The first half of the 2012 freeride winter and the Freeride World Tour are history. Will the second half be just as good? And nobody knows yet what the second half will bring: perhaps more June powder to go with the sheep cold? But one thing is certain: of the six scheduled stops on the Freeride World Tour, the three in Chamonix, Revelstoke and Courmayeur are over.
At the end of February 2012, the FWT will make its first guest appearance in Røldal, Norway, before moving via Fieberbrunn to Verbier for the grand finale. The finals of the various participant categories have already been scheduled for Saturday, February 25th. As soon as the winners have been decided, you will of course find out here on PowderGuide.
Since there is always an interim summary at halftime and the first favorites are already recognizable after half of the game, we want to do the same: To everyone's surprise, the field is currently dominated in most categories by newcomers, some of whom were only admitted to the start via a wildcard. This is refreshing and shows the enormous level and how close together the riders are in terms of their abilities. The surprising interim result naturally puts the well-known established pros under a lot of pressure, so they will have to show all their routine in the remaining three freeride competitions to possibly turn the tide.
The ranking of the current leaders in the respective categories (22.02.2012)
SKI MEN 1. Sam Smoothy (NZL)
2. Oakley White-Allen (USA)
3. Drew Tabke (USA)
4. Amacker, Richard (SUI)
5. Salencon, Nicolas (ARG)
6. Coirier, Adrien (FRA)
SNOWBOARD MEN
1. Ralph Backstrom (USA)
2. Jonathan Charlet (FRA)
3. Max Zipser (AUT)
4. Routens, Aurelien (FRA)
5. Badoux, Emilien (SUI)
SKI WOMEN 1. Angel Collinson (USA)
2. Jess McMillan (USA)
3. Jacklyn Paaso (USA)
SNOWBOARD WOMEN
1. Maria DeBari (USA)
2. Margot Rozies (FRA)
3. Shannan Yates (USA)
What means a lot of stress for the pros is of course all the more exciting for the spectators and fans and we are already looking forward to the grand final in Verbier, which has been scheduled for March 24, 2012.
Outlook on the coverage
PowderGuide will once again be reporting live from the last two events of the FWT 2012 in Fieberbrunn and Verbier. We'll let you know about the event in Roldal as soon as the winners have been announced, or if the planned event schedule is postponed, e.g. due to bad weather or similar
