Photos of today's facecheck and bib draw here! // Click here for the full start list

Hot off the presses, organizers have just decided that the Nissan Xtreme Verbier 2011 by Swatch will happen this Sunday, 20 March at 10 a.m. Men and women, skiers and snowboarders, will compete on the awe-inspiring, 500-meter, north face of the Bec des Rosses. 

If you can't make it to Verbier for the event, watch it live right here.

In addition to the freeride contest, the event features several day’s worth of great events that began today and run through Wednesday, 23 March. Events include a street fair on the Verbier high street, concerts, movie nights, BMX demos, freestyle football demos and more.

In addition, the Freeride Juniors Verbier 2011 by Dakine will be held on Saturday, 19 March at 11:00 a.m. The contest will be judged by Freeride World Tour judges using the same criteria as the pros. One-hundred future Freeride World Champions are registered for the event with categories for 12-14 year olds and 15-17 years old.

Freeride World Tour men and women, skiers and snowboarders gathered in the sun at Verbier’s Gentiane Pass to inspect the 500-meter north face of the Bec des Rosses after yesterday’s snow. We asked a few of them to tell us their thoughts on the significance of the event and the nature of the face.

Aurélien Ducroz (FRA, 3^rd place men ski): “For me the only reason I do the tour is to be able to ride Verbier at the end. That’s my only goal for the season. If you win Verbier it’s something huge. It’s like winning the Monaco Grand Prix in Formula 1, for example, and I’m here, I’m in a good position and I’m happy.”

Angel Collinson (USA, 2^nd place women ski): “I’ve never been to Verbier before and it’s pretty exciting. [The Bec des Rosses] is really gnarly and something that almost every freeskier dreams about skiing. I’d be stoked if I win and I’d be stoked if [Janette Hargin, 1^st place] wins. It’s just another day skiing and whatever happens, happens.”

Mitch Toelderer (AUT, 2^nd place men snowboard): “It’s really hard to do something that’s never been done before, especially in a year like this where snow conditions are not opening a lot of new terrain. So now I’m looking at a run looker’s left and another looker’s right so I have two options that are kind of talking to me right now. I’ll spend the day looking at the mountain, look more at pictures on the computer and probably decide tomorrow.”

Maria Kuzma (NZL, 3^rd place women snowboard): “I think the biggest challenge about riding it this year might be the sluff control. I’ve only ridden [the Bec des Rosses] once before and there wasn’t as much snow and there was still sluff to deal with. So I’m thinking about the sluff more than anything else.”

 

Check the last Freeride Session about the actual conditions on the Bec des Rosses: