Arianna Tricomi

Freerider and filmmaker Sandra Lahnsteiner is hosting the first Shades of Winter FilmFest in five cities from November 27 to December 13, 2018, showing her two latest films alongside films by Nadine Wallner, Arianna Tricomi, Lorraine Huber, Evelina Nilsson and Janina Kuzma, among others.

The winners of the 2018 Freeride World Tour (FWT) have been announced. At the Xtreme Verbier on the relatively snow-covered Bec des Rosses in Valais, Manuela Mandl (AUT) from Vienna came third and thus won the women's snowboard tour. Victory in Verbier went to Marion Haerty (FRA). The snowboarder winner was Sammy Luebke (USA), who also came first in the overall standings for the third time in a row.

A tragic accident during the preparation meant that a winner who was not on the podium, favorite victories and top placings for the Austrians became a minor matter.

A week ago, two FWT stops took place in Kicking Horse (CA). At some qualifiers there were a few organizational uncertainties and disappointed potential participants over the weekend. Here is a short summary of the FWT and more details about the qualifiers in Hochfügen, at Hochfelln and the FWQ and FJT events in Alpbach.

Contrary to the trend in recent years towards rather mediocre contest conditions at all events, the Freeride World Tour in Haines was lucky once again: blower powder on a beautiful face provided the basis for a contest worth seeing. Only an avalanche on Reine Barkered's run marred the impression a little. Sammy Luebke (USA) and Shannan Yates (USA) won the snowboarder category, while Loïc Collomb-Patton (FRA) and Arianna Tricomi (ITA) won the skier category.

Last Friday, the Freeride World Tour stop was held in Vallnord-Arcalís. This was followed by events from the FWQ and FJT series in Austria at the weekend.

The final FWQ competition in Switzerland for this year took place on March 13-14th 2015 in the charming village of Nendaz, surrounded by the impressive mountains of the valais. When it comes to FWQs in the western part of the alps, Nico Goez is our rider on site. Here is his short wrap of one of the major 4* FWQ events in the alps.

On the weekend of January 24-25, 2015, some of the best and most motivated freeriders from numerous nations gathered for the fifth time to take part in the 4* Freeride World Qualifier contest. Big Mountain Hochfügen is known for its superb organization and great flair - this year, despite high expectations, we were not disappointed ...

In perfect snow and freeride conditions in the Engadine, the 3* FWQ took place on February 7th in beautiful sunshine on Corvatsch. The 100 freeriders from 19 nations offered the spectators a spectacle in a class of its own: the winners of the World Tour Qualifier were Juan Bergada from Argentina in the ski category and Anna Khankevich from Russia in the women's category. In the men's snowboard category, the winner is Alexandre Alfano from France, who impressed the judges with his fluid run. Anna Orlova completed the Russian double victory in the women's snowboard category. PowderGuide rider reporter Nico Göz was on site and gives us his impressions...

For the first time, the Open Faces Axamer Lizum was held as a 3-star Freeride World Qualifier, and the performance density and starting field in the Lizum were accordingly high-caliber, as the face unfortunately only offered a few opportunities. For the first time in the history of the Open Faces series, the winners came from four different nations.