surfing, and even the nightlife is an adventure here in Rio!north face coats , So…stay tuned for more dispatches as we explore the amazing climbing and highlining potential that abounds in this unique and diverse city.
The whirlwind of Vertical Carnival continues to spin. The pace of the trip might best be characterized by the traffic that endlessly cycles through Rio, chaotic, fast paced, and seemingly never ending. This is one of the most unusual settings I have ever climbed in; picture world class granite sprouting up in huge plugs throughout the city, with chunks of crazy jungle, and cactus sprouting out of the cliff. The climbing style is amazingly varied, from wild trad, to burly steep sport. Some of the most beautiful faces are littered with crystal intrusions and red and black streaks. The people at the Bintang house especially Diogo, Hugo, and Lucas aka "Jah" have rolled out the red carpet for us, giving us a place to stay and driving us to the crags through the mind boggling maze that is the streets of Rio. This dispatch gives you an idea of the wild climbing around the city, and features Lucas or "Jah" as he is better known. Jah is one of the coolest most psyched climbers I have ever met, and embodies the passion that we should all strive for in our lives. Hope you enjoy the dispatches...stay tuned for the Urban Art dispatch which will take you on a tour of the world class graffiti that is strewn across the city!the north face coats, Cheers and lots of love...Cedar Wright.

In the Kids category (12-13 years old), north face coat,it was YRC rider Rafael Muniesa who took top honours. “His line choice wasn’t all that great,” commented coach Liscot (who’s known to be tough on his charges). “That said, I thought he managed his run really well. I think he showed some pretty high-level skiing skills up there today.” Close behind him in second place, was Slovakian sensation Pavol Kuric. Only nine years old, and still reeling from his 1500 kilometre road trip to Val Thorens, the young skier showed some big mountain moves that many a 20 year old would like to master. “I’m just happy to be competing here this weekend,” said Kuric. “I’m tired. But I’m still having a great time.” Third place in the kid’s freeride event went to Finnish skier Anttu Oikkonen.
The Teens category (14-15 year-olds) was a hard fought battle. But when the powder snow had cleared, it was French skier Jules Mandin who led the standings. “I really didn’t expect such good skiing out of him today,” north face coats ,said Chattel coach Yannick Ceria. “When we did inspection this morning I showed my team all the lines that I thought they could take. But it was up to each of them to decide how they wanted to manage their own race. Jules really went for it! He certainly impressed me.” Close behind Mandin, in second place, was Maxime Gisin of Les Menuires who rode solidly all day. Quentin Glath of Val Thorens was third.
The Kings’ category (16-18), always an entertaining group to watch, did not disappoint. Raphael Vouillamoz of Chamonix, pulled of a near-flawless second run to just sneak past Swedish ace Niklas Granlund, less than .6 of a point behind! Raphael’s good buddy, Timothée Pick, also of Chamonix, came back from an impressive crash in his first run to score the third best mark of the day. “I think we reached a whole new level of competition today,” says event founder JP Baralo. “the north face coats will never be the same again. Why? Because I saw young freeriders do things on the mountain today that I really didn’t believe was possible. They blew my mind!”

The good weather came back. The sun finally shone on the Val Thorens snowpark. And some of Europe’s most talented young freestylers got to show their moves on the last day of north face coat Challenge Presented by Gore-Tex.
“As tough as yesterday’s conditions were,” said event founder JP Baralo. “As disappointed as we were not to be able to crown overall winners in the Teens and Kings, today’s freestyle contest showed just how high the skiing level is here this week. These guys rocked the park!”
Finish rider, Roope Leppänen was the big winner today, showing off stylish jumps, classy moves and serious amplitude. He was followed in the Kings division by his teammate Ville Koskala and Sweden’s Niklas Granlund. “I’m so stoked to be competing here,” said Grandlund (who was also a strong performer in the freeride portion of the event). “I had so much fun jumping in the park today. This whole event is so-o-o cool!”
In the Teens, it was Swedish rider Jesper Tjäder who carried the day with a score of 29 points. But his win was never assured. For close behind – less than a point away in the final compilation – were Perttu Hyvärinen and Antii Ollila, both of Finland. “It was a really close contest,” said judge and north face coats . “These young riders certainly put it out there today. Very impressive. It’s really too bad we couldn’t have finished off the event yesterday…”
Sunday’s storm was indeed frustrating for all concerned. While the judges were able to evaluate one slopestyle run in the park for the Queens and Kids -- and thus ensure an overall winner in these categories -- the inclement weather refused to let up in the afternoon and the older athletes were forced to sit on the sidelines and watch. “It was so close,” explained Baralo about the decision to award separate freeride and freestyle titles to the Teens and Kings. “But in the end, with some of the top overall contenders having to leave the resort to go back to school, we decided it wouldn’t be fair to carry over the contest to today.”
Instead, top Freeride Teen, Jules Mandin of France was honoured for his scintillating run last Friday. His French teammates, Maxence Gisin and Quentin Glath -both locals from Val Thorens- were also recognized for their second and third place performances on the demanding Glacier de Thorens. “I really had fun on my freeride run,” said Mandin. “It was a great venue for this kind of event. It really encouraged us to show the judges what we can do…”
In the Kings, it was French rider Raphael Vouillamoz, who took top freeride honours. In second place was Swedish all-rounder Niklas Grandlund and third was taken by mop-haired Timothée Picq, also of France.the north face coats, “This is truly a fun event to compete in,” said Picq. “I feel like I learned a lot here this weekend.”