Freeride World Tour

Great atmosphere, really nice nature and mountains, really cool people around, nice snow conditions and mild, sunny weather made the "First Track Freeride" contest an excellent experience again ...

The FWT crossed the Atlantic for its fourth and only North American tour stop in 2015 and landed in Haines, Alaska (USA). The field of participants has been reduced in all categories: Only the top 60% of the overall rankings are still taking part in the FWT Alaska premiere. But 2015 will not only be remembered for this first FWT tour stop in Alaska, but also for the following anniversary at the FWT finale: the Verier Xtreme is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

The snow and weather conditions are not making it easy for the organizing team of the Open Faces Freeride Series this season. Instead of holding the contest as planned on the Freeride World Tour-proven, beautiful Quellspitze, a replacement face had to be found at short notice due to the snow conditions. In addition, it was even necessary to change the zoning and the start of FWQ** and FJT** on the day of the contest. The visibility conditions were not the best either ...

Since this season, the Swiss alpine specialist Mammut has also been offering a vest in its range of airbag backpacks and is thus consistently working on expanding its freeride range. At first glance, an airbag vest appears to be a purely niche product. In an extensive test, various testers tested the vest for function and practicality and realized that the vest is more suitable for everyday use than they had initially assumed.

George Rodney (USA) for the skiers and Estelle Balet (SUI) and Jonathan Charlet (FRA) for the snowboarders are the winners of the third stop of the FWT in Vallnord-Arcalis. At the stop of the Freeride World Tour 2015 (FWT) in Andorra, which was canceled in Austria and now made up for in Andorra, today's third-placed Felix Wiemers (GER) and today's seventh-placed Stefan Häusl (AUT) punched their tickets for the fourth stage in Alaska.

At the FWT stop in Vallnord-Arcalis on February 13, Hazel Josie Birnbaum (USA) and Sam Smoothy (NZL) won in the skiers' category and Estelle Balet (SUI) and Jonathan Charlet (FRA) in the snowboarders' category. Flo Orley (AUT) took second place and leads the snowboarder rankings. It was the third stop of the season for the freeskiers. Eva Walkner (AUT), who finished second today, is qualified for the fourth stage in Alaska as the overall leader. The competitions in the other three categories that were canceled in Fieberbrunn will be made up for later this week in Andorra.

The Freeride World Tour stop in Vallnord-Arcalis (Andorra) is confirmed for Friday, February 13, 2015. The first riders will start at 10 am. The event has been brought forward by one day to ensure the best conditions for the riders.

Due to an avalanche after a fall of the second starter Julien Lopez, the competition in Kappl (replacement for the competition in Fieberbrunn, which was canceled on Saturday) was also canceled on Tuesday. But the most important thing: Julien is fine.

After the contest was moved to the replacement face, there was only enough snow for the women's skiing. The men's and women's snowboard and men's ski competitions had to be postponed to Kappl on Tuesday, February 3, 2015 at 8:30 am. On the face in Fieberbrunn, which was peppered with pines and stones, many skiers had difficulties last Saturday and in the end the ladies who were able to calculate the risk correctly and finish their run safely came out on top.

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 ...

For a long time it looked as if the organizers would have to look for a replacement face. But the snowfall of the last few days made the 2nd stop of the FWT in Fieberbrunn possible. After the first points of the 2015 season were awarded in Chamonix, the search for the perfect run continues in the Kitzbühel Alps.

Against the breathtaking backdrop of the Mont Blanc massif, the best freeriders on skis and boards battled it out for the first points of the 2015 FWT season on January 24, 2015. After an exciting competition in challenging snow conditions, a striking number of former overall FWT winners were to be found on the podium at the end.