Corona Extra Winter Tour stage 1

9th of January the 8th edition of the Snowkite Freestyle World Cup was introduced in La Thuile, Italy.
For six days 21 excellent riders had their minds set for showing off their latest tricks and aiming for the best ranking possible.

This year there were several new riders, both male and female, added to the competitors list, and also new and impressive moves added to the trick lists.
Never before in the history of the Wintertour, have KGBs and kiteloop-handlepasses been executed during a competition. Seeing these moves come to life in the sport of snowkiting opens new doors to the future events this year and forward.
This event number one out of three has already been named by riders and organizers to be a revolution of the sport.
And this statement makes us wonder what to be expected when the riders can show off in stronger winds than what the La Thuile stage had to offer this time.

Like many other spots in this part of Europe this week, a high pressure weather system brought incredible sunny weather, but unfortunately not a lot of wind. On the normally windy spot in the San Bernardo Valley, the well known and appreciated snowkite spirit was still 100% there.

The friendly and positive minds of the riders and the cheering support from crew and spectators made this stage an absolute success.
For the day three and day five the wind finally made it to the minimum requirement of 8 knots pluss and kicked off the single elimination heats. Pushing it to the limit the riders impressed bigtime. Wintertour kiteski newcomers Guillaume Coyon and Eric Thollet was an appriciated addition to the World Cup this year and will hopefully be attending future stages. Coyon battled Bjorn Fuglem for the third place and succeeded going home with a well deserved trophee.
Last years junior champion Arne Georg Eide Dokken stepped up to the seniors challenge and gave Bjorn Kaupang a run for his money. Dokken finishing second on this stage will be an interesting fellow to see again pushing his advanced tricks.

In the mens snowboard heats the riders gave the judges a tough job. The level of tricks has entered new hights and takes us into a new era. Even in low winds the riders gave justice to the word power. With some help from the kickers, handlepass tricks where coming in like never before.
From the Czech Republic, another newcomer Marek Zack, had some moves that stunned the audience. We can only look forward to more powered action from this rider.
Coming from Sweden, Claes Lundin also made quite an impression pushing all the way for the top of the ranking. Batteling experienced World Cup rider and number two from last year, Sigve Botnen in the semifinals, put Lundin in the finals against last years number three ranked rider Remi Meum.
Meum in the end convinced the judges and is currently on top of the ranking for 2006. Truly amazing was still the semi finals between Meum and french Romain Fabretti. This semi final hits the history books for effectivity, insane moves and incredible competition spirit.

For the womens competition the organizers were pleased to see several new competitors entering this year. Not only entering but also doing great moves and pushing the level of the sport. The companionship and support within the girls camp resulted in a week of extreme progression for the girls.
Last years world champion, Kari Anne Tragethon showed the judges that she is more than qualified to aim for the same spot of the ranking this year. Running heats against Kari Schibevaag, she is currently on spot number one. Schibevaag showed a new level from last year and will be a rider to follow this winter.

Girls" snowboard attendance is also growing, and this year newcomers Heidi Neerbye og Perrine Curtelin battled hard for third and fourth place. Neerbye kited her way to third place and has presented promising progression during this stage.
The finals between world champion Agnès Fontenay and Estelle Lambelet was a final to remember. Fontenay is a very good rider and has an exceptional reportoir of tricks. Fontenay took a bad landing at the beginning of the final and will be recovering her knee until the next stage in march.

Bad luck was also a fact for french rider Michal Regnier who also suffered a knee injury after a bad landing. Hopfully we will see both of these riders making it to the next stage in Semnoz, France on the 6th of March.


After this successful introduction stage of the 2006 Snowkite Freestyle World Cup, curiosity is present when we look forward to what"s to come. Leaving La Thuile and San Bernardo Valley for now, the two remaining stages are waiting for the riders.

We set our eyes on Semnoz in March and the finishing stage in Geilo, Norway just two weeks later, on the 27th of March until the 1st of April. See you there!


Hege Holt
Press contact
Corona Extra Winter Tour