Freestyle.ch in Zürich, Switzerland, is an event that spans that moment of the year when summer gives way to winter pursuits – let us spell out some of its attractions…
Freestyle Motocross,
or FMX,isn’t necessarily what you’d associate with an event in an alpine region that also includes winter sports, but it’s as successful and popular as the stuff on snow. Look out for KTM’s sensational Czech rider Petr Pilat on the bike, he was Best European FMX Rookie for 2009 in the International FMX Awards you know.
Rebeaud…
… Mathieu Rebeaud, another FMX legend in his own lifetime and a Swiss to boot. Mat won the 2008 Red Bull X-Fighters World Championship and also has Freestyle.ch pedigree having previously won the Crossover event here (more of which below).
Eero Ettala
won overall last year in snowboarding, with a series of switch double backs, rodeo and switch rodeo back 7s and a double-corked backside 10 getting him to the super final, which the Finn (pictured) took easily with a massive score of 96.50. Scary. He’ll be challenged again by home favourite Iouri Podladtchikov and Slovenia’s Marko Grilc, among others.
Skiing
is also on the Freestyle.ch roster, but obviously this being one of the foremost freestyle events in the world, it isn’t a little slaloming down Swiss nursery slopes. Nope, this is on a halfpipe, and the big names confirmed to be gracing it this year include Simon Dumont (USA), Paddy Graham (GBR), Russ Henshaw (AUS), PK Hunder (NOR) and, last but not least, Jon Olsson (SWE).
Two days
of competition this year mark a departure from the three of previous events. While a gig from Delinquent Habits will entertain the athleted who arrive on Friday, September 24, the action itself will be packed into the following weekend. Doors open at 11am with a 12-hour Saturday programme including qualifications and other attractions such as a documentary movie première, then again at 11am on Sunday until the prizegivings at 6pm. There won’t be a dull moment.
Yearly
is how often Freestyle.ch has been held since 1995, making it the biggest such event in Europe as its popularity and standing have grown over the last 15 editions.
L andiewiese
a park on the far north-western banks of Lake Zürich and in the south of the city of the same name, hosts freestyle.ch. It’s accessible by tram and bus, and it has cycle park facilities if you fancy rocking up by bike. Oh, and there’s a jetty for boats, naturally. Bars and restaurants cater for fans on-site. Incidentally, Zürich itself dates from at least as far back as 15BC when it was used by the Roman Empire as a customs post for goods inward to the home bases in Italy.
Ex-fighters
or more properly ex-X-Fighters regulars Libor Podmol (CZE) and Thomas Pagès (FRA) will be at Freestyle.ch to try to win the FMX comp from their rivals and current Red Bull X-Fighters Mat Rebeaud and Dany Torres (SPA). Pagès has previous form here, having won the FMX event in 2008.
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Crossover competitions
are also part of the event, with specialists in one of the four disciplines having a good old go at the other three to find the overall crossover champ. This extravaganza takes place on Saturday after another important ‘C’ – a concert at 8.30 from Cali P and The Soul Fire Band.
Hugh Hefner, Hansi Hinterseer…
…and Slash will be among the judging panel for this year’s event. No doubt Mr Hefner will have some lovely young ladies in tow, Hansi will have fans of his singing, acting and entertaining career clamouring for his autograph (did we mention the Austrian also used to be a top skier?), and Slash… well, who knows? Let’s just hope he turns up on time, unlike his former Guns ’n’ Roses bandmates recently, then maybe he’ll wield the axe…
Turn up early at our event page to find out more
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