Freeride World Tour
The organizers of the Nissan O’Neill Xtreme in Verbier, the Swatch O’Neill Big Mountain Pro and the Nissan Freeride in Tignes as well as their main partners Nissan, O’Neill and Swatch are proud to announce the first edition of the Freeride World Tour. This winter, professional freeride skiers and snowboarders will finally go head to head in a Freeride World Tour made up of five events and boasting the biggest prize money ever in the history of this sport.
The Freeride World Tour (FWT)
Two new events are added to the three existing events, completing the tour, which stops in Western and Eastern Europe as well as on the American continent. Nissan Mammoth Challenge (USA), 22 to 26 January; Nissan Russian Classic in Sochi (RUS), 31 January to 5 February; Swatch O'Neill Big Mountain Pro, a mobile event in the Alps from 24 February to 2 March; Nissan Freeride de Tignes (FRA), 9 to 12 March; and the Nissan O'Neill Xtreme in Verbier from 14 to 23 March. After this final event, the four Freeride World Champions (ski/snowboard/men/women) will be crowned. The Tour is endowed with a purse of $300,000, the highest sum ever to be paid in ski or snowboard freeride contests.
This development reflects the growing popularity of freeriding with the public and the media along with the development of professional athletes. To ensure the best possible conditions for the growth of this sport, the Pro Freeriders Board (PFB) was founded. It is made up of eight of the most prominent riders in the sport of freeride – snowboard: Cyril Neri (SUI), Steve Klassen (USA), Mitch Toelderer (AUT), Flo Orley (AUT); ski: Aurélien Ducroz (FRA), Phil Meier (SUI), Ian McIntosh (CAN), Martin Winkler (AUT). Their task is to establish the competition format, the judging rules and the ranking system. This approach ensures greater security because it allows for a harmonization of the judging criteria and establishes a qualifying tour (Freeride World Qualifying Tour) through which the young riders have to prove themselves before they are granted access to the Freeride World Tour.
Nissan Mammoth Challenge
Photo: Christophe Margot / freerideworldtour.com
The Freeride World Qualifying Tour (FWQT)
After three events – Nissan Mammoth Quest (USA) from 15 to 17 January, Nissan Quest in Schruns (AUT) and Nissan ArctiX in Tromsö (NOR) – the best athletes of the FWQT 2008 qualify for the Freeride World Tour 2009.
The participants:
Up to now, the joint participation of skiers and snowboarders already existed in individual contests, but their reunion in a World Tour is a new idea. Every rider – on one or on two boards – has a different way of reading and interpreting the possible lines on a slope, but they all share a common approach and the same mountain spirit.
The Pro Freeriders Board (PFB) compiled a hypothetical ranking of the 2006/2007 season based on the most important events and selected the 36 best riders according to a points system (see attached list: top 14 men ski, top 14 men snowboard, top 4 women ski, top 4 women snowboard). These athletes qualify for the Freeride World Tour 2008.
The riders who are ranked lower than 14 (men) and 4 (women) can enter the events of the Freeride World Qualifying Tour (FWQT). At the FWQT events in Mammoth and Schruns there will also be a pre-qualification (Open). This gives unknown top-level riders the chance to establish themselves in the freeride hierarchy.
The contestants are judged by a jury, which is trained and certified by the PFB and led by Jean-Yves Michellod (Head Judge: Ski) and Berti Denervaud (Head Judge: Snowboard).
Events coming up
Nissan Russian Adventure, Sochi
20-25 January 09
The 2009 tour starts in the Russian resort of Sochi
Nissan Tram Face, Squaw Valley
27 Feb 09-5 Mar 09
Mecca for Big Mountain riding in the USA, perched atop the Sierra Nevada, the Californian resort of Squaw Valley will host the second stop of the Freeride World Tour 2009
Nissan Freeride de Tignes
8-14 March 09
The fourth contest of the Freeride World Tour will take place at one of the world’s biggest ski domains - the Espace Killy – including Tignes and its surroundings
Nissan Xtreme, Verbier
20-29 March 09
Since its start in 1996 the 'Xtreme' has been considered the most prestigious event in the freeride world. For the “grande finale” of the Freeride World Tour the elite of freeride will tackle the mythical North Face of theBec des Rosses
Event news
Previous events
- Nissan O'Neill Xtreme Verbier 08
14-23 March - Nissan Freeride de Tignes
8-13 March - Big Mountain Pro 2008
24 Feb-2 Mar - Nissan Russian Adventure
31 Jan-5 Feb
