What's New in Chamonix?

The first day of the European Winter X Games is almost over and as I write this the skiers are heading over to the pipe for the men's Super-pipe finals.

Can La Plagne local Kevin Rolland make it two in a row? We'll know soon enough.

The weather today was better than forecast and although it never cleared completely the visibility has been a lot better than yesterday. This meant that the Slopestyle qualifying rounds could go ahead as scheduled.

The course here in Tignes is longer than the course in the Aspen X-Games and has five specially built jumps as opposed to the three in America. But as is so often the case bigger is not always better and the extra modules have been catching out a number of the riders, who are struggling to hold speed between the kickers.

Finnish champion Erro Ettala fell victim to the course and slipped out on both his runs failing to make the top eight and therefore the final. My other rider to watch, Icelandic newcomer Haldor Helgason also failed to make the final, unable as he was to finish his runs cleanly.

The top eight for the mens final are now; Chas Guldermond, Marco Grilic, Eric Willett, Christian Haller, Sage Kostenburg, Iouri Podlatchikov, Travis rice and Stephan Mauer. Guldermond ualified first with a commanding 98.3 putting him nine points clear of his second place rival Marco Grilic.

In the women's Slopestyle British rider Jenny Jones qualified in first place for Thursdays final with a solid but basic run. Sina Candrian, Spencer O'Brian, Silje Norendal, Sarka Pancochova and Kjersti Buaas make up the other finalists.

At the bottom of the hill there is a festival vibe. Live DJ's keep the music coming while spectators can either enjoy a drink, shop around or even take a dip in one of the hot tubs .

There are a number of parties already lining up for the nights after the comp with the big one being the promise of a Pendulum concert.

With Ski and Snowboard pipe and slopestyle still ahead of us as well as some great nights out the X-Games in Tignes is starting well and promises to gather momentum.

**UPDATED** Kevin rolland just took first place in the Men's Ski Superpipe in Tignes. Xavier Bertoni took second place ahead of Justin Dorey. Rollands jun was a slightly simpler version of his run in Aspen but it was enough too take gold and it certianly pleased the local crowd.**UPDATED**

Watch our video from the day including an exclusive interview with half pipe champion Kevin Rolland >>

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