FIS

Perfect gliding on the slopes - but ski wax containing fluorine leaves invisible traces: fluorinated chemicals accumulate in the environment and in the blood and are harmful to health. How these "forever chemicals" work and why they are so problematic.

At the first stop of the finals, I had the opportunity to accompany the Freeride World Tour in Fieberbrunn and not only see the surface of a contest, but also get to know the people behind it. The entire organisational team, all the riders and some of the support staff spend the week of the weather window together in the hotel. The team does a lot of work and discusses details of the competition late into the evening. The dinners with the riders and staff have shown me that there is a very friendly relationship between the participants and the organisers.

Freeriding will become an Olympic discipline from 2030, as the IOC and FIS announced today at a joint press conference. The competition format will be slightly adapted, but the "spirit" of the sport will be maintained, assured FWT CEO Nicolas Hale-Woods.

The FWT season starts next weekend. As many have already noticed, the Freeride World Tour has been swallowed up by the FIS. Little will change in the upcoming season, at least for spectators. What this step means for the medium-term future of contest freeriding is still up in the air.