The Kumi Yama 3 is over, after a sunny snowboard week-end, full of celebrities, of soft snow, of injuries, of big tricks and funny tricks. Report - MEGA portfolio - some pictures from the photo contest and a video coming really soon !
The Kumi Yama is atypical. On the one hand it is an event genuinly french: (into brakets:
- A nice atmosphere, every body is having fun
- No link to the TTR , FFS...
- Contests that start 2 hours late and finish 3 hours late
- A shape that is not perfect with receptions a bit flat (riders were bouncing) a hip hard to ride
- A fucking mess at the start zone where no one knows when it is time to drop in, what is the format of the contest (one run, 2 runs, 3...?) and what is the prize to win.
- A mess at the lifters where competitors take over the tourists since they don't have right of way... (except for the japanese who wait in line)
- A lot of alcool
close the french bracket)
On the other hand the Kumi Yama is getting more and more international with a nice concept and a bunch of great riders: Kazu Kokubo, Mathieu Crépel, Dustin Craven, Eero Niemela, Danny Kass, Eric Messier, Arthur Longo... All these riders won't act like celebrities, they will ride the soft snow and the summery shapes...
The union of these 2 factors will be fatal for some: a vertebra for Johann Baisamy who sticked to the quarter and felt in the gap on his back, it was his 3rd day back on his snowboard after he got injured at the Poney Session, a meniscus and probably ligaments are touched too for Thomas Delfino who hits the flat on his last run of the day and it is a twisted knee for Danny Kass on the hip. He told us he was just going for fun knowing it was his last run before leaving Les 2 Alpes... We never say it enough: "The last shot is the one you don't do"
The contest was divided: Pipe, Slopestyle and Best tricks.
The pipe, supposed to start at 9am started at 10.30am, which is unfortunate because the hot weather transformed the snow quickly (some riders were wearing arva's just in case...) in spite of the tone of chemical non eco-friendly powder to ice the snow... The pipe seemed not good enough for the skiers who won't ride it, scared of getting hurt (except for the very respectable Dim Charrière).
Snowboarders take advantage of the situation to do funny runs including handplants, backside air's, slashes and other unusual rotations, sometimes stomped, but not often. Except for Kazu Kokubo who goes really high, stomps every thing on the flat and still has enough speed to go above the other wall. The public could feel the ground shaking when he landed really low on the flat. Obviously it hurts. Alluan Ricciardi was in great shape too and stomped one of his good runs while Crepel and Longo will be very classy on tricks that are quite technical. No really mental tricks, no double corks but more style and fun, we are not against that. Big up to Johann Baisamy who kept on trying to land a fat front 1080 but never could continue on the other wall after but he was almost there.
For the slopestyle, a lot of participants and it's difficult to talk about every one... The team coposed of Johan Gaume, Thomas Gouty et Thomas Delfino (on-fire this week end) are The riders of the week-end. They got qualified the day before and reached the finals against the french dream team made of Arthur Longo, Mathieu Crépel et Alluan Ricciardi, who definitly came to show that they are the big french snowboarding masters, even outside the Olympics. Unfortunately Thomas Delfino felt on the first hit of the first run of finals. It's over, Crépel-Longo-Ricciardi are the big winners of the week end, they did a last run for the "honor". And for the victory.
Competition, yes, but not only the winners get to show what they got, especially in a contest where you have teams which implies that your team can loose because just one team mate felt. Aymeric Tonin was in really good shape (he teamed up with two japanese guys). King of style, Kokubo, who has style even on kickers (how surprising right?) The Ero One team composed of swiss boys Mat & Sam Schaer and Féfé Pellacani is going high with style, like Charles Gagnon, a part of the A Branler crew that goes directly from the club to the lifters to finally sleep around 10am on the chill zone. Victor de le Rue thrown amazing double/late cork 9 , Gerome Mathieu did not ride but he made us laugh a lot, the AA crew seems to be back with more style, a new generation of kids killing it already at 13/15 yo, some girls not affraid of the bigger kicks like Marion Gouwy who got syle and Anouck Grau who kept on falling but never complained or stopped riding, Dustin Craven who went so high on the hip...
Kazu takes the win for the best tricks on the hip and David Tchag wins the photo contest.
Long story short: New people riding, guys already known keep on riding and "celebrtities" show that there are not well known for nothing... Style instead of spin to win, we like it.
photos: Jerome Tanon unless something else is mentioned.
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