2022 Freeride World Tour Adds New Stop in Spain
There’ll be two stops in the Pyrenees on the five date Freeride World Tour (FWT) this winter with Spain’s Baqueira Beret unveiled as the new starting point for the famous tour.
“If you had told me ten years ago it was possible for a skier from Spain to podium at the Xtreme Verbier, I would have said you were crazy. And now there’s going to be an FWT competition at my home mountain, Baqueira Beret!” said rising Spanish Freeride star Aymar Navarro.
The 15th season of the tour will also include what the organisers describe as “progressive Tour format updates.” This include a ‘cut’ of the entrants after the first stage in Canada before two legs of finals in Austria and Switzerland.
“Located in the spectacular Val d’Aran in the Spanish Pyrenees, Baqueira Beret boasts a world-class resort, vast alpine terrain, and copious snowfall, making it an ideal destination for the Freeride World Tour,” a statement from the tour’s organisers claims.
Following the inaugural event at Baqueira Beret between 22nd and 28th January, 2022, the Tour returns to the perennial Pyrenean freeride mecca of Ordino Arcalís in Andorra from 30th January to 5th February.
The third stop of the FWT22 will see the athletes cross the Atlantic and return to Kicking Horse in BC, Canada from 12 – 17 February. The new competition format means the Cut will happen here and it will be the last chance for the athletes to earn their place for the FWT22 Finals.
The cut will be made to the field based on riders’ top two results, with the top 26 riders (12 ski men, 5 ski women, 5 snowboard men, 4 snowboard women) qualifying for the final two events of the year back in the Alps.
Back across the Atlantic to Saalbach Fieberbrunn from 15 – 20 March, the first Finals event will feature a new best-of-two-runs format. Each rider will have two runs, with only their top score counting towards the final results.
“Freeride is traditionally a one-run sport, and this format update is certain to push the riding to stratospheric, never-before-seen heights ahead of the all-important showdown at the Xtreme Verbier!” the organisers explain.
That final leg in Switzerland is scheduled for 26 March to 3 April on the incredibly steep Bec des Rosses when we will finally learn who will be crowned the FWT22 champions?
