Aitor Soto and Marion Gouwy Win 2nd Landing Snowboard Banked Slalom

Saturday, February 19, Baqueira-Beret: The second edition of the Landing Snowboard Banked Slalom, in collaboration with the World Snowboard Federation (WSF), kicks off in the resort of Baqueira-Beret.

The previous day, in front of a capacity crowd in the Vielha Quiksilver store, the organizers announce the brand new “Team Challenge” prize, with winners scoring an insane heliboard session for three.

The event day arrives with adverse weather conditions predicted and heavy snowfall and poor visibility in Beret. But this is no excuse not to go shred. Participants start gathering at 8 am to collect their bibs and are split into four categories, depending on their age: Groms (< 13) 20 riders, Rookies (< 18) 37 riders, Seniors (< 40) 88 riders, and Legends (> 40) 63 riders. Participating riders are from across central and northern Spain, Andorra and France.

By 10:00 am the first snowboards begin lapping the circuit of Era Marmota, warming up for the main event at 11:15 am. Each rider would get two runs, comes competition, with their best time counting in the final tally.

The groms are the first drop-in, with a 7-year-old boy christening the banked course. The wind and snow of the previous night had played havoc with the setup making it hard for some of the less experienced competitors, but everyone gets stuck in and has an amazing day of shredding and friendship.

“The weather conditions before and during the event, added to the difficulty to the course, although the participants managed to keep their motivation high and, once again, we have lived an unforgettable day of snowboarding with a great representation of snowboarders from different places and a common goal to fun and take the fastest laps,” says Javi Guimont, the founder of Landing Snowboard, who organizer of the race.

At 4:30 pm the awards ceremony was held at the base of Beret, with more than €10,000 in sports equipment and a prize of a heliboarding experience up for grabs.

Here’s a list of the winners by category:

Groms – Women 

1ª Carla García Masó

2ª Chloe Bosch Sabidó

3ª Nora González Abad

Groms – Man

1ª Manex Rodríguez Garciandia

2ª Mauro González de Cos

3ª Beñat Urdangarin

Rookies – Women

1ª Leire Pérez Saeta

2ª Uxue Domínguez Deulofeu

3ª Danae Sanllhey

Rookies – Man

1º Martxelo Urruzola Tous

2º Axel Domínguez Deulofeu

3º Marc Cornejo Marzo

Senior – Women
1º Marion Gouwy

2º María Hidalgo Perlas

3º Paula Terra

Senior – Man 
1º Aitor Soto

2º Tyler Chorlton

3º Lukas Rodríguez Garciandia

Legends – Women
1º Diana Álvarez Alonso

2º Marion Velten

3º Ruth Bueno Vila

Legends – Man 
1º Jamie Philp

2º Lluc Navarro Cots

3º Toto Chamarro

The Andorra-based Slidewayz team made up of Merlin Balfour, Tyler Chorlton and Jamie Phips, win the brand new “Team Challenge” award and score a three-man heliboard experience.

Additional sponsors of the second edition of the Landing Snowboard Banked Slalom include: Quiksilver, Salomon Snowboards, Pannini, Satorisan, San Miguel, Foment Torisme Val d’Aran, Ajuntament Naut Aran, Baqueira – Beret and Mombisurf.

About Landing Snowboard
Landing Snowboard is a snowboarding education project, born in the glacier of Les Deux Alpes, in 2004. The project, under the management of founder Javi Guimont, is now based in gorgeous Baqueira-Beret, in Val d’Aran, in the Spanish Pyrenees.
Javi Guimont, is a professional snowboarder who has been involved in the teaching and development of snowboarding in Spain for over 20 years. Landing Snowboard also has a snowboard club for groms and rookies aged between 6 and 18, where they can train and have fun snowboarding.

About WSF Banked Slalom Tour
Founded in 2014 through a committee formed by people who have a passion for snowboarding and see the potential for banked slaloms and how they can help promote snowboarding in general. The WSF Banked Slalom Tour is a network of independent events or series with a common communication platform, starting with few countries where banked slaloms events already existed. In the last 2 years the tour developed very well – with 22 events and more than 2000 participating riders worldwide in the season 2016/17 – the project developed to one of the biggest Snowboard Tours around the Globe.
The long-term goal is to increase rider participation and resort development of BSL events worldwide. To develop a ranking system specific to banked slalom and offer all level of riders fun events, not only focusing on the athletic aspect. To award the WSF BSL World Champions, male and female, based on overall yearlong WSF ranking and accumulated points, always maintaining and respecting the fun spirit and roots of snowboarding and Banked Slalom. We believe now is the perfect time to launch this tour. Many questions regarding the state of the industry and snowboarding in general, have led us to believe banked slaloms can revive interest in snowboarding and bring the fun back. We are relying on the network of organizers to share our vision and help us execute the first seasons of this tour, which will become a platform for the future of snowboarding. We want to thank all of the interested organizers for seeing the vision and sharing our passion for this tour.

About Quiksilver 
Quiksilver is an emblematic boardsports brand of Boardriders, Inc., founded by a group of surfing enthusiasts in Australia in 1969. True to a unique lifestyle, Quiksilver holds passion, authenticity and innovation to be fundamental values. The brand’s identity is represented by its logo, a mountain inside a wave symbolizing its attachment to boardsports and its playgrounds, the sea and the slopes. Quiksilver products cover the whole range of sportswear, accessories and boardsports gear. Quiksilver is also intimately associated with the very best athletes and the biggest events in the history of boardsports.

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Images with credits  Andoni Epelde :  HERE
Video: HERE
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