Freeride World Tour start
The first FWT tour stop could take place in Hakuba as early as January 20, 2018. What was held as a 4* FWQ last year will be the opening of the FWT season this year. The snow conditions in the Hakuba Valley are already more than sufficient again and if you have been following the Instagram feeds of riders who are already there, you have even seen the sun relatively often in the past few days, which is very rare at this time of year.
For the contest at FWT level, good visibility conditions are certainly also required in order to tackle the more challenging terrain above the tree line. Unfortunately, these did not materialize last season at the FWQ event, so that the contestants had to limit themselves to a very short contest face that only allowed a few turns. In any case, we are hoping for a contest on an interesting face in the sunshine! A longer waiting time and full utilization of the planned time window (20.-27.01.18) is to be expected if the weather does not play along right away.
As a treat and to boost the popularity and possibly the relevance of the FWT among snowboarders, the organizers have given wildcards for the debut event to Gigi Rüf (AUT) from Vorarlberg, the Japanese snowboard legend Tadashi Fuse and Terje Haakonsen (NOR), and these three snowboard legends will now be able to compete against the contest-experienced field of snowboard men.
As soon as we know for sure when the contest will take place, we will let you know via our social media channels!
Hakuba Teaser:
The 2018 FWT calendar:
January 20-27, 2018 - Hakuba, Japan - "The Winter Begins"
February 3-9, 2018 - Kicking Horse Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden February 3-9, 2018 - Kicking Horse, Golden, BC, Canada - "Time To Get Rowdy"
March 1-7, 2018 - Vallnord-Arcalís, Andorra - "Hold The Line"
March 9-15, 2018 - Fieberbrunn, Austria - "Crunch Time"
March 31 - April 8, 2018 - Verbier, Switzerland - "The Grand Finale"
The tour has never been spread across so many continents before. As mentioned, this time the riders will first head to the main island of Japan and from there most of them will probably continue straight on to Canada. Kicking Horse, which has previously hosted a 4* qualifier, is also celebrating its premiere as FWT host alongside Hakuba and is flying the flag for the North Americans. Chamonix is out as the venue, but Andorra and Fieberbrunn are still very motivated hosts.
Unlike in previous years, a cut of the field of riders will only be made after the first four stops. This could possibly make the contests a little more exciting again and hopefully reduce the escalation of the situation on the Wildseeloder in Fieberbrunn a little. Traditionally, the final takes place as part of the Verbier Xtreme in Verbier.
Rider field
42 participants will compete in four categories, consisting of 20 male skiers, 8 female skiers, 8 male snowboarders and 6 female snowboarders. The experienced tour veterans will be joined in each individual category by the newly qualified athletes from the Freeride World Qualifier (FWQ). Among the promising young talents who will be going full throttle in the skiers' category are Trace Cooke (CAN), Craig Murray (NZL) and Mickael Bimboes (FRA), who qualified again via the FWQ after a two-year absence.
Among the female skiers, Rachel Croft (USA) qualified via the North American FWQ spot and Elisabeth Gerritzen (CH) qualified again via the FWQ parallel to the tour last season.
Among the snowboarders, Chamonix local Clement Bochatay (FRA) and Blake Hamm (USA) are the newcomers on the tour this year.
After her debut season last year, re-qualified snowboarder and occasional PowderGuide reporter Manuela Mandl (AUT) returns to the tour together with Erika Vikander (USA) from Region 2.
At the end of the article in the gallery you will find an illustrated overview of the rider field!
Wildcards
Wildcards are awarded to increase the popularity of the FWT or to allow injured participants to return to the FWT, as well as to give local riders the chance to compete with the field of riders. The season wildcards for the whole season go to the men's skiers Aymar Navarro (ESP) and Markus Eder (ITA). Felix Wiemers from Germany can probably also be a little happy about his nationality, even though the official word here is that he has received a wildcard due to injury.
