Freeride World Tour

To be honest, we only managed the VdW every fortnight this season. But not true, we had some nice films! And now, at what feels like the end of the season, we still have something to offer. Hedvig Vessel's great film, a bit of Antti and a king line in the Pyrenees! The VdW wish you a good end to the high-speed season and hereby close the shop.

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.

At the fourth stop of the Freeride World Tour, riders can expect the face of the Wildseeloder in difficult snow conditions. The expected 20 cm of fresh snow overnight turns into 1 cm and the slope is frozen, especially at lower altitudes, due to the previous period of warm weather. On the day of the competition, however, the sun shone brightly and spurred on all participants. Victor De Le Rue, once again in first place, secured the title in the men's snowboard category. Canadian Erin Sauve came out on top in the women's category. Frenchwoman Astrid Cheylus and New Zealander Ben Richards came first on skis.

We've reached the autumn of the season, so to speak, and more and more of the films that we presented as trailers in the spring of the season are now appearing: The Hagens, Continuum, Sänkyøu. We reap what we have sown! We also offer you the best amateur vloggers - Marco Bassot and Gerhard Wiedemann - with a bit of FWT risk management and a good podcast with Maxime Chabloz at the end.

The third stop of the FWT takes place in Georgia for the first time. The country is no longer a freeride insider tip and it's obvious why. It's the day of the cut, which will decide who gets to compete in the finals in Fieberbrunn and Verbier. The north-north-west facing face of Peak Kakhiani awaited the athletes with perfect visibility, bluebird day and powder snow. The spectacle begins with the snowboard category, where the leading Victor De Le Rue (FRA) and Spain's Núria Castán Barón take victory. On skis, Switzerland's Sybille Blanjean and Canada's Marcus Goguen win.

In keeping with the winter comeback, there's also a VdW comeback. We present Moonlines!, yesterday's snow with Guido Perrini, a climate debate, the FWT revue in Kicking Horse and finally Sam Anthamatten's backpack. We wish you good entertainment - winter is back!

At the second stop of the Freeride World Tour, the best freeriders started the competition on Thursday afternoon. Kicking Horse once again showed its best side, making for some spectacular sporting action. The French team in particular was extremely strong, winning in several categories and taking several podiums. Basically, I had the feeling that the field of athletes was still finding its legs. A few crashes in Verbier and the cancellation of the second stop in the Pyrenees were already putting pressure on some riders. Nevertheless, even participants who had collected only few points so far showed very ambitious and courageous lines.

Incredible conditions in Verbier right at the start of the season, especially on the extremely steep and exposed slope of the Petit Bec. An incredible start for two German riders: Max Hitzig, FWT Rider of the Year 2023, wins his third stage and for the first time in Verbier. Timmy Schröder puts down an incredibly creative line in the high mountains of Valais and makes his first exclamation mark on his Freeride World Tour debut. Among others, he had to admit defeat to one of the grand masters of snowboarding; Victor de le Rue shook up the fabric of last year's tour with his comeback, as did Kristofer Turdell. Zuzanna Witych won the women's contest.

Last spring, the best men and women of the competitive freeride scene met in Fieberbrunn to find out who had what it takes to stand at the top of the Freeride World Tour podium two weeks later. I was also able to be part of the action, not as an athlete of course, but as a reporter who was able to provide insights into the tour and the supporting events. As part of this, I had the pleasure of conducting an interview about our favourite activity with local heroine Manuela Mandl. In 2018, she became freeride world champion in snowboarding and last year she secured victory in Xtreme Verbier, taking third place in the FWT.

Winter will change, for the better or worse. Meteorology tries to predict these changes, but the VdW realise that things change and are embracing them, no matter what. And of course, we keep dreaming, night and day!

The competitive freeriding season is finally starting again. The best freeriders on one and two boards will once again plunge down slopes in the Alps, Pyrenees and Canadian Rockies and try to convince the judges of their skills with their line and freestyle elements. This year is also a very special one, as another event stop will be added to the Freeride World Tour - Georgia, which is increasingly becoming the focus of the freeride community, will become the "Home of Freeride" for the first time.

In unison with the sensitive PowderAlert, the VdW also warns of the approaching "mid-season blues". We are countering this with everything YouTube has to offer and hope for a mild course and a speedy improvement.