Truckee’s Tester wins again on Freeride World Tour
Local skier sits in first place ahead of season finale
Truckee skier Ross Tester continued his standout season on the Freeride World Tour, claiming his second win of the year with a first-place finish at Saturday’s stop in Fieberbrunn, Austria.
The third stop of the tour marked the last event before the season finale, the Xtreme Verbier in Switzerland.
Tester, 22, is a rookie on the tour and now sits atop the standings with a pair of wins and an 18th place finish.
Conditions at the iconic Wildseeloder were challenging, according to officials, with low snow levels threatening the event. Fortunately, recent storms allowed organizers to go ahead with the competition on Saturday.
To open his run Tester stomped a massive backflip, and followed it up with a 360 near the bottom to claim first place.
“I wasn’t expecting to take the win today with so many good runs,” said Tester in an interview with http://www.freerideworldtour.com. “I was a little bit nervous, but found my center and kept it low key. The top of the face is scary, but I chose a lower angled area. I’m stoked and scared to head to Verbier and will see if I can find some good stuff to do there.”
Another local, Sammy Luebke, 31, had a solid day in the men’s snowboard division, finishing in fifth place. Luebke, a three-time tour champion, attempted a massive air early in his run, but was unable to land cleanly. He later put down a backside 360 to close out his run. Following Saturday’s competition, Luebke sits in fifth place in the season standings.
“I let this line get away from me with a little to much slough, and an aggressive white room above exposure,” said Luebke in an Instagram post. “Stoked to be able to cap off the season on the infamous Bec one more time!”
The season will culminate at the Bec de Rosses with the 25th edition of the Xtreme Verbier from Saturday to March 28.
Justin Scacco is a reporter for the Sierra Sun. Contact him at jscacco@sierrasun.com or 530-550-2643.
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