Freeride World Tour

"Verbier, Switzerland - Organizers of the Nissan O’Neill Xtreme in Verbier, the Swatch O’Neill Big Mountain Pro and the Nissan Freeride in Tignes this week announced the first edition of the Freeride World Tour, adding two new events in Eastern Europe and the U.S. to create a worldwide schedule. This winter, professional freeride skiers and snowboarders will go head-to-head in a Freeride World Tour made up of five events and boasting a huge prize purse.

Frenchman Aurelion Ducroz is the top-ranked male freeride skier going into the new Freeride World Tour this winter. (photo: J. Hadik)

The Nissan Mammoth Challenge (Mammoth Mountain, Calif., USA), scheduled for January 22-26, and the Nissan Caucasus Classic in Sochi, Russia (January 31 to February 5) have been added to the Swatch O'Neill Big Mountain Pro, a mobile event in the Alps from February 24 to March 2, the Nissan Freeride de Tignes (FRA)( March 9-12) and the Nissan O'Neill Xtreme in Verbier (March 14-23) to create the Freeride World Tour. After this final event in Verbier, the four Freeride World Champions (ski/snowboard, men/women) will be crowned. The Tour is endowed with a purse of $300,000.

“I’ve been waiting for a long time for a real Freeride World Tour that is professionally organized and has sponsors that deserve the name. Now it is finally born and I give it my unconditional support," says Guerlain Chicherit of France, four-time Ski Freeride World Champion. "I was ready to chuck in my skis after my fourth World Title last year. But now I’m really keen and motivated for a new season, which may very well be one of the best of my career.”

Organizers founded the Pro Freeriders Board (PFB) of eight prominent freeriders who will establish the competition format, the judging rules and the ranking system – 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). This approach ensures a harmonization of the judging criteria, organizers say, and establishes a qualifying tour, the Freeride World Qualifying Tour (FWQT) through which the young riders have to prove themselves before they are granted access to the Freeride World Tour.

The Pro Freeriders Board compiled a hypothetical ranking of the 2006/2007 season based on results at key events and selected the 36 best riders according to a points system. These athletes qualify for the Freeride World Tour 2008. The riders who are ranked lower than 14th (men) and 4th (women) can enter the events of the FWQT. At the FWQT events in Mammoth and Schruns there will also be an open qualification to provide unknown top-level riders with the chance to establish themselves in the freeride hierarchy. After three events – the Nissan Mammoth Quest (USA) from January 15 to 17, the Nissan Quest in Schruns (AUT) and Nissan ArctiX in Tromsö (NOR) – the best athletes of the FWQT 2008 will qualify for the Freeride World Tour 2009.

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).

“It took ten years to realize a dream that we started dreaming during the first few years of the Xtreme in Verbier," explains Freeride World Tour organizer Nicolas Hale-Woods. "We wanted to unite the best freeride athletes and we wanted to bring them together in a tour that stops at the world’s most beautiful freeride locations. I will put all my energy and passion into this to make sure the first Freeride Ski and Snowboard World Champions can carry their titles with all the pride they deserve.”

FREERIDE WORLD TOUR 2008

Hypothetical world ranking 2006/2007 compiled by the PFB based on the events of the 2006/2007 season."

Ski men
1. Aurélien DUCROZ (FRA)
2. Guerlain CHICHERIT (FRA)
3. Olivier MEYNET (FRA)
4. Kaj ZACKRISSON (SWE)
5. Seb MICHAUD (FRA)
6. Drew TABKE (USA)
7. Craig GABRIEL (USA)
8. Adrien COIRIER (FRA)
8. Raphy GILLIOZ (SUI)
10. Mathiew RICHARD (CAN)
11. Nicolas PASQUIER (SUI)
12. Nick GREENER (USA)
13. Loris FALQUET (SUI)
14. Estanislao VASIUK (ARG)

Snowboard men
1. Cyril NERI (SUI)
2. Xavier DE LE RUE (FRA)
3. Xavier JORDAN (SUI)
4. Flo ORLEY (AUT)
5. Mitch TOELDERER (AUT)
6. Alex COUDRAY (SUI)
7. Steve KLASSEN (USA)
8. Serge CORNILLAT (FRA)
9. David MAGNUSSON (NOR)
10. Jeremy JONES (USA)
11. Nicolas VAUDROZ (SUI)
12. José CARRON (SUI)
13. Daniel FURBERG (SWE)
14. Julien FALCO (SUI)

Ski women
1. Marja PERSSON (SWE)
2. Jesse McMILLAN (USA)
3. Laura OGDEN (USA)
4. Giulia MONEGO (ITA)

Snowboard women
1. Bibi PEKAREK (AUT)
2. Ruth LEISIBACH (SUI)
3. Géraldine FASNACHT (SUI)
4. Nathalie ZENKLUSEN (SUI)


Article taken from First Tracks!! Online Ski Magazine

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