Nendaz Backcountry Invitational 2022
4 Vallées, Switzerland
SKI MEN
FINAL RANKING
Magnus Graner - SWE 🇸🇪
Sampo Valloton - CHE 🇨🇭
Markus Eder - ITA 🇮🇹
Maxime Chabloz - CHE 🇨🇭
Alex Hackle - USA 🇺🇸
Remco Kayser - CHE 🇨🇭
Paddy Graham - GBR 🇬🇧
Tom Ritsch - AUT 🇦🇹
Laurent de Martin - CHE 🇨🇭
SKI WOMEN
FINAL RANKING
Alisson Charmey - CHE 🇨🇭
Lea Bouard - FRA 🇫🇷
Elsa Sjöstedt - CHE 🇨🇭
SNow MEN
FINAL RANKING
Eliot Dänzer - CHE 🇨🇭
Cody Bramwell - GBR 🇬🇧
Hugo Serra - FRA 🇫🇷
SNow WOMEN
FINAL RANKING
Celia Petrig - CHE 🇨🇭
Maria Kuzma - NZL 🇳🇿
Léa Klaue - CHE 🇨🇭
Nendaz Backcountry Invitational 2022. Photo by
The Comeback That Started It All
Second edition. February 5th, 2022. The one that put the Backcountry Invitational on the map.
Conditions weren't supposed to cooperate — a warm spell had been rough on the powder and there were real fears the day might not run at all. But recent snowfall and wind transfers set the face up just in time, and what went down became one of the greatest backcountry freestyle showcases in recent memory. A rider-judged, filmed jam session that reminded the freeski world what this format could be — bringing back the glory days of Linecatchers and Cold Rush.
Nendaz Backcountry Invitational 2022. Photo by
Hosted by a legend
This edition came with a special frontman: American freeski legend Tanner Hall, seven-time X Games gold medalist, on board through main sponsor Mont Gele Gear. Tanner was supposed to be judging from the booth — but the moment the action picked up, he dropped in himself, throwing a flat 3 and two double backflips to show he could still send anything despite a career's worth of injuries.
Nendaz Backcountry Invitational 2022. Photo by
Magnus Granér, unanimous
When the dust settled, the winner was unanimous. Magnus Granér took a completely different approach to the venue — a nosebutter 360 into a backflip off a natural takeoff, a spicy freeride line into the lower jumps, then a rightside cork 720, a leftside bio 720, a backflip, and a huge stylish 180 on the bottom hip to seal it. He was carried to the top of the podium by the newly founded Skier's Union.
Switzerland's Sampo Vallotton took second with one of the most creative runs of the day — a natural transfer gap straight over a kicker, a switch 900 on the central booter, and a double backflip to close. Markus Eder rounded out the men's ski podium in third, stomping double flatspins and a nosebutter cork 7 with that unmistakable style.
Nendaz Backcountry Invitational 2022. Photo by
The full podium
In women's ski, Switzerland's Alisson Charmey took the win ahead of France's Léa Bouard and Switzerland's Elsa Sjöstedt. In snowboard, Nendaz Freeride's own Eliot Dänzer topped the men's field ahead of Cody Bramwell and Hugo Serra, while Celia Petrig led the women ahead of Maria Kuzma and Léa Klaue.
Nendaz Backcountry Invitational 2022. Photo by
The one that proved it could work
"Special day for the culture," Tanner Hall said afterwards. This was the edition that proved the appetite was real — that a jam-session backcountry contest between the best jump skiers on the planet was something skiing had been missing. Everything the Backcountry Invitational became started here.
Shaping the perfect day with us
