About - Safety

 “Safety is the number one priority for Freeride World Tour. Education is the first and most important aspect of mountain safety."

Nicolas Hale-Woods, CEO FWT

• Mandatory equipment

The FWT requires that all competitors in every competition carry an avalanche transceiver, shovel, probe, and know how to use them; as well as a helmet and a certified and separate back protection.

FWT is also teaming up with RECCO search and rescue, Black Diamond airbags and avalanche transceivers, probes and shovels, as well as Vibram sole to provide snow safety products for every competitor. All equipment, verified on competition day prior to events, is mandatory in order to compete.

A harness shall be part of the rider’s equipment. All riders must take their harness to competitions but it will only be mandatory if the organizers announce it prior to or during the riders meeting. Therefore, it is the rider's responsibility to have a harness handy if needed.

An avalanche airbag is only mandatory on the Freeride World Tour, not on Qualifiers or Juniors.

The equipment along with a transceiver check and a RECCO reflector check will be done prior to the competition. 

Any rider missing any of the mandatory equipment will not be allowed to start and will get a DNS (did not start).

• Education

It is crucial to have all the equipment but knowledge is just as important! In 2021 the Freeride World Tour teamed up with WEMountain to offer online safety education to all our riders. WEMountain is the first mountain and avalanche training platform that combines both E-Learning and T-Learning. 

From 2021 onwards all FWT and Qualifiers riders will follow the training courses offered by WEMountain, in order for us to keep our riders safe and educated.

Find out more about WEMountain courses here.