Victor de Le Rue

Liam Rivera shows mental strength, but is not fully rewarded for it. Victor de Le Rue crashes, but still takes home the victory. The men's skiers show an incredible level with five riders above the 90-point mark. Mia Jones dominates the field of female snowboarders and takes a start-to-finish victory as a rookie. In the women's skiing, on the other hand, everything is shaken up once again.

The dream of many young athletes was to come true. To be able to leave their tracks in the (still) untouched nature of Alaska and join the small group of Freeride World Tour riders who have already had this privilege. Never-ending white slopes, bright sunshine in freezing temperatures and the best freeriders in the world. This calls for fun, action and thrills as well as crunchtime in the first part of the final events of a special kind.

Val Thorens has once again delivered. We were supposed to go up the legendary Cime Caron, but Mother Nature had other plans. Too little snow, too much risk. So we moved to the Pointe de Thorens (3,266 m). Sounds like plan B, but it felt more like a jackpot: steep faces, technical sections, fresh powder and a French crowd that was so loud that you could hear some of the riders before the start. Between slope inspection in the fog and bright blue skies at the contest, there was that typical FWT magic: improvised, chaotic, but in the end legendary for exactly that reason. The second stop of the Freeride World Tour 2026 was not a fair weather event, but real freeriding with all its ups and downs.

With breathtaking lines peppered with courageous tricks and unforgettable moments, the YETI Xtreme Verbier by Honda once again showed why it is considered the ultimate stop on the tour.

The weather window is open: Friday morning is competition time. Thursday remains for arriving and exploring. The snow conditions? Okay, but better on the face than in the rest of the area - thanks to weeks of closures. This year, it's back to the Ozone Face, right next to the top chairlift and accessible via the so-called Stairway to Heaven. Short, crisp and radical - so get ready for one-hit wonder lines and fast charging!

Spectacular season opener of the FIS Freeride World Tour 2025 in Baqueira Beret. The FIS Freeride World Tour 2025 by Peak Performance kicked off with an impressive event at the Baqueira Beret Pro by Movistar in Spain. Freeride stars and up-and-coming talents delivered top performances on the newly introduced "La Bamba" competition slope. The challenging east-facing slope with a gradient of up to 53 degrees provided the perfect stage for spectacular freeride action and set the tone for an exciting season.

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.

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.

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.

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 the warm and gray December weather, we present the freeride world with a relatively colorful variety: 1 film of glossy Alaska Spines with a star cast, 1 portrait of a young up-and-coming freerider, 1 VLOG in bloom and 1 VLOG in full bloom, and finally 2 easy-going podcasts with two well-known action heroes and 1 Tech Talk. We wish you good entertainment!