The third stage of the Freeride World Tour was held today on the Silverado venue in Squaw Valley USA, and the scene has now been set for the fiinal showdown in Verbier later this month…it should be a tight contest to the top of the podium!

With its playful terrain the riders put up a great show for the hundreds of cheering locals, pushing the limits with a ‘best of two runs’ format. The high point of the day was the women stepping up the game with a great level of riding, taking the same big cliff jumps as the men and creative line choices. Local Squaw Valley skier and Freeride World Tour wild card Jaclyn Paaso was without a doubt the biggest crowd pleaser. She took a massive cliff jump at the bottom of the face, faster and higher than most of the men, challenging them for the second heat.

Three out of the four winners today (Windstedt, de Le Rue, Paaso) have scored enough points to climb to the top of the overall Freeride World Tour Ranking 2010, before the final stage Nissan Xtreme by Swatch in Verbier, March 20.

Men Ski
1- Henrik Windstedt (SWE)
2- Aurélien Ducroz (FRA)
3- Reine Barkered (SWE)

Women Ski
1- Jaclyn Paaso (USA)
2- Ane Enderud (NOR)
3- Ingrid Backstrom (USA)

Men Snowboard
1- Xavier de Le Rue (FRA)
2- Matt Annetts (USA)
3- Ryland Bell (USA)

Women Snowboard
1- Shannan Yates (USA)
2- Aline Bock (GER)
3- Susan Mol (USA)

(Click here for Complete Results)

Organizer Nicolas Hale-Woods (SUI) on the Competition Format Nissan Tram Face: best score outt of two runs

“The majority of the athletes were really happy with the two-run format. It was a great opportunity for the sport to allow faster progression as the riders would attempt more tricks and push their limits more than if they only would have had one chance. And the good news is that no one would do anything dangerous above his or her abilities. We saw some amazing riding today.”

Nissan Tram Face 2010 Action Highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZrw7POJBM8

Head judge for skiing,Eric Seymour (USA) on Henrik Windstedt’s winning second run:

“Henrik showed the most progressive run of the day, throwing a giant backflip off the start straight into a big 360° (full rotation). He skied very fast and smooth all the way to his final air – a 45 footer (15 metres), which he landed perfectly. He managed to mix both new school freestyle and big mountain skiing.”

Henrik’s winning run:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sRHtAbVE4Y