FWQ 2019. Revelstoke

We are pleased to inform you that Reactor Outdor has become a sponsor of one very promising athlete - Yurii Kostiukevich. He represents Ukraine at Freeride World Qualifier.

Previous FWQ competition took place in в Revelstoke, British Columbia. Our athlete ended his run on 8th (2*) and 13th (4*) position with 485 points in total.

Lets read about Yuriis impressions and take a look at his run:

"First, how many of you have heard of Revelstoke? I personally haven’t been here before and was sceptical about a mountain in the middle of nowhere with just 4 lift and a single hotel nearby. How surprised I was to learn that these 4 lifts deliver the biggest ski resort vertical gain in North America and cover some of really steep terrain with cliffs and fun tree sections! And yeah, they have just one hotel and a few bars by the resort, although you get more life in town which is just 10-15 mins drive.

Revelstoke is the first major FWQ competition of the season in Americas, hence you expect all cool guys to be there. They had two events the same week - 2- and 4-star. 2* competition gives less tour points and is generally considered for newer members on the tour, while 4* is a bigger event, requires higher ranking to get on starting list, and is essentially the final layer for freeriders aiming for Freeride World Tour entry ticket. By the way, there are just two snowboarders every season that qualify for World Tour - winners of Americas and Europe/Oceania qualifier tours respectively. This explains why 4* riding level often feels even higher than in FWT, as you want to be the very best in qualifier to get promoted, while your minimal goal in FWT is not to blow off your run and not to become the last ranked one knocked out of the tour.

And boy, these events are expensive! Not only Americans and Canadians, but also people from Europe, Australia, New Zealand and even China came to Revelstoke battling for precious FWQ points. Freeride is not as business-oriented as l, say, halfpipe or big air at X-Games yet, only world tour gives you enough exposure to be consistently recognized and supported by major brands to some extent. It’s getting better though, more and more ski and snowboard schools focus on freeride and grow amazingly strong new generation. No surprise, both events at Revelstoke were won by 18 y.o. rookies who just graduated Freeride Junior Tour.

Back to my runs, I did pretty good at 2* and rode probably one of my best lines at 4* FWQ. Ended up 8th and 13th respectively. Huge respect to other competitors, as half of them could still beat my best riding. Hands down, it’s a big honor for me to compete with those folks on the same mountain .

Every FWQ I participate in gives me a big push in my riding experience. Totally worth half season of normal shredding you local mountains. This time, for example, I was able to push myself waaaay beyond my comfort zone (still managing risks to stay relatively safe) and found it rather doable. Further gaps to work on are:
- Fluidity: don’t stop before that drop, go all the way down the mountain for at least 2-3 minutes until you deaerve some rest.
- Speed: plan ahead and know what to expect, then charge with all your energy! Get used to speed and some unknowns on cliff landings, as long as you had pre-ride and generally remember what you’re running into.
- Control: stay on your feet, whatever it takes. Avoid touching ground with anything but your snowboard. It’s much harder than it sounds once like complexity and speed go beyond certain levels.

Big thanks to my family, friends and all the folks around who support me. You keep me moving and I feel that a lot! And special thanks to Reactor Outdoor for making me look sick on the mountain."