news about the freeride world tour 2013

SWATCH FREERIDE WORLD TOUR BY THE NORTH FACE:

Getting ready for an epic season:

The world’s best big-mountain riders to compete in the new unified world tour

Lausanne, Switzerland / Salt Lake City, USA – October 11, 2012 — A host of new faces join the leading skiers and snowboarders from past season, as the SWATCH FREERIDE WORLD TOUR BY THE NORTH FACE goes into its first season as a globally unified series. The new tour will combine top riders and most champions of last winter’s Swatch Freeride World Tour, Freeskiing World Tour and The North Face Masters of Snowboarding. The line-up will additionally include strong talent emerging from the Freeride World Qualifiers as well as some hotly contended wild cards. (Please read the riders’ comments below)

Watch the SWATCH FREERIDE WORLD TOUR BY THE NORTH FACE 2013 teaser here.

The SWATCH FREERIDE WORLD TOUR BY THE NORTH FACE 2013 will kick off at Revelstoke (CAN), January 7, 2013, and then move on to the first European stops at Courmayeur-Mont-Blanc (ITA) andChamonix-Mont-Blanc (FRA). After the following events at Kirkwood (USA) and Fieberbrunn PillerseeTal(AUT), the qualified riders will prepare for the finals at Verbier (SUI).

The top 12 male skiers from the Freeride World Tour 2012 and Freeskiing World Tour 2012 are automatically qualified. For female skiers, the top five from the Freeride World Tour 2012 and the top three from the Freeskiing World Tour 2012 are eligible to compete. The line-up includes skiers like 2012 Freeride World Tour champion Reine Barkered (SWE), 2012 Freeskiing World Tour champion Josh Daiek (USA), two-time Freeride World Tour champion Aurélien Ducroz (FRA), 2011 Freeskiing World Tour champion Drew Tabke (USA), as well as 2012 Freeride World Tour champion Christine Hargin (SWE) and two-time Freeskiing World Tour champion Angel Collinson (USA). Some tour spots have also been reserved for Wild Cards. There are two types of wild cards – those given to riders committed to follow the whole tour and local organizer wild cards given to riders for a single event. In skiing, one of the wild cards was given to Markus Eder (ITA) who recently shone at the Swatch Skiers Cup at Valle Nevado, Chile.

In the Snowboard division, the top six male riders from the Freeride World Tour 2012 and top four male riders from the Masters of Snowboarding 2012 as well as the top three females from the Freeride World Tour 2012 and the Masters of Snowboarding 2012 are automatically qualified. Confirmed snowboarders include 2012 Freeride World Tour champion Jonathan Charlet (FRA), 2012 Masters of Snowboarding champion Sammy Luebke (USA), three-time Freeride World Tour champion Xavier de Le Rue (FRA) from the Swatch Proteam, as well as Ralph Backstrom (USA), Flo Orley (AUT), and 2012 Masters of Snowboarding champion Shannan Yates (USA).

In addition, several riders in all categories qualified through the Freeride World Qualifiers 2012. Talents who now have the opportunity to prove themselves in the SWATCH FREERIDE WORLD TOUR BY THE NORTH FACE include skiers Wille Lindberg (SWE), Léo Slemett (FRA), and Pia Nic Gundersen (NOR) as well as snowboarders Ludovic Guillot-Diat (FRA), Joel Rouge (SUI), and French sisters Margot and Elodie Mouthon (FRA).

Download the SWATCH FREERIDE WORLD TOUR BY THE NORTH FACE 2013 Pre-Qualified, Invited Athlete List: Men and Women

Drew Tabke (USA), 2nd Freeride World Tour 2012 Ski Men: “I've competed in the sport for nearly a decade and 2013 looks to be the most exciting year yet. I am so stoked the merger between the two tours is finally going down because it means we’ll finally see the best skiers from around the world at the same events. I expect the level of riding at the Freeride World Tour this year to be at the highest it’s ever been because of the incredible athlete roster. I can’t wait to see what countries and riders are dominant this year. I personally have my money on Team America.”

Xavier de Le Rue (FRA), triple Freeride World Tour winner Snowboard Men: I'm really happy to see The North Face getting on board of the Freeride World Tourfor the next few years. I'm sure that along with Swatch and the reunification of both tours, the FWT will reach a well-deserved next level. On a personal level, filming will keep me a bit too busy to follow the whole tour, but I'll be excited to come and ride three of the events of the tour.

 

Flo Orley (AUT), Dritter Freeride World Tour 2012 Snowboard Herren: „Der Schritt zu einer weltweiten Freeride-Tour ist für mich eine logische Entwicklung. Der Zusammenschluss bietet tolle Chancen für die Fahrer. Durch die Verdichtung und Professionalisierung erwarte ich insbesondere für uns Snowboarder einen Sprung beim fahrerischen Niveau sowie für die Zuschauer interessantere und noch spannendere Contests. Der erhöhte Druck wird sich aber auch auf die Athleten auswirken. Professionellere Strukturen werden sich etablieren. Aber ich hoffe, dass der freie Geist der Freeride-Szene trotzdem erhalten bleibt.“

 

SWATCH FREERIDE WORLD TOUR BY THE NORTH FACE 2013

Competition Calendar

1. Swatch Freeride World Tour Revelstoke 2013 by The North Face
Dates: 7 January; Location: Revelstoke (CAN) 
Disciplines: Men's and Women's Ski and Snowboard

2. Swatch Freeride World Tour Courmayeur-Mont-Blanc 2013 by The North Face
Dates: 19 January; Location: Courmayeur-Mont-Blanc (ITA)
Disciplines: Men's Ski and Snowboard

3. Swatch Freeride World Tour Chamonix-Mont-Blanc 2013 by The North Face
Dates: 26 January; Location: Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (FRA)
Disciplines: Men's and Women's Ski and Snowboard 

4. Swatch Freeride World Tour Kirkwood 2013 by The North Face
Dates: 27 February; Location: Kirkwood (USA)
Disciplines: Men's and Women's Ski and Snowboard

5. Swatch Freeride World Tour Fieberbrunn Pillerseetal 2013 by The North Face
Dates: 9 March; Location: Fieberbrunn Pillerseetal (AUT)
Disciplines: Men's and Women's Ski and Snowboard

6. Swatch Verbier Xtreme 2013 by The North Face
Dates: 23 March; Location: Verbier (SUI)
Disciplines: Men's and Women's Ski and Snowboard

Photos: Click here to get a selection of HD pictures

ABOUT SWATCH

Swatch, launched in 1983 by Nicolas G. Hayek, is a leading Swiss watch and jewelry maker and one of the world's most popular brands. The first Swatch watches surprised everyone with their revolutionary concept, creative design and provocative spirit. Today Swatch continues to innovate and surprise with new models, collections and special editions. The brand maintains a strong presence in the world of sports with its big-brand support for snowboarding, free skiing, FMX and surfing, along with Beach Volleyball. Right from the start, Swatch connected with art and artists, and Swatch watches remain a prominent canvas for artists from a broad range of disciplines. www.swatch.com

ABOUT THE NORTH FACE®  

The North Face®, a division of VF Outdoor, Inc., was founded in 1968. Headquartered in San Leandro, California, the company offers the most technically advanced products in the market to accomplished climbers, mountaineers, snow-sport athletes, endurance athletes, and explorers. The company's products are sold in specialty mountaineering, backpacking, running, and snow-sport retailers, premium-sporting goods retailers and major outdoor specialty retail chains. Additional information about The North Face® can be found on the company's website, www.thenorthface.com.

ABOUT ABS® TwinBag for life:

According to avalanche experts, the top priority for people caught up in an avalanche is to avoid burial. A quick tug on the ABS® TwinBag’s activation handle is all it takes to instantly inflate two airbags with a total volume of 170 liters. This extra volume will almost certainly prevent the wearer from being buried. After all, you can only help your companions if you are not buried yourself. The wide bearing surface due to laterally placed TwinBags stabilizes the body and increases the lifting effect precisely in the critical avalanche run-out zone. Activated TwinBags offer complete freedom of movement as well as clear lines of sight. Two separate airbag chambers make the ABS® system twice as reliable. If one airbag is damaged during the descent, the other will remain inflated for a sufficient length of time. The results speak volumes in support of ABS® and the principle of self-rescue based on burial prevention: Of the 262 persons who activated their ABS® avalanche airbag, 97% survived and 84% of those were uninjured.*

* Source: SLF, known and documented avalanche accidents with ABS® avalanche airbags, August 2010.

ABOUT FWT MANAGEMENT

FWT Management SA, based in Lutry/Lausanne-Switzerland, is organizing world-class sports events in mountain resorts and regions since 1996. Founder of “Verbier Xtreme” -iconic event in Freeride skiing & snowboarding -, FWT Management SA has taken the stand-alone Verbier Xtreme event to create Freeride World Tour, Freeride World Qualifying Series, Freeride Junior Series, and a Freeride Skiing Team Competition (Swatch Skiers Cup) with events in Europe, North America, South America and Oceania. For further information, please contact: David Carlier, david@freerideworldtour.com

ABOUT MSI

Mountain Sports International (MSI) is a private company, founded in 1997, to develop and produce action/adventure sports events and programming in North America. MSI founded the Freeskiing World Tour, The North Face Masters, The North Face Park and Pipe Open Series, as well as several other properties and concepts. MSI launched MSI Live in 2009, to provide live HD webcast production, content management, encoding, and satellite uplink & delivery. MSI provides event management services, infrastructure and expertise for high-end brands, including The North Face, Burton, Red Bull, Subaru, UFC, and Sierra Nevada. MSI specializes in matching clients with events for brand penetration into target demographics, developing product identification and loyalty. MSI matches brand and culture, company and credibility, to create sought-after events that help to define the action sports culture.


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