With great anticipation, the organizing committee of the Freeride World Tour (FWT) announced today that the fourth stop of the 2015 tour will take place in Haines, Alaska (USA). Since the inception of the FWT in 2008, the organizers' goal has been to hold an event in one of the birthplaces of big mountain freeriding. The stage on March 14, 2015 (nine-day weather window: March 14-22) is set to make this dream a reality and is guaranteed to be a highlight of the FWT season! Like all FWT events, the action in Haines, Alaska, will be livestreamed online and Central Europeans can look forward to a convenient broadcast time thanks to the ten-hour time difference.
Only a select group of male and female athletes will compete at the first stop of the FWT in Haines, Alaska: the top 60 percent of the rankings after the first three stops (16 men's skiers, 8 men's snowboarders, 7 women's skiers and 5 women's snowboarders).
For freeriders all over the world, Haines is considered the Mecca or Nirvana of their sport. For organizers like the FWT, however, the spectacular and extremely remote area poses major challenges, especially in terms of logistics. Extreme and unpredictable weather conditions, strong storms and the harsh nature of Alaska require flexibility and creativity when staging this elite FWT event. Therefore, the FWT has scheduled an extended window for the stop in Alaska in the hope that the event can take place on a day with the best possible weather and snow conditions.
The 2015 FWT season will end after the stop in Haines with a special anniversary: the 20th Verbier Xtreme at the Bec des Rosses. Only the best-placed riders in each category will get the chance to take part in this prestigious finale of the 2015 Freeride World Tour. In total, the riders will be competing for a record-breaking prize money of 400,000 US dollars this season.
