Sam Lee Third at Freeride World Tour Alaska
Media release: Sam Lee Third at Freeride World Tour
Alaska
Haines, Alaska (24 March
2017) – New Zealand big mountain skier Sam Lee
(Wanaka) has earned his first podium placing on the Freeride
World Tour (FWT), the sport’s most prestigious
competition. Lee finished in third place in today’s
competition in Haines, Alaska which is the penultimate stop
in the five-stop world tour.
Only the top 12 male skiers
in the competition made the cut to compete in Alaska and the
finals in Verbier, Switzerland scheduled to take place 1-9
April. Lee went into today’s competition ranked eighth
overall after placing 4th, 8th and 12th in the first three
Tour stops. Today’s result sees him move up into sixth
place.
Lee chose a technical line through some of the
venue’s most exposed terrain and scored highly for
maintaining control and fluidity throughout his run. He
stomped his landings off the huge cliff drops and threw an
impressive backflip off the second hit.
“Competing in
Alaska has been one of the best experiences of my life, and
maybe the most exciting competition to date,” says
Lee.
“Although I made a few small mistakes in my run I
am stoked with the way I skied. I really just wanted to go
fast and big, and it felt so good to rip a backy at the
top!
“To pick up my first FWT podium in Alaska of all
places is way beyond my expectations for this
season.”
French skiers Loïc Collomb-Patton and Léo
Slemett took first and second places on the men’s ski
podium. Collomb-Patton opened the men’s field with a
powerful run, taking a large double-set into an impressive
360 high on the venue while Slemett dropped into a similar
line but executed a smoothly stomped backflip and finished
strong in the lower venue.
Live replay available at the
following link. Click on tags to find each rider’s
run.
http://www.freerideworldtour.com/event/swatch-freeride-world-tour-haines-alaska-2017/replay
Ends