JAMES STENTIFORD WINS 3RD PLACE AT THE WORLD FREERIDE TOUR, CHAMONIX
JAMES STENTIFORD COMES 3RD AT THE SNOWBOARD WORLD FREERIDE TOUR, CHAMONIX 2010.
Congratulations to Quiksilver Team Manager and Pro Snowboarder, James Stentiford, who came 3rd at the World Freeride Tour this year at Chamonix. James decided to enter the contest on a whim. He needed something to do that day...
"After two years of not competing I thought I should have another crack as the World Freeride Tour was coming to my home resort of Chamonix. As luck would have it they offered me a wild card into the event. Conditions were pretty perfect on the day, a load of new snow, beautiful sunshine and very cold. I felt pretty relaxed about it all until we heard on the radio that a skier had crashed and hurt himself. After an hour delay in the freezing cold it was finally time for my run. I was pretty happy with my run even though it didn't work out exactly as I planned due to the changing snow conditions. I managed to stay pretty fluid and do a backside three, a stalefish over a natural hip and then hit a medium sized cliff at the bottom. I didn't hang around to watch the other riders as the snow conditions were so good so didn't really have an idea of how I'd done. So I was pretty stoked when they announced the result.
I've now been invited to the next event which is being held this Thursday. I guess I'll have to put off retirement for another year!"
French Freestyle Star Candide Thovex takes victory at his first FWT contest
Copyright: Nissan Freeride Chamonix Mont Blanc 2010 D Carlier
Against the beautiful backdrop of the Mont-Blanc, French Freestyle icon Candide Thovex took his first win in a Freeride World Tour event in Chamonix on 31st of January.
The 50 best freeriders on the planet put on an amazing performance in perfect weather conditions on the 500 metre “Pentes de l’Hôtel” face at the Brévent ski area in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, despite challenging snow conditions.
The most impressive run of the day was the clean victory of French freestyle legend Candide Thovex, debuting in freeride contests, announcing a promising future. After the last few days’ of snowfall the blue skies finally presented a dream like arena for the athletes and spectators of the Freeride de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc. However, the snow conditions where tricky for the competitors. A lot of the fresh powder was taken down by the first riders and parts of the face exposed rock hard snow, and at times ice. Control was decisive.
Event winner was the famous French freestyler Candide Thovex’s first Freeride World Tour contest, and with his explosive run he secured a solid victory. Thovex chose a unique line down the face, literally flying through the course at full speed, stomping several solid cliff jumps, cheered on by the excited Chamonix spectator crowd. Swedish Kaj Zackrisson is one of the veterans on the tour, and a Chamonix local since 10 years.
“I couldn’t sleep very well last night as I wasn’t really sure of my line, and I felt a lot of pressure this morning. But I went up early and got a good vision of the course. I looked for good snow and a line I could enjoy. I spotted some nice Alaska-like spines with great snow! I chose not to do some tricks and to focus on fluidity. I wanted to come down safe and sound. It has been really cool and the atmosphere is great, which was very motivating at the start. I am really happy of the victory and to share the podium with my friend Tim Dutton who soon will be at his home town in Squaw Valley. I am really motivated for the coming events!” Candide Thovex said.
2 weeks after an amazing win at Reb Bull Linecatcher in Vars (Freestyle/freeride mix event), and several years after his last contests, Candide Thovex is definitely back to business. Watch out.
The French Quiksilver team rider Jérémy Florès arrived in Australia at the beginning of the week to prepare for the first event of the ASP World Tour 2010, The Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast. A foot injury at the end of the 2009 season forced Jeremy to miss the last three World Tour Events (Mundaka in Spain, Peniche in Portugal and Hawaii). In spite of the injury, Jérémy Florès did not need to rely on an "injury wild card", succeeding in requalifying himself for the elite Tour in 2010 by results alone. An amazing feat.
After a long break at the end of the year, Jérémy Florès has recharged his batteries, without taking a break from physical training. The Frenchman returned to the water with renewed enthusiasm in the Canary Islands in early January. Here are his thoughts on his recovery and his return to his fourth season amongst the World’s Top 45 surfer.
"I'm really glad to be able to get back in the water, my foot is feeling good. The time out of the water enabled me to prepare well physically for the new season and I’ve done things that I wouldn’t normally have time to do, therefore, I’ve taken positive experiences from this injury. I’ve felt great from this quick trip to the Canaries, it went well, because I needed to spend a lot of time in the water. I really pushed myself and I‘m super motivated to take on this new season!"
The Quiksilver Team surfer will train on the Australia’s Gold Coast until the opening event of the ASP World Tour 2010, the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, which runs from February 27th to March 10th. Jérémy must also join the French surfing team for a few days of training in Australia.
Michael Picon and Aritz Aranburu return to the new format WQS Tour
The European Surfers of Team Quiksilver, Michael Picon and Aritz Aranburu will return to the WQS (World Qualifying Series) this season.
For Miky Picon, the experienced European pro, this season has two goals: to try to requalify for the elite by taking part in the main WQS events (as he did previously in 2006 and 2008) but also to begin to work professionally at the centre of the Quiksilver group. As his sponsor and supporter for a long time, Quiksilver has committed to collaborate with Miky in order to make him one of its main ambassadors, to put his great experience and his network to use within the company.
For Aritz Aranburu, the objective is to regain his place in the elite of the ASP World Tour by the end of the season. The challenge is sizeable as the elite ASP circuits and WQS are changing format in 2010. In order to make the two tours more competitive, the ASP will tighten the elite Tour to just 32 surfers in the course of the season (after Tahiti). Consequently, the early events of 2010 will be crucial for Jérémy Florès. He must place inside the world’s Top 32 before the Tahiti cut off point, in order to challenge at events such as The Quiksilver Pro France, in September, which will only include the Top 32 surfers .
The arrival of best 13 surfers of the WQS in September will again make the events even more competitive and will toughen the process of qualification for the elite Tour the following season.
BEN HOWARD REACHES 4th ON THE iTUNES DOWNLOAD CHART!
BEN HOWARD REACHES NUMBER 4 ON THE ITUNES ALBUM CHART
Quiksilver Musician Ben Howard reached number 4 in the itunes album chart after a great performance on French TV Programme "One Shot Not" (French version of Jools Holland). Ben Howard's EP "These Waters" was the 4th most downloaded album last week, coming just behind the Black Eyed Peas. It's an amazing result for Ben! He'll be on tour supporting Australian Musician Xavier Rudd across Europe this month.
Check out www.myspace.com/benhoward for ticket info.
Tour Dates
8th Feb: Dublin Academy, Dublin
9th Feb: O2 ABC, Glasgow
11th Feb: Academy 2, Manchester
12th Feb: Princess Pavillions, Falmouth
13th Feb: 02 Shepherds Bush Empire, London
15th Feb: Ancienne Belgique, Brussels
16th Feb: Paard, Den Haag
17th Feb: Paradiso, Amsterdam
18th Feb: Effenaar, Eindhoven
20th Feb: Bataclan, Paris
21st Feb: Bierhubeli, Bern
22nd Feb: Kaufleuten, Zurich
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