Enni Rukajarvi conquers the Rail Jam at 4Star Battery Catfight
Snowboarding action continued on the second day of the 4Start Battery Catfight with the Rail Jam competition on Friday, 26th March, at Levi resort in Lapland, Finland. The jam format competition turned out to be real intense as the female riders unleashed
amazing skills and tricks in the field to outperform each other. As the dust settled, it was Finland’s Enni Rukajarvi who stood victorious. Switzerland’s phenomenon rider Isabel Derunga finished one place behind Rukajärvi, while Austria’s Christina (Tini)
Gruber finished in third place.
Forty girls made their way to the jam format competition. However as the contest progressed to the finals, only twelve girls were left, with the rest getting eliminated. These twelve riders consisted of only the very best in the field and the girls were
aware of the fact that any hiccup during the final may prove to be very costly.
The 20-year-old Finland local, Rukajarvi, remained the most prominent rider of the day as she showcased her exceptional kicker slaying abilities and came up with extremely spectacular rail combinations. Her best tricks in the final included the backside
boardslide to fakie on the rail and a frontside 270 to frontside boardslide 270 out, as well as a switch tailside 270 out on the box. These tricks helped her to seal the fate of the contest and secure the win.
“I'm so happy to be riding back home in Finland. The level has gone up on the last few years and the girls are doing more versatile tricks. It was good to have a mixed international crew of riders who showed some gnarly tricks,” she said.
The 21-year-old Derunga is one of Switzerland’s most exciting riders. She justified the hype that surrounds her by giving an impressive performance in Friday’s final. She landed herself in the second place after pleasing the crowd and judges with two of
their favourite tricks: a 270 on and 270 off the C-rail.
After the event Derunga exclaimed, “The rail jam was fun, the set up was really good, and a nice format. The level was good too, I saw some sick tricks. After today I'm super motivated for the slopestyle tomorrow. I will take a sauna and have a good sleep,
and hope for the best tomorrow.”
Finishing in third place was the extremely promising up-and-coming rider from Austria, Gruber. Gruber had finished in second place at the 3Star Rip Curl Sista Sessions slopestyle not too long ago and now she exhibited her rail prowess at the Catfight Battery.
Judging by her versatile talent and steady progress, we’ll surely be hearing her name a lot more in the new future.
Catfight Battery will feature its final event, the slopestyle contest, on Saturday, 26th March. Rukajarvi is the favourite to win the contest tomorrow, though a serious fight is expected from Derunga and Gruber. The winner of halfpipe battle on the first
day of the event, Switzerland’s Elena Konz, cannot be ruled out either. One thing is for certain: the final day of the event is going to be a heavy dose of action and thrill.
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