Falls and Hotham events helping to build Australian freeride talent pool
By NICK HIGGINSON
Falls Creek will hold their first ever certified Freeride World Junior competition this winter, a milestone opportunity for junior athletes to showcase their skills in a globally certified competition.
Certified competitions allow athletes to collect points towards their international rankings, and the dream of competing at events like the Junior World Championships moves closer to reality for our domestic talent.
Falls Creek skier services senior manager Danny Foster, who was a critical ignition point for getting the Hotham competition off the ground three years ago, spoke with great enthusiasm about the certification of their freeride event.
“Last season we had a super successful event here at Falls, brought together by our amazing events team...the whole community and particularly the athletes who came out in droves and maxed out the event capacity with 86 participants,” he said.
“Off the back of that momentum, we were able to achieve a sanctioned event at Falls Creek and are excited to officially join the Freeride World Tour family.”
Danny has spent his working life in the ski industry and has worked quietly across many years to nurture the seed of freeride, advocating for events, travelling to judge and support them across the Australian resorts.
“This is an exciting moment for the sport and Australian athletes chasing the freeride pathway,” he enthused.
“Freeride has been growing for a few years after being purchased by FIS (International Ski Federation), and it’s now a much stronger competitive pathway.
“We are excited to be a part of growing and supporting our athletes to thrive in this emerging discipline.
“With whispers of freeride becoming an Olympic discipline in the not-too distant future, Falls Creek is proud to be a part of growing the grassroots of the sport and excited to see what the future holds for our young athletes.”
Team Hotham’s freeride director, Oli Chalkley, explained what exciting opportunities Australia presents for freeride athletes.
Hotham will host its third year of its sanctioned event which has been a resounding success over past years.
“The combination of the conditions in Australia, the incredible parks and freestyle setups, these kids can be world class freeride athletes,” he said.
“Australian conditions require good technical skiing skills, variable conditions making for versatile skiers.
“When you consider the opportunity to train these conditions here, then hopefully add some on-snow time in the northern hemisphere, they are in an excellent position to achieve their goals.
“The Australian freeride community can continue to grow and follow the example of the New Zealand freeride scene, which has consistently churned out elite freeride talent over the past decade.”
Freeride is a judged discipline which awards each athlete points in five categories, and an overall impression of their run.
Air and style, line choice, technique, fluidity, and control are all taken into account, with judges awarding points and ranking athletes against each other.
The athlete that demonstrates the best combination of these skills will stand atop the podium and be crowned the first Freeride World Junior champion in Falls Creek this winter.
The talent density and participation base of the sport is growing, and the inclusion of more Australian freeride events is an important step in growing the sport in an exciting direction and continuing to foster world class talent here at home.
Freeride is emerging as a genuine competitive pathway to rival freestyle and alpine disciplines with the opportunities events like this bring for young athletes.
A new chapter of Australian freeride has begun, and a new and exciting base for Australian freeride is developing at Falls Creek.
