El Colorado, Chile – The North Face Chilean Freeskiing Championship by Cristal Light, the first stop of the 2014 Freeride World Qualifier (FWQ), a 4-star qualifying event for the SWATCH Freeride World Tour by The North Face 2013 (FWT), concluded on Saturday on the Santa Teresa Face at Chile’s El Colorado ski resort under sunny, blue skies. The Chilean Freeskiing Championship is the only Freeride World Qualifier event to take place in South America.

El Colorado resort received nearly a foot of new snow in the days leading up to the event, perfecting conditions on the 2,500 vertical-foot venue in the Chilean Andes backcountry.

Saturday’s finals started with the women. Finishing fourth overall after the first day of competition, Hazel Birnbaum of Kirkwood, Calif., emerged victorious with a fast and fluid run from top to bottom, linking numerous features and stomping a high-speed double cliff drop at the bottom to earn an 87.00, the highest scoring run of the competition, women or men.  That added to her first-day score to give Birnbaum a total cumulative score of 159.00, 17 points ahead of the rest of the female competitors. She leaves Chile with 1,800 FWQ points already in the 2014 season and the Backcountry.com Sickbird Belt Buckle award from the event.

“Hazel skied a lot stronger than the rest of the women’s field and displayed she had the strength and talent to ski the run top to bottom,” said head FWT judge Hugo Harrison. “She finished her run with a nice double drop which she executed with no hesitation. She was the only skier that didn’t have any mistakes, explaining why she earned the highest scoring run of the day.”

Second-place finisher Laia Castellarnau Plaza of Spain joined Birnbaum on Saturday’s women’s podium. Plaza rode a confidently fast line on the rider’s left side of the venue, successfully hitting one of the middle cliff features before picking a creative line through the exposed bottom portion of the venue. She earned a total score of 142.00 and 1,400 FWQ points. Alaina Huestis, of  Snowbird, Utah, skied an aggressive top-to-bottom run to land the third-place podium spot with a total score of 135.67 and 1,100 FWQ points.

It was thereafter time for the 20 male freeskiing competitors ato battle it out on the picturesque Chilean backcountry terrain. At the end of the day, it was Jim Sorbe of France who claimed the first-place position at El Colorado. Sorbe dropped the fall line into Santa Teresa face, hitting back-to-back features throughout his run. Sorbe was also the only male competitor to attempt and successfully hit a mandatory 25 to 30-foot air at the bottom of the venue, earning a cumulative score of 145.67 and 1,800 FWQ points towards the 2014 season.

“Jim displayed his top-level riding skills for two days straight,” said FWT announcer Max Kuszaj.  “After day one, Jim was in the first-place position by nearly three points and had to dig deep to hang on to the victory, laying down an aggressive run that he concluded with an impressive high consequence air which kept him in the lead for both days.”

Andrew Rumph of Aspen, Colo., took the men’s freeski second-place spot by skiing a fluid run consisting of a number of features capped off by a 20-foot air, receiving a total score of 143.33 and 1,400 FWQ points. Having traveled all the way from Italy, Zeno Cenon landed the third podium position with two days of consistent, fluid, aggressive riding, earning himself a cumulative score of 139.67 and 1,100 FWQ points.

“It was great to be back at El Colorado, with amazing conditions like we had on Santa Teresa face,” said FWT Region 2 Americas Competition Director Bryan Barlow. “I was extremely impressed with way the athletes skied, and it was great to have the local Chilean competitors holding their own against the international field. This event really sets the stage for the 2014 competition season.”