Freeriders to compete for tour crown at Nissan Xtreme
The world’s top ski and snowboarding freeriders will this weekend compete for the coveted title of 2010 Freeride World Tour Champion at the Nissan Xtreme by Swatch in Verbier, Switzerland. The event, the fourth and final contest of the 2010 Freeride World Tour, takes place on Saturday 20th March on one of the most dangerous faces ridden in professional freeriding, the north face of the Bec des Rosses.
Nissan athletes Xavier de Le Rue (FRA), Aurélien Ducroz (FRA), Cyril Neri (SWZ), Eric Themel (AUS), Geraldine Fasnacht (SUI) and Marja Persson (SWE) will each tackle the daunting, steep and jagged rock face in the fight to become 2010 Freeride World Tour Champions. Freeriding is a form of extreme skiing and snowboarding, in which contestants ski some of the most dangerous, untouched sheer mountain faces in the world. With steep, narrow gorges, high rock cliffs and constantly changing snow and terrain, the Nissan Xtreme demands incredible technical skill.
Since its inception in 1996, the Xtreme has been considered the most prestigious event in the freeride world. This year, the competition - a fitting finale to the four contest tour - celebrates its 15th anniversary. To mark the occasion, over 15 past Xtreme winners have been invited back to Verbier to compete once again, including Nissan athletes Xavier de Le Rue (snowboard), Aurélien Ducroz (ski) and Geraldine Fasnacht (women’s snowboard) who each won their events in Verbier last year, alongside legends such as snowboarder Steve Klassen (USA), a previous five time winner of the event.
Xavier de Le Rue, Nissan team athlete commented: “The Bec des Rosses is world renowned amongst the freeriding community as a really tough face that I am looking forward to riding after winning there in 2009. Since returning from the Vancouver Olympic Games I have been doing some photo shoots to keep up my edge and also spending some quality time with my daughter, which really helps me to relax and focus.”
Aurélien Ducroz, Nissan team athlete commented: “The Nissan Xtreme is one of the legendary events on the freeriding circuit. Bec des Rosses is a crazy face to ski but of course, I absolutely love it! Last year’s contest was tough, as ever, and I hope to repeat my winning performance again this weekend.”
Geraldine Fasnacht, Nissan team athlete commented: “It’s always cool to compete in the Nissan Xtreme contest as Verbier is my home resort. There’s always a great atmosphere and the mountain is just awesome, it’s freeriding at its purest. I’ve just returned from an incredible adventure in Antarctica so I feel in good shape for the contest, and am looking forward to ride the Bec des Rosses ; it’s the best event on the Tour.”
Jean-Pierre Diernaz, General Manager of Nissan’s Marketing Communications in Europe commented: “As co-creators of the Freeride World Tour, Nissan are very proud to be a part of a world-class sporting event, in which the world’s best athletes compete for glory in some of the world’s most challenging environments. Each and every rider competing in the Nissan Xtreme by Swatch will be pushing themselves to the limits with incredible control and precision in order to prove their skills on one of the world’s most challenging faces. If you can ride the Bec des Rosses, you can ski anything; the spectators are in for a treat!”