Not that strong but quite consistent wind – Norway dominating Freestyle Ski & Race Snowboard – three different nations in the lead in Race Ski – youngest participant and reigning Junior World Champion at the same time, Norwegian Arne Dokken, placed 3rd in Freestyle Ski
Day 3 of the Snowkite World Championship foresaw a full programm with 5 competitions in the morning, and except the planned second heat in Freestyle Ski all competitions were held. The wind being not too strong ment an advantage for some of the participants in the race events.
Freestyle Ski
The Freestyle Ski seemed to be an event just for the Norwegians. Except Russian Oleg Cherkashin (18 years), who, by the way, achieved a great result in both Freestlye and Race, the final runs were contested by Norwegian riders. Right from the beginning, Andres Bjørtuft (26 years) and Bjørn Kaupang (21 years) made clear that the finals will be run between those two. Especially Kaupang stuck clean and sovereign tricks up to the final run where he lost his kite and thus opened way to Bjørtuft who finished on 1st place. Arne Dokken (16 years), the reigning Junior World Champion, who ended up on rank 3, was also impressively strong,
Race Snowboard
Today’s heats in the Race Snowboard saw no changes regarding the top 3 positions. That means the Norwegians are still dominating, with André Natland on 1st, Daniel Hallanger on 2nd and Alexander Yrvum on 3rd place. As far as it looks now, Natland will be able to finish the World Championships on a top position and with that will also be able to defend his leading position in the World Cup ranking.
Race Ski
Heat number 3 was again kind of a “horror show†for Russian Alexey Razhev. Yesterday he already was in the lead for quite a long time and then messed it up. And he did it again today: he was in the lead for a long time, went the wrong way and the riders close behind him passed. This mistake threw him back to place 5 and allowed Roger Knechtle (SUI) to finish first. With this victory today, Knechtle took over the lead in the actual ranking. Additionally, this pushes him further towards the World Cup 2006 title which, in case he keeps competing that strong, he might take over from Ivo Bryner (SUI). Place two hasn’t changed yet. It is still Oleg Cherkashin’s (RUS) place. Geir Norland (NOR) has lost two ranks and is now on place 3.
STATEMENTS:
Andres Bjørtuft, NOR:
“I’m stoked, I’m really stoked! I didn’t expect that, especially because this is my first contest this year, you know. The wind was perfect, the park really good.â€
Bjørn Kaupang, NOR:
“I’m disappointed. I lost my kite, and due to the rule which says you are not allowed to help each other, I lost.â€
Arne Dokken, NOR:
“I didn’t expect me ending up on 3 at all! After I’ve won the Junior Worlds last year, I thought of ckecking out my chances at the World Championships – and it worked out really well!â€
All detailed results of today can be found on www.arctic-kite-challenge.com.
High res pictures can be downloaded from the press section of the event website:
www.arctic-kite-challenge.com. There you will also find a complete list of all the riders and a detailed program of the event.
Snowkiting is an outdoor sport where you need wind. At a contest the wind conditions need to be constant to have a fair competition. A World Championship can only be held within a certain number of days. Therefore it can happen that not all races can be held. The World Championship in Norway only saw two days of competition. On the first and on the last day there was not enough wind. So the World Champions in the race disciplines are awarded only after three runs, the freestylers will get their titles after one elimination-session.
Altogether the riders in race on skies and snowboard did three runs each on the two competition day. The competition rules say that already three runs can count as a World Championship even though normally in contests the riders have to compete in five runs each.
Freestyle Ski
In Freestyle the riders have to show as many tricks on rails, ramps and kickers a possible within a certain timeframe. Quantity and quality of the jumps are rated by judges.
In Freestyle Ski after one completed session Anders Bjørtuft (NOR) takes over the title from last years World Champion Bjørn Kaupang(NOR), who is second after a bad final run. On third place is last years Junior World Champion Arne Dokken from Norway.
Freestyle Snowboard
The new World Champion in this discipline is from Sweden. Claes Lundin wins the Freestyle Snowboard competition, second is Sigve Botnen, third André Natland – both are from Norway.
Race Ski
In the race disciplines the kiters have to go around a corse as many times as possible within a certain time. Each heat is ranked with points. The one who has the least points after the final heat, is the winner.
This year the title of World Champion in race ski goes to Switzerland. Roger Knechtle is awarded with the gold medal and has also won the world cup in this discipline, because the World Championships were also the last stop of the Worldcup tour. The silver medal goes to Russian Oleg Cherkashin and bronce to Norwegian Geir Norland.
Race Snowboard
The race snowboard discipline is the domain of the Norwegian kiters. André Natland wins in this discipline. Daniel Hallanger takes the second place and Alexander Yrvum the third.
Vadsø – a small quiet spot in Northern Noway – has been the center of the international snowkite scene for the past four days. Here the World Champions in the four disiplines Race Ski, Race Snowboard, Freestyle Ski and Freestyle Snowboard were awarded. The wind conditions allowed competing only on two days, and still this situation did not at all affect the atmosphere amongst the snowkiters from nine nations. Obviously, a lot of snowkiters from Norway showed up at the World Championship in their home country. The Norwegian kiters took two of the four World Champion titles, one title went to Switzerland and one to Sweden.
On the first event day there was not enough wind for kiting in general and thus not enough to guarantee fair competitions but the sun was shining. Day two as well as the day three brought wind and snowfalls, on the fourth day the heats had to be cancelled due to lack of wind.
The wide landscape in Vadsø and surrounding is perfect for kiting. Here you can kite in untouched nature for days, and you can also do your tricks on natural jumps. Athletes love this area. These facts make the spot the perfect host of the World Championship. The location is well-known for its constant wind conditions, and still it can happen that wind is missing now and then – like the situation was on two World Championship days. Nonetheless it was possible to run the minimum amount of heats in the four disciplines and award the World Champions. In Race, the winners on skis and snowboards were known after three heats, in Freestyle after one elimination session on snowboard and one on skies the winners were clear.
Besides the action on the event area, the small town Vadsø offered a mixed side-program to the kiters – snowmobiling and dog sledging, a traditional sauna and two huge kiter-parties with local bands and Dj’s were some of the highlights. All the inhabitants of Vadsø were somehow involved in the World Championship and did everything to provide a great and lasting event for the snowkiters.
RESULTS – SNOWKITE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2006
Race Ski Men
1. Roger Knechtle/SUI
2. Oleg Cherkashin/RUS
3. Geir Norland/NOR
Race Snowboard Men
1. André Natland/NOR
2. Daniel Hallanger/NOR
3. Alexander Yrvum/NOR
Freestyle Ski Men
1. Anders Bjørtuft/NOR
2. Bjørn Kaupang/NOR
3. Arne Dokken/NOR
Freestyle Snowboard Men
1. Claes Lundin/SWE
2. Sigve Botnen/NOR
3. André Natland/NOR
die kerel op de middelste foto
z"n bar is kapot - en dan nog winnen ook !
johndoe had een 5 sterren sessie in Kijkduin met maar liefst 16 - 21 knots op zijn Best Bularoo (2010)
haha ja die PKD"tjes zijn idd ideaal
echter ik heb zo"n budster... en daarvan zijn die handles niet ideaal.
maarja heb er wel mee een onehanded kiteloop gedaan