Red Bull NordiX 2010 - Eventclip

Cross-country skiers take to the air in Davos
At the 2010 Red Bull NordiX, cross-country skiers soared across the skies, traversed the curves of a Halfpipe and zipped up and down the Bolgen in Davos. In front of 3000 spectators, Dan Maka from Czechoslovakia proved himself to be the master of his domain. The womens race went to Swiss biathlete, Selina Gasparin.
Petter Northug is the first to hit the Halfpipe! This was no dreamed-up chimera triggered by an overdose of Davos spring sunshine, but the true lightening-speed reality of the Red Bull NordiX. And to even reach this Halfpipe challenge, four cross-country skiers first concurrently tore out of the starting gate along a steep curve and into a downhill run, bounded over a jump spanning several meters and worked their way back up a steep ascent. The three flags situated along the walls of the Halfpipe are the part of the race that separates the run-of-the-mill from the maestros. The Swede Peter Larsson modestly looked at it as trying to stay on my feet in the Halfpipe while maintaining some strength for the big uphill climb. Hes alluding to the steep uphill section that directly followed the most technically challenging part of the race. The final short downhill run led to the finishing line cunningly situated along the edge of a jump. Those in a rush to cross the finish line found themselves airborne once again. The 3000 spectators got a real kick out of athletes who took this opportunity to show off spectacular flights of fancy that included everything from splits to 360° turns to Käsers clean landing of a front flip in the snow. Petter Northug jumped V-style like a true ski jumper, pulling off a flawless telemark landing.
An electrifying show
As the race progressed, the thrill of the heats of four became unsurpassable. The two best found themselves headed for the next a round, while those two unable to cut it found themselves already off for the summer. Those breaking too often or losing control of the narrow slates were sure to be left in the dust here. The spring slush made the most difficult run of the season even more treacherous, and the uphill stretches even tougher.
The Czechs proved to be tactical wizards, their most well known representative being the Vancouver bronze medalist Maratin Koukal. Additional rising talents like the U23 sprint champion, Robin Bryntesson from Sweden, or the U23 runner-up, Martin Jäger from Switzerland, sprinted and jumped their way into the spotlight, especially when the young Swiss guy managed to ditch Petter Northug in the Halfpipe.
The contenders in the womens final included Selina Gasparin (SUI), a biathlete in the Olympic Games in Vancouver, her female compatriots Lucy Pichard and Irene Cadurisch, along with Guri Hetland, wife of former sprinting trailblazer, Tor Arne Hetland, who made it into the eight final in the grueling mens competition. Gasparin managed the best performance over the first jump and along the Halfpipe, followed by Hetland and Pichard, who delivered a duel in the Halfpipe and the final uphill stretch. However, it was the biathlete who proved to have the greatest reserves, smoothly mastering the final jump to grab the Red Bull NordiX first-place set of mountain goat horns for Switzerland. When asked whether she would now consider switching from biathlons to ski cross races, she tossed out the idea of a new sports discipline: If the ski cross and archery are combined into one race, then you can count me in.»
An unlucky Northug, a speechless Maka
The action in the mens competition reached a peak in the semifinal when Peter Northug and the local matador, Gaudenz Flurry, got into a wrangle shortly before the finish line, which was settled when the Davos native managed to be the first to get part of his sprawled body across the finish line. Things got even worse in the small final for the Norwegian, who is used to winning. Just as Northug was about to show off a particularly far-reaching jump, he got stuck in a puddle in front of the jump-off platform and smacked to the ground. Donning a laceration below a black eye, he commented: Even if I look like Mike Tyson right now and although I wasnt so lucky during my run, I still had a great time.
The Czechs, Martin Koukal and Dan Maka, were in full command during the final. Up-and-coming Martin Jäger and the seasoned Gaudenz Flury engaged in a duel for third place. Roaring applause came from the audience as the local matador claimed victory for himself on the Bolgen. Dan Makas elation at ending the season in victory needed no translation it was written all over his face. The more fluent Martin Koukal delivered some insight on this feat: Since our cross country skiing trails are only prepared once a week, the conditions here were manageable for us. Gaudenz Flury was also on top of the world: Both Czechs were clearly much stronger than I was, but making it to the final was incredible enough for me.

Category:

Sports

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• red
• bull
• nordix
• in
• davos
• 2010

[promotosport1]

holy shit ... who would have thought skinny dudes on skiis could be so damn cool!! kudos!!!!!!! huge thumbs up to this event!! 

[reifel30]

Petter Nortug is best cross country skiier in the world

[stoomooo]

HOLY SHIT THAT FLIP WAS EPIC

I need to learn how to do that.

Lol go to the Northug crash video, maybe hes not so great after all