With best conditions, the Obsidian Freeride competition on the WTF face in the Minaret Range near Lake Wanaka took place.
The heli-access venue tested the 21 athletes, with Janina Kuzma showing her experience in the women’s category. The 2014 Halfpipe veteran from the Sochi Olympics and the Freeride World Tour veteran was strong and smooth on the face in difficult conditions.
Ronan Thompson was first in the European and Oceania Junior Freeride World Tour in 2019 and he was one of the few snowboarders to attack the face, he was loose in places but stayed on his feet for a very fast and technical line, a deserved victory for the young athlete.
In first place, Craig Murray is unquestionably one of the best freeride skiers in the world and he didn’t disappoint at Obsidian. His run was almost fall line from the top to the bottom of the face, which was incredibly exposed and difficult terrain. There was no question in the judge’s minds who would win the Freeride Obsidian men’s ski.
Team Smoothy jumped from 3rd place overall on the leaderboard into first, with a clever play of their Joker card. This card doubled their 100 points score for winning the event and if that wasn’t enough they managed a podium sweep of first and second place in the Men’s Snowboard category giving them another 20 points. This left them with 280 points overall, with Team Kuzma close behind with 220 and Team Wells dropping to 3rd with 180.
Obsidian Overall Results - after Day 2 Freeride (15 August 2020)
1 – Team Smoothy - 280
2 – Team Kuzma - 220
3 – Team Wells - 180
Freeride Results
Men’s Freeski
1 – Craig Murray – Team Wells
2 – Finn Bilous – Team Kuzma
3 – Sam Smoothy – Team Smoothy
Women’s Freeski and Snowboard
1 – Janina Kuzma - Team Kuzma
2 – Zoi Sadowski-Synnott – Team Kuzma
3 – Jess Hotter – Team Smoothy
Men’s Snowboard
1 – Ronan Thompson – Team Smoothy
2 – Tiarn Collins – Team Smoothy
3 – Will Jackways – Team Wells
