The Freeride World Tour continues its global growth. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Freeride World Qualifier (FWQ) and the Junior Freeride Tour (JFT). Following last season's success, the two event series will include even more individual events in both Europe and America in winter 13/14. With almost 50 FWQ events around the world, riders will have more opportunities than ever before to earn one of the coveted starting spots for the 2015 FWT. Registration for the European events opens on December 2!
Freeride World Qualifier - FWQ
All European events can be found on the PowderGuide event calendar. The full calendar of the FWQ series can be found here.
In order to be allowed to take part in the challenging freeride competitions of the Freeride World Tour, riders must first survive the highly competitive Freeride World Qualifier (FWQ) and take part in numerous events to increase their chances of scoring lots of points. Only the top three skiers and two snowboarders as well as two female skiers and one female snowboarder from each region (Europe and America & Oceania) will qualify for the Freeride World Tour 2015 at the end of the 2014 season.
Countless athletes will compete in the almost 50 events of the FWQ in Europe and America. While the 5-star events, i.e. the FWT, form the top of the pyramid, the 1 to 4-star events of the FWQ are its foundation. In 4-star events, the winners receive (significantly) more points than in events with fewer stars. Further details on this system can be found in the FWT & FWQ Rulebook here.
Freeskier Felix Wiemers (GER), who has already gained some experience at the FWQ and received an FWT wildcard for this season and is the only German FWT participant so far, said: "For me, the FWQ events were a great first experience and my introduction to freeride contests. I learned a lot here. The 1 and 2-Star FWQ competitions in particular are very suitable for beginners. The FWQ team provides great support on site and also explains a lot about safety." In more detail, the 1* and 2* events mainly offer the opportunity to get into the contest freeride scene. Relevant points collection for riders aiming for the FWT doesn't actually start until the 3* events. But in order to be able to register for 3* and 4* events at all, you have to collect some points at the smaller contests beforehand.
In America, there will be twice as many snowboard FWQ events this season as last year. In Europe, the successful Austrian Freeride Series will be continued, with the Austrians crowning their national freeride champions, or more correctly the Austrian Freeride Series winner, at a total of ten Austrian FWQ events. Similar national series as part of the FWQ will now also be held in Switzerland and France (Temmos Freeride Events).
And what does the future hold for the FWQ? "I believe that many strong riders will come from New Zealand because we have seen a very high level there in the last two years," predicts FWQ organizer and FWT head judge Berti Denervaud. "I wouldn't be surprised if some good riders from Eastern Europe join us soon. These countries don't yet have such good training facilities for alpine skiing, ski and boardercross or freestyle. But when it comes to freeriding, you only need mountains and snow to become a top rider."
Junior Freeride Tour
The full JFT calendar can be found here
The champions of tomorrow earn their first spurs on the Junior Freeride Tour (JFT). Here they learn the basics of freeriding before taking on the higher competition level of FWQ and FWT. The level at the JFT events is consistently impressive. The juniors show runs here that amaze even the most progressive FWT riders.
Like the FWQ, the JFT is divided into two regions. Europe will host nine junior events of the Junior Freeride Tour Europe by Dakine, open to riders aged 14 to 17. Four JFT events will be held in the Americas region. Each region has its own overall ranking and crowns its own tour champions. The junior competitions have the same points system as the 1-, 2- and 3-star FWQ events. This means that the juniors already collect points for the FWQ and are listed in the FWQ rankings when they turn 18. This makes them eligible to compete in the FWQ in the following season. The best juniors from each region will qualify for the Junior Freeride World Championships from April 2-6, 2014 at Big Sky Resort (USA).
"I'm really looking forward to the new Junior Freeride Tour by Dakine," said the Project Manager of JFT Europe, Cyril Neri. "We already know from previous years that the young talents will inspire us with their incredible skills and positive attitude. I'm also very excited to see how the former juniors, who have now turned 18, will perform at the FWQ events."
Registration for the Region 1 (Europe) JFT events will also open on December 2, 2013.
