Snow Park NZ has been holding host to many pro riders recently both skiers and snowboarders, but it’s time to make way for The North Face Freeski Open. Many of you will remember that last year it was the the Volkl Freeski Open but this year it’s been taken by The North Face (check out the post about it).

Day 1 of TNF Freeski Open was a nice bluebird day for the riders to throw down their best tricks. 40 riders fought it out over two heats for 12 semi-final places. These 12 will battle it out with the invited riders of the comp which comprises of some big names from all over the world.

Heat 1 Results:
1 – Chris Laker (USA)
2 – Yannick Lerjen (CH)
3 – Alec Savery (NZ)
4 – Toyama Takumi (JAP)
5 – Taylor King (NZ)
6 – Charles Gagnier (CAN)
7 – Frederick Lilano (CH)

Heat 2 Results:
1 – Cyril Hunziker (CH)
2 – Klaus Finne (NOR)
3 – Pat Baskins (USA)
4 – Hamish MacDougal (NZ)
5 – Erik Hughes (USA)

Now we turn our attention to the semi finals! With the winds picking up more speed the organisers decided to take out the last jump for safety reasons. This didn’t stop the riders from going at the course with gusto though! Safety being the key issue, they changed the format to 3 runs instead of two with the best score being put forward.

Semi finals results:
1 – Jossi Wells
2 – Markus Eder
3 – Vincent Gagnier
4 – Joss Christensen
5 – Elias Ambuhl
6 – Chris Laker
7 – Charles Gagnier
8 – AJ Kemppainen
9 – Klaus Finne
10 – Cyril Hunziker
11 – Takumi Toyama
12 – Erik Hughes