FAQ

Freeriding is a sport that has experienced tremendous growth during the last few years and is supported by a “pyramid” of development programs. Under the leadership of the Freeride World Tour, the Freeride World Qualifier and the Freeride Junior Tour are designed to support grassroots growth in the sport. In addition, the FWT Academy was implemented in cooperation with ski schools throughout the world, including Europe and Japan:

// The Freeride World Tour (FWT)

The FWT is the worldwide circuit of freeride snowboarding and skiing with the best riders in the world competing on the most legendary and challenging alpine faces and the most renowned ski resorts across the world.

// The Freeride World Qualifier (FWQ)

The world qualification circuit is designed to develop the talent and skills of up-and-coming athletes. Riders accumulate points via 50 events held around the world (including forty in Europe).

// The Freeride Junior Tour (FJT)

The FJT was founded in 2011 in order to develop a platform for young athletes (boys and girls) aged 14-18 to develop their skills and become future world champions. In 2018 an additional age group for 10-14 year old riders (U-14) was added. Beyond the coaching to develop their riding skills, these events teach young athletes how to safely pursue their passion for freeriding by emphasizing prevention, safety, and responsibility in mountain environments.

The best 3 ski men and the top 1 ski woman, snowboard man and snowboard woman of each region qualifier for next season’s Freeride World Tour, having a total of 12 athlete’s qualify each year.

The Pro Freeriders Board (PFB) was founded to ensure the best possible conditions for the growth of freeriding. The PFB is a consultative board with riders from the FWT and they are consulted by FWT for all decisions concerning rules and formats which might affect riders. It is made up of eight of the most prominent riders in the sport of freeride led by a General Secretary. Their task is to voice their opinions and wishes regarding the season calendar, competition format, judging rules and a fair path for newcomers to qualify for the FWT through the FWQ and its ranking system. This approach ensures greater security and riders’ satisfaction.

The FJWC is a one-day event for riders aged 15-18 (respecting each region’s age eligibility dates) and crowns the Freeride Junior World Champions. The FJWC will be awarded a 4* points status and the FJWC results will count towards the 52 week seeding list, but will not count towards the junior tour ranking. The FJWC usually takes place every year.

FWT Management will invite riders according to past year’s results, age restrictions and nationality respecting a national representation quota. Additional riders may be invited prior to the event based on the FJT Region 1 rankings after a pre-determined event (2019: Eldorado Freeride Valnord 3*).

IFSA will invite Region 2 riders according to past year’s results, age restrictions and a national representation quota.

There is no guarantee for any nation to keep the same number of spots per championship or category from one year to the next and there is no guarantee for a world champion to be re-invited based on the title alone.

Once you have a current season membership you are eligible to register for events. Registration will open about 6 weeks prior to each event and will close about 4 weeks before the event. During the registration period you can login and register for the event. When logged in, you can register by clicking on “Event” in the menu and then by clicking on the SKI or SNOWBOARD next to the event you would like to sign up for. Please note that this step only puts you on the waiting list of a competition and you do not know yet if you will be selected to compete.

You need a valid credit card to complete the registration process but as long as you are on the waiting list the registration fee will only be held on your credit card. Registration will close 4 weeks prior to the event, at this time you will receive an invitation email if you were selected for this event. If you do not want to accept the invitation, you must cancel within three days. If you decide to cancel, your spot will be given to the next rider on the waiting list otherwise your participation will be confirmed and your credit card will be charged.

For all 2*, 3* and 4* events, riders will be accepted based on their seeding list rank at the time registration closes. Only in the case where the event is not full, all riders on the waiting list will be accepted.

All 1* events will be open for any riders and the selection will be made on first-come, first-served basis. This way rookies can start collecting points on the tour that will help get into higher level events later on.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not make any flight or accomodation arrangements until you have received the invitation email as you will not know if you are accepted until you receive that email.

When you sign up for a competition you will receive an email stating that you are on the waiting list for the competition. One day after registration closes we will send an invitation email to all selected athletes. Selected athletes then have 3 days to decide if they want to compete. If they do not want to compete they can just login and cancel the registration. If they do want to compete they do not have to do anything and will receive an email confirming that they are on the start list 3 days later. With the confirmation email the credit card will then be charged.

However, if you do not receive an invitation you are still placed on the waiting list and chances are that you will be invited later on as invited/confirmed riders may cancel their participation.

If a rider cancels his or her registration, the next rider on the waiting list will receive an email that he/she is invited to compete. So if you are on top of the waiting list chances are that you will be invited if another rider in your category cancels. The same process will be repeated until the event is full.

If you forgot to register on time and the event is already full, you will not be able to sign up for the event anymore.

FREERIDE JUNIOR TOUR

If a category doesn’t reach a minimum of 3 registrations, the category is cancelled and the starting spots will be redistributed to the other categories. If less than three riders registered in one category, for example snowboard women, the category is therefore cancelled but the few riders who registered could still compete with the snowboard men if they wish to do so. They would then be judged as men and score the points of their ranking position in the men’s category. If on the other hand the category is confirmed due to reaching the minimum number of participants but at the event less than the minimum number show up, the category will still be validated.

FREERIDE WORLD QUALIFIER

If a category doesn’t reach a minimum of 4 registrations, the category is cancelled and the starting spots will be redistributed to the other categories. If less than four riders registered in one category, for example snowboard women, the category is therefore cancelled but the few riders who registered could still compete with the snowboard men if they wish to do so. They would then be judged as men and score the points of their ranking position in the men’s category. If on the other hand the category is confirmed due to reaching the minimum number of participants but at the event less than the minimum number show up, the category will still be validated.

If an event is postponed to a date outside of the weather window, all confirmed riders will be informed by email and can choose to either compete on the new date or cancel their participation. FWT will will refund the registration fee to any rider who decides to cancel due to an event being postponed no matter the reason.

If an event is postponed, the remaining spots taking all cancellations into account, will be filled from the waiting list. If the event is still not full, registration will re-open. If the event gets postponed for a second time, the confirmed riders will have another chance to cancel and to be refunded.

In case an event is postponed more than once, riders who were confirmed for the first time but canceled for the second date will be asked first if they can make the third date. Current seeding list ranking will determine the priority order.

If an event is canceled, all riders who were confirmed will score the following minimum points to get at least some points for the 52 week seeding list:

• SKI MEN: rank 50
• SKI WOMEN & SNOWBOARD MEN: rank 25
• SNOWBOARD WOMEN: rank 20

If the organizer has to cancel the event prior to arrival of the riders due to lack of snow, the event organizer will refund 100% of the insurance fee and 100% of the registration fee.

If on the other hand the organizer has to cancel the event because it could not be held during the weather window due to bad weather / too much wind / heavy snowfall / etc. there will be no insurance nor registration fee refund.

FREERIDE JUNIOR TOUR

No. Riders can compete anywhere in the world regardless if the competition takes place in region 1 or region 2 but can only collect points in their region.

FREERIDE WORLD QUALIFIER        

Yes. Riders can compete and collect points anywhere in the world regardless if the competition takes place in region 1 or region 2.

Since competition spots are limited, the seeding list is used to determine which athletes among all the registered athletes are invited to a competition. The seeding list is formulated by a rider’s best 3 results over the past 52 weeks. Riders who have not competed before or who are ranked low on the seeding list might not get into 3* and 4* events and will have to start collecting points on lower level events (1* and 2*) to move up on the seeding list.

When moving from the junior to the adult circuit, a rider’s current FJT seeding list points from the juniors will become his or her new FWQ seeding list points. This way a junior will be ranked according to his former FJT points on the FWQ seeding list and will be able to register for FWQ events.

The injury period of a rider shall last a maximum of 52 weeks from the date that the injury occurred. During this time, the rider’s status will be “injured”. If a rider does not resume competing within 52 weeks, his/her frozen status will be automatically changed from “injured“ to "recovered".

If a rider does resume competing or declares himself/herself as recovered within the first 52 weeks since the injury was reported, his/her status will be changed from "Injured" to "Recovered" and the rider’s ranking prefix will be changed from " * " to " + ". The rider will continue to be ranked based on his/her frozen points until one of the following conditions applies:

• 52 weeks have passed since the riders status was changed to “recovered”. In this case the rider’s status will be changed to normal (removal of prefix), all frozen points will be dropped and the rider will be ranked based on his/her current points (which will be zero at this point because the rider has no more results)

• The rider has competed in a maximum of five events since he/she recovered. In this case, the rider’s frozen points will be dropped and the rider will be ranked on the seeding list based on his/her current FWQ points (removal of prefix).

• The rider’s current points for the respective FWQ are higher than the frozen points recorded on injury.

During a rider’s period of injury the rider will appear on the seeding list as injured indicated by the prefix " * ". During the period of recovery, the rider will appear on the seeding list as “recovered”, indicated by the prefix " + ".