Video – Rip Curl Freeride Pro Round 1!!

Today’s conditions were anything but perfect, strong winds, variable visibility and inconsistent snow challenging the riders even further. There were some brilliant performances and some big crashes, a result of the go for it attitude displayed by competitors in all divisions.
In the hotly contested open men’s ski, Jindabyne duo of Boen Ferguson used their local knowledge to the fullest and qualified first and second for tomorrow’s finals, mixing their runs with a number of technical tricks, big airs and aggressive use of the terrain.

Top Australian pro skier Chris Booth (Sydney, NSW) qualified third and also pulled off the move of the day – a perfect “Rodeo 7”, an off-axis 720 degree spin, after hitting a natural rock drop-off. Defending champ Sam Foster (Jindabyne, NSW) also qualified for tomorrow’s final after finishing fifth.

In the open men’s snowboard Jindabyne’s Ben Mates had two excellent runs and qualified first, not surprising given the amount of time he spends riding the Bluff. Mates and second place getter Pete Long (Sylvania, NSW) popped a couple of big backflips off the top jumps, before a butter 360 off the bottom rocks.

In the open women’s local riders Saph Farrell (Jindabyne, NSW) and Laura Williams (Thredbo, NSW) set the standard, qualifying first and second. Defending champion women’s ski champion, Mount Buller’s Zoe Jaboor, is again the one to beat after qualifying first, ahead of Sydney’s Hannah Fisher.

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