Natives from around the world gathered in the centre of Tignes Val Claret for the Fat Face Night Ski on Wednesday 05 April. The slopestyle event for both skiers and snowboarders was presented by Natives.co.uk and hosted in Tignes by Evolution 2. Fat Face ensured a strong turnout for the competition by offering €2000 in prize money and free entry to any riders wanting to give it a go.

Izzy from Extreme Channel filming event
Once the riders realised that free entry also included a BBQ and four drinks, the Fat Face bibs were streaming out of the registration tent. No wonder Izzy Knowles and her team from Extreme Channel, there to film the event for TV, were excited to be getting so much good footage.

Fat Academy kicked night off
The night started with the Fat Academy, an introductory rail-sliding coaching session with Pat Sharples for skiers and Raph from Black Cats for snowboarders. As the Tignes Development team bedded in the course, the riders started sessioning the rails and warming up for the competition proper. With Rossignol skis heading to the male and female winners along with the prize money, there was a lot to warm up for.

8 metre kicker got the crowd going
The 8 metre kicker was the first module on the course and at 7pm this was opened up to the riders, so they could get a feel for how it was riding. Big enough for switch 540s from Paddy Graham and an attempted corked seven by one of the early skiers was how it turned out. With a number of both skiers and boarders going inverted, the atmosphere in the crowd started to build as the competition kicked off.

Top riders showed serious slope style
So with judges, James Vernon and Raph from Black Cats, watching the four modules intently, each of the riders were allowed a minimum of two runs down the course. As befits a Workers Challenge event, the standard ranged from the extremely good to fairly novice riders: but this is exactly what the event was about - participation. Fat Face and Natives both strive to keep the grass roots of snowsports active and exciting for all, rather than just showcasing the international elite.

However, the standards set by the top riders were fantastic. Spinning off and onto the 7m long straight rail and sliding out the 6m S-rail not only got the crowd whooping and hollering, it also demonstrated how well these guys and lasses were throwing down.

Finals start as darkness fell
As the light started to fade, the last few riders spun or flipped off the kicker and worked the rails to try to impress the judges and make it through to the Night Ski final. In the end, four boarders and four male skiers qualified for the rails-only final. One female skier also went through. Although Katrien Aerts had already won the female section, her riding was so exceptional she went head-to-head against the boys in the final.

She didn’t disappoint, nailing the long straight rail with a 180 off and riding the S-rail completely out both runs. This young Belgian skier is clearly a star-in-the-making.

Brit skiers lay down, but Tignes local pro wins the night
The male skiers showed their style and courage in the fading light, spinning 270s & 450s on and off the rails. Whips from Val d’Isere even managed to break his ski on his first run, he was pushing it so hard. Leading Brit freestylers Jamie Cameron and Paddy Graham (British half-pipe champion) had come over from Verbier and Laax respectively – both made it to the final and laid down great runs. In the end Jamie just pushed out Paddy down into third and claimed the €200 second prize himself.

However, slopestyle is all about just that – style. In the judges’ minds one rider exemplified that all night. PG Conrardy, a local freeskiing star and Evo2 freeride coach (just returned from Kite & Flight 2006 in Pakistan), just looked super smooth throughout the evening, impressing with slick spins on and off the rails and impressive form on the kicker. He carried this through to the final and his composure under pressure carried him through to victory, winning him €350 and a pair of Rossignol skis.

The Belgians are coming… …on their boards
The snowboarding final was an unusual international mix. One British rider, Tim Bowden from Evo2 competing in his first rails event and making it look far too easy, and three Belgian riders, giving more evidence to the impact of snowdomes on snowsports.

Bart Van Crombuggen had been going huge off the kicker, but failed to ride out his rails in the final, leaving him in fourth. Tim wowed the crowd by riding the last run of the night with his back foot out of the binding. His steeze got the crowd amped up and took him into third place in the night.

Young Belgian prodigy just beaten by fellow boarding countryman
The top two places were decided by the narrowest of margins. Young prodigy, Kevin Bronkaeirs, rode superbly. The 15 year-old spun 450-in and 270-out on the box rail and then almost nailed the same trick switch. His run secured him the junior title, as well as claiming second place overall.

That left Pascal Bosmanns to top the podium. The Tignes-based, chilled-out Belgian has a super clean style that marked him out every time he took to the course. He carried this poise through to the final and his big lazy spin onto and off the long rail secured him first place and a Fat Face cheque for €350.

Natives Show Love Tour party went huge
As Izzy from Extreme interviewed the winners and some crazy sledgers hit the jumps, the crowd moved on to the Natives Show Love event party at Crowded House. With Extreme Energy vodka shots being handed out in Fat Face glow-in-the-dark glasses, the night revved up rapidly – so much so that some of the revellers over from Val d’Isere almost missed the free bus laid on by Fat Face to take them home after midnight.

As the last of the Fat Face goodies were thrown out the screaming crowd, the night settled into a haze of shooters, glam rock outfits and insane dancing – all with a slideshow of the night’s riding in the background.

Fat Face Night Ski delivers in style on and off slopes
And that was the Fat Face Night Ski - a massive night of awesome skiing, boarding and partying with a loads of free stuff thrown in. When Natives presents a Fat Face event, you know you can’t go wrong.

Keep an eye on Natives in the autumn for next year’s Fat Face Night Ski event and keep up to speed on the rest of the Fat Face Night Series at their website.

Natives comment:
[Thanks to our partners...
Huge thanks from us at Natives to Evolution 2 and Black Cats in Tignes for all their help and support for the event [Evo2 is the only place to go to satisfy your adventure lusts all year round, as well as for your ski or board coaching]. Also to Ben, Kelly, Matt and Sara for their help on the day, as well as to the Fat Face support crew. More appreciation to Natives’ equipment partner, Rossignol, for providing skis for the winners and last, but not least obviously, to Fat Face for their sponsorship of the event.]

[Source: Natives.co.uk]