With 100 riders taking part in day 1 of the European Freeski Open in Laax, it was always going to be very busy and a lot of people were going to be disappointed from the offset. The course consists of a down flat down box/downrail (8m), a log jib and a 10m downbox. The Völkl rocker box is the calm before the storm as it leads into three kickers in a row with 16, 18 and 21 metre tables respectively.

After finishing in a respectful third place at the Austrian Freeski Open 2011 behind Andreas Hatveit and Elias Ambuhl, Roy Kittler managed to throw down a switch 270 on pretzel 270 off, switch on, 270 on switch up 270 out, 450 out, switch r 10 mute, switch left 9 mute, right cork 9 tail. He also took the highest score of the qualifiers which puts him in a decent position to grab the win.

With Roy taking a good start in the heats, he’s clearly favourite to win but there’s a few more that I think you should look out for. Byron Wells, James Woods, Jonas Hunziker and Florian Geyer. Keep your eyes peeled for these guys as they’re consistent riders and have more than a good chance this year.

Results
Heat 1
1) Jeremy Pancras – 75.67
2) Antii Ollila – 74.00
3) Maxime Fornier – 73.50
4) Byron Wells – 67.83
5) Victor Berard – 66.50
6) James Woods – 66.00
7) Maximilliam Smith – 62.33
8) Tyler Harding – 64.83
9) Frederick Iliano – 62.67

cut-off

10) Lucas Evans – 55.17
11) Josh Birch – 53.67
12) Joël Mooser – 53.50
13) César Fabre – 53.33
14) Gian Ragettli – 51.17
15) Tom Lesuire – 49.00
16) Tom Damiani – 47.83
17) David Bonneville – 45.67
18) Maxence Gisin – 45.50
19) Adrien Exertier – 19.00
20) Patrik Cavelti – 5.83
Jonathan Bertoni – DNS
Thomas Zubiria – DNS
Pablo Belmonte – DNS
Aidan Sheahan Aidan – DNS

Heat 2
1) Roy Kittler – 81.67
2) Florian Geyer – 80.17
3) Jonas Hunziker – 78.00
4) Joss Christensen – 74.83
5) David Ortlieb – 74.67
6) Kim Boberg – 74.50
7) Alexander Hebbe – 72.17
8) Sämi Ortlieb Sämi – 72.00
9) Niklas Eriksson – 70.17
10) Yannic Lerjen – 64.83
11) Andri Ambühl – 63.83
12) Julian Ball – 63.67
13) Lauri Kivari – 61.83

cut-off

14) Antoine Adelisse – 55.33
15) Anton Golubev – 54.83
16) Clark Jaeden Schneider – 54.33
17) Roope Leppänen – 52.67
18) Anttijussi Heikkinen – 49.83
19) Otto Venäläinen – 12.33
20) Lucas Mangold – 11.17
Mike Thalmann – DNS
Rob Heule – DNS
Lyndon Sheehan – DNS

Heat 3
1) Fridtjof Fredricsson – 79.33
2) Thomas Kobel – 75.00
3) Oscar Scherlin – 73.83
4) Cyrill Hunziker – 72.83
5) Silvan Jäger- 72.00
6) Gaute Silseth – 69.50
7) Erik Hughes – 67.17
8) Otso Räisänen – 66.33

cut-off

9) Kai Mahler – 60.67
10) Matt Margetts – 60.00
11) Kalle Hilden – 55.17
12) Alessandro Jossen – 53.83
13) Mattias Johansson – 53.50
14) Peter Speight – 50.00
15) Juraj Durovcik – 48.33
16) Paul-Eric Faure – 38.33
17) Johan Berg – 30.00
Noah Bowman – DNS
Manuel Manca – DNS
Tobi Mangold – DNS
Benjamin Kronig – DNS
Till Matti – DNS
Mees Lierop – DNS
Jon Anders Lindstad – DNS

Heat 4
1) Morten Grape – 76.33
2) Laurent Demartin – 75.50
3) Oystein Braten – 70.67
4) Jaime Puigdengoles – 68.33
5) Nicolas Vuignier – 67.83
6) Oscar Wester – 65.00
7) Jesper Tjäder – 62.50

cut-off

8) Lucas Högland – 60.83
9) David Wise – 60.33
10) James Webb – 54.83
11) Victor Prieux – 53.00
12) Johan Collomb-Clerc – 51.50
13) Jonas Ruthberg – 46.67
14) Alex Chabod – 45.67
15) Antoine Blanchi – 40.50
16) Teo Cattaneo – 39.67
17) Bastien Dupont Vieux – 37.33
18) Bastien Chillotti – 32.33
19) Axel Östlund – 13.83
20) Aleksi Laitinen – 8.17
Harry Pettit – DNS
Manuel Eder – DNS
Sandro Cola – DNS