Team Downdays emerge triumphant in Kumi Yama
The Japanese-inspired slopestyle event, Kumi Yama, went down at the slopes of Les Deux Alpes, France on Saturday, July 2nd.
Team Downdays, comprising of Markus Eder, Nicolas Vuignier and Gaute Silseth, walked away with top honours from the kamikaze-style competition after defeating the Young b******s team, which was made up of Lauri Kivari, Anti Ollila and Jesper Tjader, in the
finals. The Hooligans team, consisting of JF Houle, Adam Delorme and Simon Ericson, rounded out the top-three.
Winter action sports athletes from nearly all corners of the world were in attendance at the fourth edition of the competition that is held to honour Japan and carries the motto “Ride for Japan.” While some of the athletes were simply there to enjoy a little
snow action under the sun, others were keen to show their support for Japan at a time when the country is still recovering from the nightmare of March, when it was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami.
After done with the qualification rounds on Friday, the second day of the event started off with eight teams, each consisting of three members, participating in a knock-out battle. It meant there were not going to be any second chances and hence absolutely
no room for error. Each team had to consistently give their 100% if they wished to stay alive in the event.
After ousting Team Casseur floteur, which consisted of Richard Permin, Lauren Thevenet and Loic Collmob Patto, from the competition, Team Downdays made their way to the semi-finals to face the team of Winter X Europe 2011 Slopestyle gold medallist, Houle.
Both the teams gave extremely stylish performances, making it almost impossible for the judges to reach a decision. Eventually, the boys had to make a second run to help the judges decide which team deserved to be in the finals. The Hooligans had a crash
in the decisive run, allowing their rivals to comfortably go through to the finals.
The final saw Team Downdays go head-to-head with the Young b******s team. The battle turned out to be intense, but the older generation of Downdays skiers managed to prevail over the younger generation in the end.
Talking to a reporter after the event, Vuignier said, “We finished skiing today with the feeling that we'd just had a great day skiing without the feeling of being in a comp, that's what makes this event so cool.”
The event turned out to be a real success, with both the riders and crowd quite satisfied with the action and intention of the event. While the competition was expected to be called off this year after the disaster in Japan, organiser Gaylord Pedretti went
ahead with competition, eager to show the world the strong face of Japan even amidst the testing time the country is currently going through.
The proceeds from the award ceremony of the event are going to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
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