Freeride World Tour 2023 Recap
This year was a thrilling show on the Freeride World Tour (FWT). It was an expose of big mountain skiing and snowboarding at its highest level with competitors from all around the world. These athletes are pushing the sport forward on rugged mountain venues with steep, scary lines and progressive tricks.
From British Columbia to Austria, keep reading for a full recap of the 2023 Freeride World Tour.
What is the FWT?
If you’re new to this sport check out the FWT's video archive to get an idea of the carnage that ensues. It’s hard to translate into words what these skiers and boarders are doing.
But I’ll try. The FWT is a big mountain skiing/snowboarding competition that takes place in a circuit style competition on mountains across North America, Europe and Asia. This year the tour stops were Baqueira, Spain, Ordino Arcalis, Andorra, Kicking Horse, British Columbia, Fieberbrunn, Austria, and the legendary Verbier, Switzerland.
In general, the riders try to pick the hardest way down the mountain, and they are judged on the difficulty of the line, overall impression of the run, control, fluidity, jumps and technique. So you don’t have to necessarily have to do the biggest cliffs and scariest lines, but the judges do want it to look good.
However, with the overall progression of the sport and influence from freestyle skiing, the athletes are pushing the limits of the sports and what was previously thought impossible.
Baqueira Beret, Spain
The first stop is nestled in the Pyrénées near the Spanish/French border on the the Tuc de Baciver. Check out the venue overview below to get a better idea of the terrain.
The competitors were feeding off the crowd's energy, and it was an overall spirited first stop with good snow and flowing beers.
This behind the scenes video breaks down all the highlights from Baqueira 2023.
Winners
Snowboard women: Katie Anderson
Snowboard men: Michael Mawn
Ski women: Addison Rafford
Ski men: Max Palm
Ordino Arcalís, Andorra
The second stop is just down the road in Andorra. It's a small mountain country that's tucked in between France and Spain in the Pyrénées, and the venue is called Pic de les Planes.
Pic de les Planes is known for its spinal section and multiple entry points. However, this year it was low tide and a bit sun baked, but that didn't stop the competitors from throwing down.
Winners
Snowboard women: Katie Anderson
Snowboard men: Ludovic Guillot-Diat
Ski women: Justine Dufour-Lapointe
Ski men: Valetin Rainer
Kicking Horse Golden, British Columbia
The next stop was across the pond in Golden, British Columbia. B.C. is famous for their remote locations, huge skiable areas and light snow.
Coming off the back of a couple electric stops in Europe, Kicking Horse did not disappoint. A mixture of high energy and new snow boosted the confidence of the riders, and gave the spectators an entertaining show.
The highlight of the day was Matt Hitzig's massive backflip and titanium knees.
Winners
Snowboard women: Michaela Davis-Meehan
Snowboard men: Liam Rivera
Ski women: Meagan Betend
Ski men: Matt Hitzig
Fieberbrunn Pro, Austria
The fourth stop this year was in the Austrian Alps on the Wildseeloder venue. The FWT is so weather dependent, and the riders had to wait through 3 grueling cancellation days because of a storm passing through.
However, the delays were worth it because the storm dropped a fresh layer of snow. It was a bit variable however, but there were some great powder lines, including this sweet transfer from Jon Penfield.
Another highlight Arianna Tricomi's run where you can notice the variable snow conditions, and she laced a smooth 360.
Winners
Snowboard women: Katie Anderson
Snowboard men: Jonathan Penfield
Ski women: Arianna Tricomi
Ski men: Andrew Pollard
Yeti Xtreme Verbier, Switzerland
As customary, they leave the mother of all freeride venues for the final stop. Verbier is known in the big mountain community as the heartbeat of freeride skiing and boarding. Verbier held the first event of its kind in 1996, and since then has been a measuring tool for riders from all around the world. If you can make it at Verbier, you can make it anywhere.
Sadly, Verbier was cancelled this year. After much anticipation, false go aheads and bad weather, the organization was forced to cancel the competition.
The CEO of the FWT, Nicolas Hale-Woods, was quoted saying, "We did everything possible with the challenging conditions, but mother nature has the final say, which we must respect."
It was an anti-climactic ending to a thrilling year, but we were left with four new champions in their respective divisions.
Winners
Snowboard women: Katie Anderson (CAN)
Snowboard men: Ludovic Guillot-Diat (FRA)
Ski women: Justine Dufour-Lapointe (CAN)
Ski men: Valentin Rainer (AUT)