Freeskier's 2014 skiers of the year have just been announced. This year, instead of opting just for a People's Choice award, Freeskier also added a Rider's Choice award, choosing “100 top-name pros” to decide who they thought had the “best season”.
The Riders' Poll put Joss Christensen and Tatum Monod in the top spots, who have gained accolades in part due to Joss' Olympic win and TGR segment and Tatum for her Level 1 segment and strong performance at this year's Orage Master.
The People's Choice poll, with around 37,000 votes cast, put Gus Kenworthy and Lynsey Dyer in the winning positions. Gus had a strong year, placing in many competitions (including a second place finish at Sochi) and Dyer released her movie “Pretty Faces”.
Henrik, straddling both filming and competitions this year, almost took the crown again and placed second in both the Riders' and People's polls, showing his talent and reach.
It is interesting to see many comp skiers placing strong in the People's Choice rankings, while the Riders' elected more film based athletes. Maybe that is due to the fact that Freeskier has a decently far reach to the general public, so skiers like Gus Kenworthy and Nick Goepper are going to be more well known and easier to classify as having “good seasons” with more tangible things like competition results (not to dampen the skill of Gus and Joss, who amaze me with their talent ). Personally, I think it has been nice that the SOTY results haven't been a giant deal so far and people know there is more to these athletes and sport as a whole than a Freeskier poll.
What are your thoughts on this year's Skier of the Year winners? Who did you vote for? Who got robbed?
The Riders' Poll put Joss Christensen and Tatum Monod in the top spots, who have gained accolades in part due to Joss' Olympic win and TGR segment and Tatum for her Level 1 segment and strong performance at this year's Orage Master.
The People's Choice poll, with around 37,000 votes cast, put Gus Kenworthy and Lynsey Dyer in the winning positions. Gus had a strong year, placing in many competitions (including a second place finish at Sochi) and Dyer released her movie “Pretty Faces”.
Henrik, straddling both filming and competitions this year, almost took the crown again and placed second in both the Riders' and People's polls, showing his talent and reach.
It is interesting to see many comp skiers placing strong in the People's Choice rankings, while the Riders' elected more film based athletes. Maybe that is due to the fact that Freeskier has a decently far reach to the general public, so skiers like Gus Kenworthy and Nick Goepper are going to be more well known and easier to classify as having “good seasons” with more tangible things like competition results (not to dampen the skill of Gus and Joss, who amaze me with their talent ). Personally, I think it has been nice that the SOTY results haven't been a giant deal so far and people know there is more to these athletes and sport as a whole than a Freeskier poll.
What are your thoughts on this year's Skier of the Year winners? Who did you vote for? Who got robbed?
