Freeride World Tour Shakeup

[Atrain505]

This info is on biglines.com and xtremeverbier.com

20-09-2007
THE FREERIDE WORLD TOUR (FWT) IS BORN !
Verbier, 20 September 2007. 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 Caucasus 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.

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).


About time this kind of prize money showed up, but
I wonder where this leaves the IFSA World Tour?

[GoNads]

Sick! Looks like they're following suit on Honda Ski Tour, they dished out 500,000$ last year. Very exciting stuff!

[powdork]

I wonder where this leaves the IFSA World Tour?

In North America, with the cool but not made for TV events where locals can sign up to qualify for a chance to compete against the world's best (except for about 14 or so). I wonder if part of the Pro Freerider's contract will include a clause about not competing in non-sanctioned events.

FWT VIRTUAL WORLD RANKING 06/07 - SKI MEN

FWT VIRTUAL WORLD RANKING 06/07 - SKI WOMEN

FWT VIRTUAL WORLD RANKING 06/07 - SNOWBOARD MEN

FWT VIRTUAL WORLD RANKING 06/07 - SNOWBOARD WOMEN

edit to add-The men's list is interesting. Whose Craig Gabriel? Chris Davenport at 198? Is #89 a tribute of some sort? Is it a bit weird that #1 happens to be a founding member of the Pro Freerider's Board, regardless of how good a skier he is?

[griffmastar]

how the fuck did they come up with that list?

[tarkman1]

I hear they are looking to have the Mammoth event at Mt McGee.

[Super G]

That is an interesting list. They have Griffin Post listed twice and alot of those guys havent competed in years. But to answer the question above, Craig Garbiel is a bad ass that will give everyone a run for the money. check link below

http://www.smithoptics.com/news.html?c=52&id=122

[rungsp]

Strange list considering it is 06/07 season.
Guilia is listed at #4 on womens list....but she got injured in Snowbird and didn't compete again in the season (so far as I know anyway, pretty sure I am correct).
She did win the O'Neill Xtreme the year before though, no doubt about her ability, just odd that she ranked #4 in a season she basically didn't compete.

[lph]

G, powdork knows who Craig is, he was just well, being a dork, by taking the opportunity to point out the fact that Craig's last name was mispelled.

Wonder if they guys will continue to ski in the IFSA events. Should be interesting.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

(Super G -- Powdork knows Craig G. from Kirkwood. I think he was just talking about the mis-spelling of his last name).

WOW ... very interesting, coupla points/questions

-- Stoked to see that kind of prize money involved. So good for the competitors.

- Stoked there's a Mammoth event. That makes THREE Cali big-mountain comps. Squaw on the US IFSA Tour. Kirkwood on the World IFSA Tour. And now Mammoth on this new FWT tour. It would be cool if somehow they could be combined for some sort of Cali championship kind of like Colorado's Powerade series.

- It seems like they culled the IFSA rankings, the IFSA World Tour pre-registration list, and the results of other big mountain comps around the world to come up with their list. That's a BIG list.

- It will be interesting to see how many of these competitors stick with the IFSA US & World Tours.

- What do the maggots who made this list think? Alka? Alto?

[basom]

ha ha, dobbs beat daiek. kirkwood sucks. squaw rules. suck it.

i dont think dobbs even made a final last year.

[skier666]

I'm confused..........

[powdork]

ha ha, dobbs beat daiek. kirkwood sucks. squaw rules. suck it.

shut it Squawfag.

But to answer the question above, Craig Garbiel is a bad ass that will give everyone a run for the money. check link below

http://www.smithoptics.com/news.html?c=52&id=122

from the article.
"Despite a fall during one of his runs that knocked him out of contention, Smith athlete Drew Tabke still left his mark on the competition by throwing one of the hugest and cleanest backflips ever seen in competition. Tabke's 50 foot backflip was as big a trick as you will ever see, and he landed it with no problem, speeding away as spectators shook their heads in disbelief."
I'm pretty sure that was the fall that knocked him out of contention.

[Long duc dong]

That sounds awesome. I love checking out the footage of the Verbier contest every year.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

More information here:
http://www.biglines.com/blarticles/3...d_Tour_is_Born

Basically the same article as posted above, but check out the 'competitor quotes' at the bottom. Especially the one from Guerlain...he kind of disses the IFSA tour a little.

It also mentions that their pre-qualified list is "hypothetical" based on the "most important" events from 2006 AND 2007.

And this is interesting:
"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."

So to me that sounds like anybody not on this list, needs to go through this separate qualifying tour (FWQT) to gain access to the big dances the next season.

[Greydon Clark]

Jon Mullens is listed as an American. Thankfully he isn’t.

[The Reverend Floater]

Janesaw rules.

[Buzzworthy]

- What do the maggots who made this list think? Alka? Alto?

Heh, Alka's girly is ranked higher than he is. That's Hot.

Alto can't complain from what I see, damn.

6 TABKE Drew USA
47 TOWNSEND Cody USA
114 TATSUNO Chris USA (beats out Wheeler )
115 WHEELER Ben USA


Women that rock!
11 SAUGSTAD Elyse USA
16 SOMERVILLE Jane USA

[Atrain505]

It should do nothing but good things for the sport hopefully.

The list is definetly messed up and huge. Some injuries on there, etc.
No love for Canadian events in making that list. Tons of names on that list I've topped at every event I've ever been to. I won't be ditching the Canadian events but I will definetly be showing my face at many more US events this year.

Now if the IFSA would just come out with their schedule that was supossed to be two weeks out and has turned in to three and a half!

[alto]

USA, bitches.

To see my name on that list makes me pee a little in my pants.

Basically what it means to me is that this week I will be writing to everone I know who can possibly help me compete in as many of the FWT as well as the IFSA World Tour and US Freeskiing tour stops as possible next year. A year ago, I thought the comps were for fun one or two weeks a year. All of the sudden its looking like it might be all I do. Crazy.

Never before have there been developments like this for freeskiing. I am stoked to be in a place to go after it.

Con amor de Chile,
Andres Macavilla

[AKA]

No love for Ridfree in the mens snowboarding.


Boo, boo I say.

[ridefree]

Ahh shucks, I'm flattered. For snowboarding it looks like the list is only from Euro contests, mainly the big show in Verbier. Some father down the list haven't competed in about 3 years???

[AKA]

Ahh shucks, I'm flattered. For snowboarding it looks like the list is only from Euro contests, mainly the big show in Verbier. Some father down the list haven't competed in about 3 years???

Well I just think you are the absolute cats-meow on a snowboard, sue me.

[tauplitzalm]

imho, guerlain is on of the best frenchies ever. he's never made it to the movies, but yes, he can ski.

[ukeskis]

The sport really deserves the recognition it is getting. This might be a good thing for IFSA, hopefully they can up the anty. I think they really need add a more tv aspect to gain more viewers for the bigger money. If skiercross can be nationally televised then why not Freeride events?

[Long duc dong]

imho, guerlain is on of the best frenchies ever. he's never made it to the movies, but yes, he can ski.

Always wondered why he never got much film footage. Great skier, that Gravity games contest at Mammoth years ago was the first time I saw him, and he blew me away.