Balea Lac to host 3-star free ride championship

One hundred skiers and snowboarders from three continents - Europe, America and Oceania - will compete, April 12-15, in the 4th edition of the CNF National Free Ride Championship, the only such competition to be awarded three stars in Eastern Europe, which is the highest such mark there, CNF Director Radu Lungu told Agerpres. The championship is hosted by Balea Lac, in the central Sibiu County, at 2,000-m altitude in the Fagars Massif.

Compared with the last year's edition, this year's witnesses double the contesters, which proves that this event is gaining international momentum. The level of the registered participants is also much higher. We were surprised when we read their descriptions. This will be a very high level free ride championship, possibly the highest ever hosted in Romania. I believe Romania is the only country in Eastern Europe to have a three-star free ride championship,' said Lungu. 

He added that the 100 skiers and snowboarders will start off on Friday with a round of qualifiers. 

This year's edition of CNF has been accepted as a Freeride World Qualifier (FWQ) event, a division of the Freeride World Tour, the most important free ride competition in the world. CNF will be a three-star FWQ event, with the contesters to be awarded FWQ point. The five best ranked ski free riders and the three best ranked snowboard free riders will be granted the right to compete in the 2013 season of the FWT. 

The CNF organisers have the right to grant five wild cards for registrations. CNF is open to people aged 18 years and above. The registration fee includes a licence to run in a FWQ event, the mountain evacuation insurance and the costs of promotional materials. 

Freeride Transylvania, the CNF organiser, is made up of winter sports aficionados, having been established in 1993 around the Balea Lac area, the cradle of backcountry skiing and snowboarding in Romania. It has been involved in several projects as promoter or achiever, including the Balea Freeride Open, Balea Expression Sessions, Paranag Carpat-Diem Helli Challenge, White Lines, Descent Mt. Moldoveanu and The Gambler.

Adapted from AGERPRES