The FWT Surfers Cup is ON!

The Best Freeriders at Switzerland’s Best Wave? FWT celebrates its 15th edition at Alaia Bay with the Surfer’s Cup!

Freeride doesn’t only take place on snowy mountains, and surfing doesn’t only happen in the ocean. On the 24th of March, the Freeride World Tour will host a one-of-a-kind surf event at the Alaïa Bay Wavegarden in Sion, Switzerland – The Surfer’s Cup. A select list of FWT athletes will be joined by special guest surfers in a friendly team-format competition at Alaïa Bay’s state-of-the-art artificial wave.

FWT22 Surfers Cup Program:

• 19:00 - Warm-Up Heat 1
• 19:20 - One-vs-One Battles Heat 1
• 19:40 - Warm-Up Heat 2
• 19:55 - One-vs-One Battles Heat 2
• 20:10 - Warm-Up Heat 3
• 20:40 - One-vs-One Battles Heat 3
• 21:00 - Open public party with Dj Ronfa

Back to the Roots

Like all action sports, the FWT can trace its origins to foundational sports like skateboarding and surfing. Before Nicolas Hale-Woods founded the FWT in 2008 (and the Xtreme Verbier event in 1996) , he was closely involved with professional surfing in Switzerland and abroad. Hale-Woods was integral in the creation of the Swiss Surfing Association, and one of their film projects, Riding the Bec Des Rosses, inspired the creation of the Xtreme Verbier competition, as well as the World Tour which would follow. 

The Alaïa Bay facility is located less than an hour from Verbier in Switzerland’s Upper Rhone Valley. Featuring the renowned Wavegarden technology, it opened in May 2021 and quickly became a premier training facility for landlocked European surfers, as well as a coveted down-day and offseason destination for surfers and freeriders from all over the world.

The Surfers Cup Format

The Surfer’s Cup format calls back to the legendary Skier’s Cup Freeride competitions hosted by FWT from 2011-2016. Two eight-person teams (Europe vs. The World) will face off in three heats of head-to-head matchups. Captains from each team will pick the heat matchups, and a coin toss will decide priority (and the choice between the left- and right-breaking waves).

FWT 2022 Wildcard Lexi Dupont will host the event, helping show a new perspective on the abilities of athletes that are normally only seen on steep snowy mountains, as well as showcasing the impressive quality of surf available at facilities like Alaïa Bay. Full event coverage and the content will be available on Instagram, Facebook and at the home of Freeride, www.freerideworldtour.com