Heading down to Valle Nevado, Chile were 16 of the best freeskiers in the world and they went straight into their head-to-head battle. In a simple one-on-one fight local boy Chopo Diaz manage to better France’s Seb Michaud. Following Chopo was Oakley White-Allen who won his duel with Chris Booth to give Team Americas a 2-0 lead. It’s not every day that Team Europe will give up a 2-0 lead and not fight back and, luckily, they did.

Henrik Windstedt got the better of James Heim while Markus Eder fought off the challenge from Josh Bibby to equal the scores. Eder had one of the best lines of the day with a line that was only visible from the helicopter that took him to the start gate! He dropped a series of couloirs and a 15m cliff in a high speed charge to the finish. Dana Flahr was expected to bring in a victory but fell after attempting a 360 off a 15m drop. Kaj Zackrisson took the last run for yet another victory for Europe, cementing a 6-2 win on the first day.

With the first day giving Team Europe a huge but not overwhelming lead with the backcountry slopestyle still to come. Keep your eyes out for the results as it kicks off on Friday 9th.