The finals of the Rip Curl Australian Freeride Pro were run today...

The finals of the Rip Curl Australian Freeride Pro were run today in perfect snow in the “black diamond” advanced terrain of Thredbo’s famous Bluff.

Spectators and competitors were calling it the best action ever seen in a freeride competition with 29 of Australia’s best skiers and snowboarders revelling in the perfect snow conditions and aiming to take a large share of the $20,000 prize money on offer.

It was a very difficult task for the judges, but in the end it was the superior technical tricks and difficult lines of Sam Foster (men’s ski), Nate Johnstone (men’s snowboard) and Wiki Jones (women’s snowboard) that edge them into first place.

The course consisted of man-made jumps, and log rails mixed in with the natural rock bands and cornices. The skiers and snowboarders really stepped it up with the announcer running out of superlatives as they threw down a variety of 540s, 720s, front flips and back flips with speed, control and precision.

Each competitor had two runs through the course, the results coming from the highest scoring runs. Highlights were Sam Foster’s huge 1080 spin off a 10-foot cornice, Andrea Berchtold’s 50-foot front flip and Nate Johnstone’s cab 540 (reverse spin).

The results in the men’s snowboard were very close, only a point separating first and third, but it was Nate Johnstone’s (Mona Vale, NSW) flawless second run that gave him the edge over Shayne Pospisil (Mammoth Mountain, USA) and Ryan Tiene (Port Macquarie, NSW).

In the men’s skiing Jindabyne’s Sam Foster nailed an aggressive, creative line to push Andrea Berchtold (Jindabyne, NSW) into second with Watkin McLennan (Mt Buller, Vic) third. For Foster the win in his first major victory.

In the women’s snowboard, Ali Deane, number one qualifier and 2007 Rip Curl Freeride Pro champ, had to pull out due to a knee injury. That left Wiki Jones (Thredbo, NSW), Kym Cragnolini (Jindabyne, NSW) and Laura Williams (Thredbo, NSW) to battle it out in the final. Jones emerged as a clear winner, with Cragnolini second, just ahead of Williams.

The finals capped off a sensational week of skiing and snowboarding and included a spectacular under-lights rail and big air event last night – The Rip Curl Invitational Throwdown.

A big crowd was entertained as the invited athletes made the most of the unique set-up which include two jumps, two rails and two spectacular wall rides. In a unique twist the riders and skiers judged the overall winners themselves with Boen Ferguson (Jindabyne, NSW), Tom McGrath (Canberra, ACT) and Erin Tanner (Canberra, ACT) taking the tile and the cash.

The Rip Curl Australian Freeride Pro has gone down as the best and most unique snow event of 2008 and will be an integral part of the 2009 snow event calendar.

Added: November 7, 2008
Producer: Rip Curl
Copyright: Rip Curl
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