Freeride World Tour: At home in the backcountry

For many, the fun on skis and snowboards is only just beginning far away from the slopes. When freeriding, you can conquer untouched slopes away from the marked routes and make your own tracks in the snow. Since 2008 there has also been a so-called "World Championship" for freeriding, which is held as part of the Freeride World Tour (FWT). Every year, the best freeriders in skiing and snowboarding are chosen in different classes. You can find out what you need to know about the FWT here in the blog.

Facts about the Freeride World Tour

Participation in the Freeride World Tour is the ultimate goal for all winter sports enthusiasts who prefer to be out and about in the backcountry on unrepaired slopes. Divided into the classes Freeride World Tour Junior, Freeride World Tour Qualifier and the Freeride World Tour, the best of the best show their skills.

👉 Freeride Junior Tour: You can take part in the junior events up to the age of 18 and gain your first experience in the tour. The Freeride Junior World Championships also take place once a year.

👉 Freeride World Qualifier: From the age of 18 there are competitions at the FWQ. 60 events (40 of them in Europe) are held here every year. Each event is rated differently (1-4 stars). The result of a Qualifier 4* competition is rated higher than a 1* contest. Beginners generally start at the 1* events.

👉 Freeride World Tour: Depending on how you perform in the qualifiers and which competitions are contested, you can ultimately qualify for the FWT. But there is one more exception. In addition to qualifying via points, wild cards are also awarded at the FWQ (Open Faces) and FWT. Anyone who gets one of these is automatically qualified for the qualifier event or the FWT.

👉 Freeride World Tour Club: There is also the Freeride World Tour Club. The FWT Club offers various training courses for tomorrow's talents. FWT Academies are in Andorra, Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Switzerland and New Zealand. You can find more information about this here .

FTW: Evaluation and scoring

During the runs, the freeriders are evaluated by judges on the following points:

• Line: Here the judges pay attention to which line was selected with which risk factor. The scoring also includes which passages were connected to each other.
• Control: The judges also value whether the freeriders had control during the run.
• Fludity: Flow is very important in freeriding. Delays or interruptions may affect the rating.
• Air & Style: Of course, the freeriders also incorporate jumps and tricks into the ride. Here, too, the judges pay close attention to this and include it in the grading.
• Technique: Especially with the juniors, great attention is paid to technique when driving. If someone slips down a passage, this can have a negative impact on the rating.

The criteria are evaluated with points. In the end, the freeriders can achieve 0 to 100 points based on the rating and the overall impression of the run. If a certain passage is not visible to the judges, then this section will not be judged.

Freeride World Tour 2023: dates and events

The Freeride World Tour 2023 stops at five stations. The final takes place annually in Verbier, Switzerland. The other four events will take place in Europe and Canada.

Where can you follow the competitions of the FWT?

🎇 Good news - All FWT competitions will be broadcast free of charge and live on their YouTube channel or on the freerideworldtour.com homepage.

Freeride World Tour Podcast – Good to know

If you want to know more about the Freeride World Tour 2023 and the events, you can stay up-to-date with the podcast. The podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcast. The podcast discusses important topics about the tour and athletes and is the perfect supplement for all freeride lovers.

Credits: Didi Koerberl