Billed as the ”The Best Riders on the Best Mountains in the Ultimate Freeride Competition” the Nissan Freeride World Tour is an iconic competition consisting this year of 4 events.
We are already halfway through - Sochi in Russia, venue for the 2014 Winter Olympics, and Chamonix, had their stages in January, leaving just Squaw Valley on the Feb 27th and the grand finale at Verbier on March 20th.
The Verbier Xtreme competition has actually been going since 1996, with different sponsors throughout it's history. It is considered the most prestigious event in the freeride calendar and attracts riders and spectators from all over the world. The competitors have to tackle the north face of the Bec des Rosses, a steep and jagged 500m rock face, which in some places has a 55 degree slope.
Running alongside the main tour is the Freeride World Qualifier, which allows lesser known riders to earn valuable points and maybe get a chance to qualify for the Verbier competition.
One of the most recent qualifiers took place in Flaine in the Grand Massif, organised by Serge Cornillat, a former extreme snowboarder and veteran of Verbier Xtreme, who has featured in the top five on more than one occasion. Serge explained some of the technical details for a qualifier course:
"The qualifier courses have to pose a number of challenges to the riders - couloirs, cliffs, certainly off the beaten track with ideally virgin powder and variable conditions, and a minimum of 300 vertical metres.
There is no right or wrong way down the mountain - but points are awarded for control, technique, confidence and the line taken by the competitor."
The photo is from the Flaine event which took place on 7th Feb - a fantastic day, with sunshine and fresh powder!
There are around 18 qualifier events taking place this winter in resorts all over the northern hemisphere - so if you're in a resort that's staging one make sure you take some time out to watch. (See the Programme for the Freeride World Qualifier events).
See a video of the Freeride World Qualifier
