[If you interrupted re-watching triple corks to see Xavier scare himself, scroll down to the bottom. We didn't enjoy watching that live.]

Ralph Backstrom took the Bec des Rosses to pieces this morning and is now the 2013 Freeride World Tour champion. You could be forgiven for getting distracted by the triples over at the X Games but the excitement didn’t stop there. 130 miles away on the flipside of snowboarding 8 more big dogs were bound in and ready for an equally close points battle. With all to play for and just one shot at impressing the judges, 4 of the riders stood a chance of taking the crown. Dropping first into the best snow seen in Verbier for the final stop of the tour in several years, Backstrom set a high bar to for the rest to follow. Starting with the biggest drop from any of the snowboarders today, Backstrom picked a fast line through all the gnar and didn’t hold back for one moment.

Aurelien Routens was 4th in the series when he woke up this morning, still the outsider for the win. With nothing to lose he rode the same side of the Bec as Backstrom – only skipping out the first hit – and just sent it all the way to the bank with barely a speed check in sight. That bagged him second place, and enough points to snake Sammy Luebke in the series.

Jonathan Charlet went even further to rider’s right and through a bunch of rocks, picking a line more technical than a Horgmo rail section and finding the only soft landing under an inpressive drop. And check that 15m olly on his run out – Charlet doesn’t exactly hang about.

Sammy Luebke had it all to lose – lying in first overall after Fieberbrunn and everyone else hoping to take him down. Dropping last it looked as if he had done just enough but clipping a rock at mach 10 in the landing of his last drop he tripped and washed out. It was a costly fall and left the judges with no choice but to give him 4th place, when he needed 2nd to stay ahead of Backstrom on points for the overall crown.

In other news, Xavier De Le Rue figured he’d take a line nobody else could even see, and as he said himself “fuck I almost died”. And that’s coming from a guy who fairly comfortable with stomp or die lines. On the approach to the ‘line’ he had in mind he clipped a rock whilst traversing through near on vertical terrain and cartwheeled towards an rocky lip whilst we all rapidly inhaled. Fortunately for Xavier he is not about to become the next youtube sensation of a GoPro clip slipping over a cliff. He just got back on his feet, brushed the snow off his goggles and straightlined over everything between him and the finish line as if he was trying to make up for the delay. You’re a nutter Xavier, glad you’ll be back for next year’s tour.

For more videos and the exact points breakdown, click over to www.freerideworldtour.com

There’s no denying the fact that it’s the time of the year where people start caring less about snowboarding or winter in general. However, as we channel the constant stream of radness into our weekly best of the internet aka This Week in Snowboarding you still get to see a lot of mad bits of shred. Here we go!

SATURDAY

TWSnow checks Sean Black out. Some Aussies shred America.

SUNDAY

The Critters post a good edit, and Keep the Change launch their Six Trick Mixes. The Ride Shakedown went down in Snoqualmie, here’s a recap video, and here’s another, and here’s a third. The Videograss crew went to Bear Mountain. Seven Deadly Edits number 5 drops.

MONDAY

Jake Blauvelt takes to the park. Austrian MOG Productions release their new teaser. Xavier De Le Rue and Anne-Flore Marxer win the Freeride World Tour. Shaun White learns double corks on kickers. We create an X Games Europe Super-Duper-Post and post some weird Finnish video parts. More Protest powder clips appear online. Ice Coast Kills Shit are back with another sick edit. The Analog Design Unlikely Features European leg is a wrap. And here are two minutes on one rail.

TUESDAY

Danny Davis shreds the BC.

Trevor Jacob jumps a moving train. The best of Ryan Paul’s HCSC action is available here. Click here for Drive In episode 7 (featuring Black, Visconti & others). BurritosAndSnow sums up how you can help Japan AND get something for yourself. The Peddie Files episode 1 drops – but really isn’t anything but another teaser. Our Time Travel Tuesdays present Jamie Lynn in TB2. Yobeat portraits Alex Andrews and posts a clip straight from South Dakota.

WEDNESDAY

ESPN calls Dylan Alito and films him, too. The Hobo crew shreds Northstar. Steve Gruber shows you how to do front 7s. Brandon Larson’s part from Poachers X gets re-released. Yobeat interviews filmer Austin Will.

THURSDAY

Some Swedes perform wizardry on rails.

Our English ed performed some more iPhone wizardry with this Kitzsteinhorn edit. The Apo team shreds Diedamskopf. Lonnie Kauk’s DC video part is on TWSnow. Craig Bowl-U’s part from Hello World to be found here. And the Canyons Fundays webisode 7 is here. If you don’t know the Spatziba website by now: Here are four edits from their site, all posted on Thursday. Here are some laps at Loon Mountain. And in skate-related news: Innsbruck is the new Barcelona.

FRIDAY

Lauri Heiskari’s DC part is the shit.

These Norwegian rookies have über-fun. Isenseven release an incredibly boring yet popular backcountry video. ESPN examine the We Are Snowboarding movement. Peepshow’s PMS #2 is alright, and we have a few girls trying backflips.

That’s all for now. We will do some time travelling this week but will be back last Friday.

The Freeride World Tour wrapped up in Verbier the other day, with some ballistic lines being put down by Xavier De Le Rue and Anne-Flore Marxer. Watch the runs here…

The world’s best freeride athletes gathered at the legendary face of Bec des Rosses in Verbier, Switzerland for the finals of the Freeride World Tour 2011. Men and women attacked the steep 600-meter face in a technical battle that challenged the complete skills of every rider. Xavier De Le Rue and Anne-Flore Marxer put down the sickest lines of the day, and as it was the final event of the Freeride World Tour, Mitch Tölderer and Anne-Flore Marxer were crowned as the 2011 Freeride World Champion title after the final competition of the six-event tour.

Freeride World Champions 2011

Snowboard Men: Mitch Tölderer (AUT)

Snowboard Women: Anne-Flore Marxer (FRA/SUI)

Winners Nissan Xtreme Verbier 2011 by Swatch

Snowboard Men: Xavier De Le Rue (FRA)

Snowboard Women: Anne-Flore Marxer (FRA/SUI)

XAVIER DE LE RUE – MEN’S 1ST XTREME VERBIER

ANNE-FLORE MARXER – WOMEN’S 1ST XTREME VERBIER

Victor De Le Rue on Relentless.

Snowboard phenomenon Victor De Le Rue joins his eldest brother the pioneering freerider Xavier De Le Rue, star of both Relentless’ Lives of the Artists films, as the latest rider to be proudly sponsored by Relentless Energy Drink.

The 23 year old is the second International snow recruit for Relentless – alongside Britain’s triple X Games gold medallist Jenny Jones, Pirate Films star Tyler Chorlton, Halfpipe champion Dom Harington and Freeride World Tour champion Xavier De Le Rue.

The French freestyler has sent ripples through the European scene for the last few seasons, placing on podiums and filming, including a star section on Hara Kiri Productions debut full length Pan Pan. This winter the Pyrenees-native also released a signature outerwear collection and pro-snowboard line for Rip Curl, plus he rides for Nike 6.0 footwear.

Youngest of five, Victor – aka VDLR – was encouraged to get outdoors as a kid, and so, along with his De Le Rue siblings, developed a deep passion for the mountains at a very young age: he discovered the ‘amazing feeling’ of snowboarding at just 6 years old.

Now the 23 year old is known for sending it on all terrain: Relentless Energy’s multitalented new rider nails street rails, park jibs, halfpipes and monster kickers in liquid smooth, true ‘No Half Measures’ style.

Victor’s now following his big brother into freeriding and film, travelling the globe with fellow French crew Hara Kiri or sessionning the park at his hometown of Saint Lary, in the Pyrenees. Victor also features in Rip Curl’s Welcome Home series, with whom he’s currently on a powder-saturated tour of Japan.

“Victor is a fantastic and talented addition to the Relentless team,” says Relentless Energy representative Steven Ruhl. “After Xavier’s pioneering freeride adventures in Antarctica and Greenland for our Lives of the Artists films, Victor perfectly complements his brother’s talents with his freestyle approach – and extends the Relentless athlete family further in the international scene. We look forward to following Victor’s trips and working with him this season – and beyond.”

With a season of filming ahead of him, and the support of Relentless Energy, expect to see more of this bright new star very soon – especially if he lands his favourite trick: a naked double backflip.

Find out more about Victor and all the Relentless Energy team on relentlessenergy.com

Xavier De Le Rue’s latest Timeline episode sees him tackle sluff and ice in the French alps, and is nothing less than an intense display of extreme snowboarding.

These days people toss the word ‘Extreme’ around with such gay abandon that whenever you hear it you automatically cringe. However, in this latest episode of his Timeline series of web shorts, Xavier De Le Rue shows the true meaning of the word with a fistful of insane, no let’s just say it – extreme – snowboarding.

With the most recent snowfall three or four weeks ago, Xavier still managed to keep himself entertained in the Alps by competing on the Freeride World Tour and searching the high alpine for pockets of rideable snow to film for TB20 and Videograss. With sluff and ice adding to the intensity, this is full-on ballistic snowboarding of the highest level. Watch it, and just think of the skills he has to be able to put so much trust in his snowboard’s edge. As you’ll see, it doesn’t always work out… Mental.

Yeah right!

Matt Annetts - photo: M. Weiler

The second stage of the Freeride World Tour in the Swiss Engadin proofed, that apparently Xavier De Le Rue (FRA) can, in fact, be beaten and it was Matt Annetts (USA) who ruled the Corvatsch north face.

He launched his run with a nice jump followed by a good four-meter drop that had taken out the skier just before him. He then hit the middle of the course with fast smooth style before finishing with another clean air at the bottom.

Filling the remaining podium spots were Mitch Tölderer (AUT) who took the lead early with a fast, fluid run that included several drops. His run was just enough to push him past third place finisher Flo Örley (AUT) who is returning to competition after taking a year off.

Matt Annetts (USA): “I really like this face. Its long and there are lots of things to do on the way down. For not having been snowing in the region for quite some time the snow was amazing. I had a fairly safe run. I wanted to stay on my feet. I knew there were a lot of flat landings. If you would go too fast on that face today you would hit the landings too hard. I’ve had a few podiums on the tour but it feels good to finally be on the top!”

The men's podium. Photo: Dom Daher.

In the Men’s Snowboard division, Freeride World Champion Xavier de Le Rue (FRA) threw down what many thought to be the best run of the day with a fast clean double drop to straight line at the end of his run. With this win, de Le Rue continues his dominance of the Freeride World Tour by extending his streak of consecutive FWT wins to four.

At the women’s comp, it was the wild cards who stepped to the plate when freestyler Anne-Flore Marxer (FRA/SUI), competing in her rookie season of the tour, proved that women snowboarders can rip world class faces with aggressive grace. Second place was also taken by wild card Ursula Wohlschlager (AUT) which puts a new face on the women’s snowboarding division.

Official Results of the Nissan Freeride de Chamonix Mont-Blanc 2011 by Swatch

Men’s Snowboard
Xavier de Le Rue (FRA)
Douds Charlet (FRA)
Aurélien Routens (USA)

Women’s Snowboard
Anne-Flore Marxer (FRA/SUI)
Ursula Wohlschlager (AUT)
Nathalie Zenklussen (SUI)

ASK THE EXPERT

HANS ÅHLUND

To coincide with our motorized jib article on page 104, we’ve asked a tow-in and winch expert to tell us more about the technique that’s rapidly become the new urban jib phenomenon. here’s hans Åhlund’s two cents on the matter…

First of all, why do you use a winch for riding?

I’ve used a winch quite a lot, especially last winter because I’m pretty good at seeing spots and their potential. With a winch, you can fi nd spots everywhere, spots that I’ve been claiming and seeing before but that were not doable. The first time I saw a winch was at the Zimtstern Leaves shoot and I didn’t understand the potential it had. Then we used it on the Pirate flick Jolly Roger last year, and then I understood and saw what it was capable of. I fell in love!

how did you start with equipment?

At the beginning of last year I bought one together with the Pirates and my local homeboys and I used it a lot last year. If you’ve seen my part you know what I mean. It’s for spots that need lots of speed. If you just want to hit rails you might as well just use friends to pull you, a drop-in ramp, or a bungee – there’s no need for a winch for most rails –but on a lot of my spots we maxed out the winch, which is claimed to go 70kph but I think it’s more like 55kph maybe. Bottom line, I will use the winch and probably the Bungee mostly this winter, so if you got the money buy both.

Is it not an added danger to hit rails?

Well, shit happens for sure: in Italy, Simu broke his hand because he didn’t brake the accelerating handle, and it hit his hand. So watch out – it’s not a toy. Remember to brake the winch directly after the rider’s let go of the handle, and make sure the bungee is correctly secured to whatever you attach it to, and also try not to have the bungee snap! But, you know, ramps might look safer until you fall off one plus you can never reach the same speed or it has to be one hell of a ramp!

What is your winch equipment?

It’s that Grinch one, that’s the one I’ve seen most of.

- What do you want to look at when purchasing a winch?

Price, top speed, and if it’s built to last. I paid 2000 euros for mine second hand.

Is there different approach techniques for different tows?

Whatever you choose to ride it’s always a hassle to find the good speed and where to put the ramp/bungee/winch to get the right speed and set up. It’s good to keep that in mind before you start building the spot.

What features does a spot have to have to be good for winch?

It has to be spot that needs a lot of speed to work, otherwise there’s no use for the winch. Then it’s just go for it and max out the speed.

Is everything possible to hit now?

As long as you have a good in-run or a good plan for it, kind of yes. It’s only your mind and imagination that set stop for what could be hit.

DESIGN YOUR UNLIKELY FEATURES WITH ANALOG

Analog launched a global design contest a few months back, giving snowboarders the opportunity to conceptualise their dream jib obstacle. It’s a unique chance to have your very own snow feature constructed. Draw it by hand, create it on your computer, sketch on a napkin… use whatever method you want, but be creative! Here’s what Analog’s Greg Poissonnier had to say for your guidance: “Here is one of the most noticeable entries Analog received so far, the rail to wall feature. As you can see creativity is there, but there’s probably room for improvement, so if you have the killer idea, get your pen out or computer on!” And remember, as Greg says, “The feature must be creative, offer many riding options, easy to build and to move.” Reckon you can do better than that? Then grab your pen or laptop and freakin get on it! If you win, not only you will have your dream creation built, but Analog will bring you out for the weekend to the Design Unlikely Features Contest on March 19th, 2011 in Avoriaz, where you can participate in the first ever contest on your winning feature. No pressure, competing is optional.

In addition, the winner will receive:
1st Prize
• 2 round Trip Tickets to/from Avoriaz 1800 resort
• 2 nights lodging at Avoriaz 1800 resort
• Custom built snow feature at Avoriaz 1800 resort
• Contest centered around your creation
• Analog outerwear kit (gloves, Jacket, Pants)
• Analog Clothing Package (including: Jeans, beanie, t-shirt, fl annel, fl eece, backpack, and belt)
You’ve only got until January 15th to enter, so be fast!

Send your sketches to:
designunlikelyfeatures@analogclothing.com (mention europe in subject box)
snail Mail:
Analog
Design unlikely Features Contest
z.a de Pedebert
180 av. des menuisiers
40150 soorts-hossegor
France
You can also upload your submission on the Analog website.

Photo: Sami Tuoriniemi

HIGH FIVE

GJERMUND BRÅTEN

He might have an unpronounceable name but you’d better fi gure out how to say it [Ok, it’s Yer-mund Braw-ten] because this young Norwegian ripper has been holding down the top spot on the TTR rankings for the fi rst part of the season. A good enough reason for us to dial him into a High 5.

We’ve followed you since you won the Rookie Fest two years ago. Now you’ve been TTR #1 for quite a while, how do you explain such a rapid progression in the world establishment?

A lot of hard work, helpful people and great sponsors!

Are you gonna focus all your season on the TTR to defend your points, or still go out in the backcountry to shoot?

My main goals are to win or place top 3 in the TTR, ride the US X-Games and fi lm for Standard.

What are the essential tricks you have to have in your bag if you wanna hold it down in the top ten these days?

10s for sure, and good rails skills.

Which upcoming contests are you the most confident for?

Air&Style China will be fun, looking forward to that one, and then the O’Neill Evolution and BEO.

What will you do if you win the TTR at the end of the season?

I’ll buy a Rolex, and go to Bali with the 6.0 team!

Reporter of the Month – Enzo Nilo

Here’s the fine reportage that made young French ripper Enzo Nilo about the beginning of his winter season. seems pretty hectic…

It all started with the strikes in October/November, when my school was closed. I then went to Grenoble for the French snowboard awards, where I had to get my best suit on since I was nominated in the category ‘Rookie of the Year’. Good thing I did that because I ended up winning the trophy and represent my A Branler Crew on stage, with the help of the usual losers Victor Delerue and Victor Daviet, Daviet, who disintegrated my boxers.
Thomas Delfino and Bruno Rivoire were on fire on the dancefloor and literally killed it. After this hard piece of work done, I went on the road to Saas Fee where plenty of pros were training, and where all the French team was hanging: Mat Crepel, Arthur Longo, Aluan Ricciardi, Max Tevelle and the rest of the crew. I only rode one day because of the shitty weather, but it was nice to dial again some basic tricks and get the legs ready. Plus I learned switch backflips!

Then I was back in Les 2 Alpes for the Rock On Snowboard Tour, where we planned to shoot a ‘Day in the Life’ podcast for Vans… But once again the weather was against us. Bastard. Nevertheless the park was good and I could get confi dent with my 5s and 7s. I spent the last evening with the Harakiri crew for the premiere of their video. After another hard weekend, it was time to go back to Saas Fee for a Euro Cup contest. Hard return in the icy pipe but I manage to ride at my level enough to qualify for the finals, where I end up in 7th place – which qualifi es me for the World Cup events. I want here to big up the brilliant performance of my partner Maxence Tevelle, aka ‘the only man brave enough to put his face down the icy pipe twice’. But more fear that pain for him. Hectic did you say? Hope it continues like that!

MOVERS & SHAKERS

It’s all go at APO right now. Regis Rolland’s baby has been boosted with the arrival of 24-year-old Brit ripper based out of Andorra, Tyler Chorlton, who you’ll no doubt know from his sick parts in the Pirates movies the last few years. “So stoked to be in the APO family,” said Tyler, pumped on his new BC 160 fl at cut board and Dual entry system bindings. “It’s an honor to hang out with the legendary Regis and to be part of the root of European snowboarding!” 23-year-old René Schnöller from Sölden has also jumped aboard the APO happy bus.

Rene Schnoller

Our senior photographer Matt Georges was recently honoured by having some of his shots printed on a very special and limited Rip Curl collection, as part of their eco-friendly program. Matt is already the sixth AOTS (Artist of The Search) so we give him the fi st of nuff respect for that. This collection, including two hoodies, one t-shirt and boxer shorts (on top of being awesome obviously) is a genuine way of reconciling the environmentally friendly and the artistic, of improving awareness among ‘Searchers’ and offering consumers a range of highly distinctive 100% organic cotton t-shirts. Find those products online at myripcurlshop.com

Thomas Gerin

Anne-Flore Marxer is now hot-stepping with Etnies and ThirtyTwo, and joins Danny Larsen, Markus Malin, Ville Paumola, Steve Gruber, and Kareem El Rafi e on the team roster. “My boots are made for shredding and that’s just what we’ll do!” was what AFM had to say, and she did just that: as soon as she’d picked up her Best French Female Rider award, Anne-Flore started her season early with a long preparation in Sass Fee. In addition to etnies and thirtytwo Europe, Anne-Flore’s sponsors include Billabong, Oakley, Swatch, Neff, Bluebird, Dakine and Les Ettes. Sticking with Etnies and ThirtyTwo, they’ve also signed Flo Achenrainer, for boots, footwear and outerwear.

Tyler Chorlton

How about that? Slap bang in the middle of the season, Forum comes up with another all-new board release: The Contract LTD, a Limited Edition urban board that puts the “&” in “Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll”. With the same urban-specific tech and construction as The Contract, this 154 features an additional photo from famed NYC photographer Allan Tannenbaum. Now it gets interesting: just like the regular series, every person who buys this board is eligible to go online and sign up to be on “The Contract Team.” Once on the team and listed on the Forum website, riders can send in their best urban shots on The Contract for a chance to score photo incentives if the shot is run. Go to www.forumsnowboards.com for more info.

Matt George's Rip Curl

With the arrival of David Livet as team manager for Oxbow it was just a question of time before some fresh news arrived on the team. And here it is: there are four new arrivals – Marion Gouwy, Sophie Rodriguez, Thomas Gérin (all from France), and Adán Baserba from Spain.

Marion Gouwy, Sophie Rodriguez

Airhole facemasks have fi nally arrived in France and some other countries in Europe that they’d not made it to before. The Canadian brand, created by Wildcats Kale Stephens and Chris Brown, is hitting hard on the team front with a monster roster, with the likes of the Jackson & Helgason brothers, Niemela, Backstrom, Heiskari, Geeves, Rencz, Stephens, Brown…. Morgan Le Faucheur, Max Delayen and Alicia Bonnaud being the first French members. Another Wildcat’s offspring, Endeavor, is also completing its European distribution, with some solid Euro representation in the shape of Kareem El Rafie, Jody Washniak or Torgeir Berre.

Forum LTC Contract

AFM in 32s

Adan Baserba

DC PARK LES HOUCHES:

One Spot. One concept. One Park. One chalet for the second year, Dc installs its Snowpark concept in les houches, chamonix, france.

From the 15th of December till the end of the winter season, the DC area will be providing snowboarders with all they have dreamt of in a premium snowpark, shaped by the fi nest shapers, with a new and specific program of entertainment, contests, shows, and more. Strongly inspired by the DC Mountain Lab in Utah, the concept of the DC area was to cater for riders of any level wanting to hit the best lines and best obstacles in order to make snowboarding more easily accessible. The base camp of DC area has been built around a shipping container that is the source of life and entertainment at events. After being delivered by helicopter last December, the container has a number of jobs: being as used for storage, to play music, have good times in and even as an additional rideable component in the park. But the most important element the DC area project has brought to the park is the “Know How” for building the park, with the best shapers. In choosing Les Houches as its Partner Resort, DC plants its flag in front of the highest mountains of Europe, which gives the park one of the best backdrops around. Chamonix has always been home to the freeriders, but despite its credentials as one of the fi nest ski areas in the world the resort has been lacking a decent snow park for a number of years. Now, with the DC area in place, that’s all changed and freestyle is fi rmly on the map. Les Houches appears to be the best place to re-activate the AREA 43 concept, together with the other European DC area in Kitzbühel, Austria.

New for 2011:

RIDING:
- An additional snowpark.
- several zones to ride (for different levels of riders).
- new exclusive obstacles mixing skate and snow inspiration.entertainment:
- An exclusive Chalet dedicated to riders, ViP and media.
- Parties and festivities.

PROGRAM
16-18.01.2011 snow Avant Premier les houches Fr
31.01-04.02 2011 DC special shoot la Clusaz Fr
12-13.02.2011 rookie Contest les houches Fr
13-14.02.2011 snow test les houches Fr
28.02-04.03 2011 Warriors les houches Fr
15.04.2011 Closing les houches Fr

www.facebook.com/dcshoes.europe
www.facebook.com/dcshoes.france

Flo Orley at the Freeride Tignes last year - photo: C.Margot

For 2011, the Freeride World Tour has continued to streamline its judging system to produce the fairest, most consistent and non-restrictive freeride judging system to date.

This dynamic, constantly evolving system is a critical element in evaluating the world’s best snowboarders as they continue to push the boundaries of freeriding at each and every FWT contest. Multiple judges score competitors individually and their scores are averaged in order to be as fair as possible. The judging method allows any style to win, an important factor for the athletes as they breed from various backgrounds like freestyle, alpine racing, boarder cross, skiers cross or pure freeriding.

Judges Training
A complex judging manual, which has been developed jointly by the Freeride World Tour organisers, judges, and competing athletes, serves as the basis for the training method for FWT judges. The objectives are to continually improve the overall quality and coherence of the Freeride World Tour and Freeride World Qualifiers’ judging systems. In order to become a FWT certified judge, potential candidates must complete the training program, pass a series of tests, judge past years’ competition runs and do real time judging at competitions.

Judging
Judging is based on overall impression, which takes into account the athlete’s line, fluidity, control, jumps and crashes. This split criteria mentality is key to determining the best overall impression of the run. Riders are scored on a scale with 100 possible scores and judges are trained to use the full scale when evaluating runs. Prior to the competition, judges check the competition faces themselves and analyse possible lines and snow conditions while imagining what could be a very difficult or a safe line on the face.

Judges
Each Freeride World Tour contest has three judges and one head judge. For FWT11 a major effort has been made to keep the same group of judges throughout the entire tour. Head Judge Berti Denervaud (SUI) explains that, “We believe it will bring stability in the judging throughout the season.” All judges have been professional freeriders and only judge their respective disciplines. All have judged FWT events in the past. Snowboard judges include Lolo Besse (FRA), Xavier Jordan (SUI), Jarkko Henttonen (FIN) and Gunnar Ploner (AUT) for the Big Mountain Fieberbrunn.

For more info check out freerideworldtour.com

Mitch Tölderer in Chamonix last year - photo: T.Repo/Freeride World Tour

Once again the best freeriders to date will come together and compete against each other in the third round of the Freeride World Tour. The fight over $250,000 USD prize purse will be battle out on locations such as the Mont Blanc, St. Moritz, Kirkwood, Sochi, Fieberbrunn and last but not least the famous finals in Verbier.

3times Freeride World Tour Champion Xavier de Le Rue from France will not only have to try to defend his title against a strong field of competitors including Mitch Tölderer (AUT), Matt Annetts (USA) or Douds Charlet (FRA), but also against wild card holders Flo Örley (AUT), Martin Cernik (CZE), James Stentiford (UK) and Andy Finch (USA). But loving new challenges Xavier just says bring it on: “Every year since the beginning I’ve been impressed by the way the tour has continually improved year after year. Where will it go this year? Can’t wait to find out!”

In women’s snowboard, the new schedule including six main events will now open the race for the final overall title to a wider group of riders. Women’s Snowboarding Freeride World Tour 2010 Champion Aline Bock from Germany states, “I’ve competed in the last two seasons in the Freeride World Tour and I am more than happy to have finished the 2010 season as Freeride World Champion. Of course, I will try to defend the title in 2011 again. The level of women’s freeriding has risen over the past few seasons and I would really like to push it as far as it goes in the FWT 2011 competitions.” But also Susan Mol (USA), Nathalie Zenklusen (SUI) and Vivian Aasen (NOR), who qualified from the FWQ Ranking 2010, will try their best to put the Freeride crown on their own heads come March 2011.

Schedule:

1. Nissan Freeride de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc 2011 by Swatch (FRA)
22 January 2011

2. Nissan Freeride Engadin St. Moritz 2011 by Swatch (SUI)
29 January 2011 – Men only

3. North Face Masters Kirkwood 2011 by Swatch (USA)
5 March 2011

4. Nissan Russian Adventure Sochi 2011 (RUS)
5 March 2011 – Men only

5. Big Mountain Fieberbrunn 2011 by Nissan (AUT)
12 March 2011 – Men only

6. Nissan Xtreme Verbier 2011 by Swatch (SUI)
Date: 19 March 2011 (Finals)