The second day of the Big Mountain Pro and it was already game on. With the weather threatening to close in during the afternoon, the riders started early with a 7am heli ride up to the vantage point next to the 3,000m face of Le Buet. For some there was excitement, whilst for others slight trepidation as they headed off to what event organizer, Nicolas Hale-Woods, described as "One of the more challenging faces visited by The Big Mountain Pro." According to Nicolas, it's a mix of the height of the face at 3,000m, the steepness, which is on average 45%, and the length of the face which is 500m top to bottom, which presents a challenge to the riders. After a short moment viewing the face and possible lines, the 23 skiers and snowboarders started the 75 minute hike up the ridge to the starting point at the top of the face. Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the face, spectators witnessing the freeriding display were astounded by what they were seeing. The weather held off, and the guys put on a show of fluid beautiful riding. The standout runs of the day came from Jeremy Jones, Xavier de le Rue, Flo Orley on their snowboards, and Seb Michaud and Cody Townsend on skis. Jeremy was stoked with the way the day turned out. Back in the gite, looking back on the run, Jeremy said: "Today was really cool. We started the day with an amazing hike and ended by riding out and climbing through a river out of the valley. It was like a fun adventure with friends." The hike up was beautiful. I took my time and walked up with Xavier de le Rue and some others. It was just like having a day in the mountains with my friends. "The face was possibly the best face that I have ridden in a contest. It's something I would have done for fun with my friends. I was really psyched. Sometimes I go up and look down a face and there is nothing. But with this there were a couple of lines I really wanted to do. I was stoked on a bunch. I took a straightforward clean line that only one other person had been over. It was clean snow, fun and ripable." With snow forecast over the next few days, it's time to pack up and get moving and see where the weather and the mountains will lead The Big Mountain Pro to next.
