Freeride World Tour

The Freeride World Tour kicked off the 2021 season with two contests. In Ordino-Arcalis (Andorra), the two competitions were held a few days apart on the same face. Although the snow conditions and the length of the face did not give rise to any great expectations, the riders delivered an exciting event that was good to watch.

Where at best only firn or steep gullies promise joyful activities in the given weather conditions, the VdW also go there on dry, wet or soaked terrain. We show Nikolai Schirmer and Xavier de le Rue, but otherwise I offer a selection of lengthy replays and more entertaining best-ofs from great contests. Unfortunately, in my opinion, they strive for a little too much HYPE/STOKE/SYKE. But let everyone find what they like!

The Black Forest has turned completely white with snow this winter. And so all the inhabitants took to their hilly homes and completely forgot where they were because of all the powder and pillows, and the pandemic was only half as wild. Great cinema from a small low mountain range!

No video can replace practical, real-life courses. But Xavier and all sorts of other institutions invite us to expand and refresh our knowledge. There's a bit of contest content to go with it!

At a press conference via Zoom yesterday, the planned path of the FWT 2021 for the challenging Covid19 season was presented. There are hopes of being able to hold at least three events - five in the best-case scenario. The countries of Andorra, Switzerland and Austria have agreed to regard the FWT as a professional/elite sport and thus enable it to be held even during a potentially extended lockdown.

The currently unclear situation and the question of how the pandemic will develop in the coming weeks and months also poses major challenges for the organization of freeride contests. Will there be a shortened tour for the elite? Will qualifier events be held and how will they be scored? Answers to these and other questions still need to be found.

In fact, even the best pictures from the deepest bluebird day eventually wear out. In the long run, it takes more than action, upbeat music and slogans. Maybe it's art and maybe it's called cinematography if you don't just like ski films because of their performance data. Personal reference and preferences and soul connection (!) are added on top!

PG partner Julbo presents a versatile new ski goggle with a special design. The Shadow One Line was designed by the two Julbo pros Manuela Mandl and Eva Walkner. The goggles are specially designed for small and medium-sized faces, have a particularly large field of vision and a reactive lens that ensures the best contrasts in all light conditions. We asked Manu how she spends the lockdown and what the design of the goggle strap is all about.

The final of the FWT in Verbier was of course already canceled 2 weeks ago. The 25th anniversary of the Verbier Xtreme was actually scheduled for these days. The results of the FWT and FWQ were frozen and the current leaders were declared the overall winners. This article summarizes this ranking including the newly qualified from the FWQs.

"The Wizard" Gigi Rüf qualified for the Verbier Extreme 2020 at the FWT in Fieberbrunn with a lot of style. [Should it take place, as of today: "Ghost Contest" with live broadcast, see below]. He has left his mark on Absinthe films, and we look back on these great, golden snowboard films that have been watched so often for their soundtracks alone.

The conditions at the tenth anniversary of the FWT stop in Fieberbrunn could not have been better: With fresh new snow and the best weather, Marion Haerty (FRA), Arianna Tricomi (ITA), Nils Mindnich (USA) and Craig Murray (NZL) won the fourth and penultimate FWT stage of 2020. Gigi Rüf (AUT) came second in the snowboarder category and Tao Kreibich (AUT) secured a strong fifth place in the skier category.

Third tour stop of the FWT 2020: Hedvig Wessel (NOR), Michaela Davis-Meehan (AUS) and Léo Slemett (FRA) are the winners of the Freeride World Tour (FWT) 2020 in Ordino Arcalís, Andorra.