The inaugural Treble Cone Backcountry Invitational we held last week at Treble Cone, New Zealand as Backcountry Invitational’s second southern hemisphere test event. This invite-only freeride comp (with a freestyle twist) was held on the classic Crags into Shooter zone at Treble Cone which served as the perfect venue.
The build crew spent three days building & shaping a bunch of playful features, including a rail & massive 30 meter jump, into the venue, creating a unique freestyle-focused freeride event where athletes can hit perfectly manicured jumps among the cliffs, steeps & natural features of the venue. With the comp being visual inspection only, the three-run format allows the athletes to get creative & push their limits as they’re able to dial in their speed, hits & lines. The other special thing that sets the Backcountry Invitational apart is that it’s judged by the athletes who are competing. They vote on which is the best run of each athlete and then they vote on the best overall runs.
Competitors
Men: Lach Powell, Aiden Fitzpatrick, Luca Harrington, Flynn Powell, Ben Richards, & Finn Bilous out of New Zealand. Rafferty Burrowes, Finbar Doig, Alexandre Gemeiro, & Martin Bender out of Europe. Toby Rafford, Tiemo Rolshoven & Ross Tester out of North America.
Women: Jess Hotter, Jessie Violet, Lulu Laird out of New Zealand. Britta Winans out of the US and Harriet Lucas out of the UK.
Results
Despite a stacked field of international athletes, it ended up being a local’s sweep of Kiwis on the men’s Podium. Finn Bilous finished first ahead of Luca Harrington (2nd) and Freeride World Tour rookie, Fynn Powell (3rd).
Lulu Laird out of Australia finished first in the women’s comp, followed by Harriet Lucas and Jess Hotter.
We’re looking forward to what’s next from Backcountry Invitational and will be keeping our eyes peeled this winter! Check out the highlight video and photos from the comp below.
