Freeride World Tour 2021 Has Been Announced -- Calendar & New Format


Professional sports are not always an easy thing to come by this year. With COVID-19 restrictions, many pro-sports, including many winter sports, have been running with a modified season or have been outright canceled. But, there's no need to worry for those that like skiing and snowboarding competitions because the Freeride World Tour has been officially confirmed for 2021!


Just as fans have come to expect in the past, the Freeride World Tour will be hitting five stops around the globe as athletes compete in some of the biggest and baddest freeride and big mountain competition seen throughout the season. 

The stops on the tour look about the same, with a total of five stops across Asia, North America, and Europe. The tour also starts in January and will be making stops in February and March. The full calendar, direct from the Freeride World Tour website goes a little something like this:

HAKUBA, JAPAN | 23-30 January

Hakuba marks the real start of winter as the Freeride World Tour makes its first stop in Japan! The deep conditions and exciting terrain will give the riders the best possible start to the competition season.

KICKING HORSE GOLDEN BC, CANADA | 8-13 February

Next up, it's time to get rowdy at Kicking Horse Golden BC, Canada. The playful terrain packed full of natural features is ideal for riders looking to get creative by including freestyle elements in their lines!

ORDINO ARCALÍS, ANDORRA | 22-27 February

The third stop on the FWT21 will be Ordino Arcalis, Andorra. The new competition format means that this will be crunch time for the athletes to put down runs that will earn them a place at the final two stops! The unpredictable and sometimes, tricky conditions means that the riders will have to be able to adapt quickly to be able to hold the line to advance to the new finals format!

FIEBERBRUNN, AUSTRIA | 6-12 March

Another first for the Tour will be seeing all athletes get two runs down at Fieberbrunn with their best score counting towards their points total. AND the points for the final two events will be worth 1.5, e.g winner will receive 15,000 points rather than 10,000 points. The Tour will hit Fieberbrunn, Austria. Who will be committed enough to conquer the Austrian Alps and go onto the all important showdown at the Xtreme Verbier?

XTREME VERBIER, SWITZERLAND | 20-28 March

The illustrious and Grand Finale that is the Xtreme Verbier, Switzerland where the FWT champion will be crowned for their top 3 results out of five from the whole Tour! With it all to play for at the final event, who will conquer the incredibly steep Bec des Rosses and be crowned the 2021 FWT Champion!?

The big difference for this year's tour will be the new championship format, which intended to make the series more exciting for the viewers at home and the athletes on the mountains. For this year, there have been four main changes made to the championship format:

1. Athlete qualification will occur at the third stop (instead of the fourth), making the Ordino Arcalís Andorra ‘crunch time’ for the athletes. The same numbers still go through as 2020 (best 2 results out of 3 events counts): 13 ski men, 6 ski women, 6 snowboard men, 4 snowboard women – totalling 29 riders.

2. Two runs in Austria. After a successful test last year with snowboard men, riders this year will get two runs in Fieberbrunn and keep their single best score.

3. The FWT Finals in Fieberbrunn and Verbier will be rolled out after the cut, where for the last two events, the points will be weighted 1.5. This means the winner will take 15,000 points, compared to 10,000 for the first three stops.

4. World Champions will now be crowned for their best three results out of five.

As with all organizations that will be putting on competitions around the world this winter, the FWT organizers are making safety a top priority and will be making sure that all events are complying with local regulations related to COVID-19.

Also, competition broadcasts will be available on freerideworldtour.com. As the tour draws closer, schedules, and instructions on how to view the events will be posted on the website, as well as shared via social media, which are also the best places to find more detailed information or to have any questions you may have answered. 

Freeride World Tour | Home

The world's best skiers and snowboarders on the world's best mountains.


Photo Credit: Freeride World Tour

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