Legs of Steel blurs the line between live event and ski film in the first ever fictional fantasy live broadcast of a freeski competition.

Innsbruck based film production Legs of Steel had the freeski world wonder as they announced ambitious plans for a “backcountry big air competition”, the first ever “Ritsch’s Roll Backcountry Invitational”, at a secret location, taking place mid-November despite any significant snow falls in Europe. A riders list full of superstars, including host of the event Tom Ritsch (AUT), Freeride World Tour winner Markus Eder (ITA), Freeski legend Tanner Hall (USA), X Games medalist Ferdinand Dahl (NOR), and Olympic bronze medal winner Alex Beaulieu-Marchand (CAN) made fans even more curious.

The secret was finally revealed this Sunday, 13 November 2022, when the event broadcast went live at 3pm CET.

The stage was set, the infamous “Ritsch’s Roll” found and named by event host Tom Ritsch. The Kitzsteinhorn local revealed the gigantic, hand-built backcountry jump while some of the worlds finest freeskiers got ready to drop in for a huge cash prize.

But what looked like a surprisingly professionally produced live show – considering Legs of Steel had never hosted an event before – turned into a comedic take on an action sports live cast.

Soon into the show, live viewers began to wonder: are these really pre season snow conditions? Why have I never heard about this “big international company” that comes in with a huge sponsoring budget? And how the heck does this “groundbreaking” new judging system conceived by LOS work?

“Not everything went perfect and we had to cut the live feed a bit early due to a small accident and the judging data was deleted, so there are no official results. Overall we are happy with the event though” – says Legs of Steel’s Paddy Graham, rider and self-proclaimed sports director of the event.

Watch how the show ends, who took home the fantasy price money, and how the riders were scored in the official REPLAY of the event. Disclaimer: No persons or things where harmed during the production of this livestream! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egvjstjW1rI

Riders:
Tom Ritsch (AUT)
Alex Beaulieu-Marchand (CAN)
Ferdinand Dahl (NOR)
Markus Eder (ITA)
Paddy Graham (GBR)
Tanner Hall (USA)
Remco Kayser (SUI)
Viktor Moosmann (AUT)
Patrick Schuchter (AUT)

@alex_meliss