Why The Freeride World Tour Doesn't Have More North American Stops

Competitive freeride skiing is having a moment. Over the past few seasons, the level of talent on the Freeride World Tour (FWT) has skyrocketed, making for one of the best snowsports shows around.

"It's not a hidden thing that freeride skiing is kind of becoming the hottest flavor in comp skiing," said Canadian and FWT competitor Tom Peiffer.

In 2022, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) acquired the FWT and, this summer, made freeride skiing and snowboarding an officially recognized discipline, bolstering the chances of freeride appearing in the Olympics.

Yet, for all the hoopla, competitive freeride skiing at a professional level is almost non-existent in North America. While the International Free Skiers Association (IFSA) continues to host qualifying and junior-level competitions throughout the Americas, the FWT only held one North American stop last winter at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, British Columbia.

The absence is notable. If the FWT isn't in North America running professional-tier freeride competitions, no one is, robbing North American fans of the opportunity to see their favorite skiers shred from the comfort of their home resorts.

"It would definitely be nicer to have," said Peiffer of an expanded North American FWT schedule. "For the whole freeride community in North America, it'd be such a positive impact. There's [North American] qualifying riders who've never even been to or seen a World Tour stop in person."

Peiffer wishes his family and friends had more than one opportunity to watch him ski on the world stage without tuning into a live stream or buying an international flight.

There wasn't always a lack of professional freeride competitions in North America. For over a decade, the now-defunct Freeskiing World Tour operated throughout the U.S. Its roster was primarily North American, as were its venue selections. After an attempt to merge with the FWT didn’t materialize, the FWT purchased the Freeskiing World Tour in 2014 to ensure there weren't multiple competing professional freeride circuits.

The current status quo—few North American FWT events—isn't what Nicolas Hale-Woods wants. He's the CEO of the FWT and, despite the circuit's European roots, believes that the FWT needs to have a stronger North American presence.

"We must be in North America. We want to be in North America," said Hale-Woods. "We need representation in the big markets."

According to Hale-Woods, there's one problem: money. Between competitor accommodations, staff salaries, and live video production on unruly mountain faces, running an FWT event costs between $800,000 and $1.6 million.

"What the World Tour does on a logistical level is unparalleled anywhere else in sports," said Peiffer who, at this past season's Kicking Horse FWT event, served as an announcer. "Setting up satellite comms, live feeds… It's easy to do on a football field, but in the mountains, it's like, a completely different ballgame."

At most of its events—particularly those in Europe—the FWT relies on destinations and resorts to cover around 50% of these costs. Without these partnerships, the FWT couldn't maintain its high production values. However, in North America, Hale-Woods explained that resorts haven't agreed to front as much as their European counterparts.

“Should we find [North American] resorts contributing as much as resorts elsewhere in the world, we could have a second stop in North America,” Hale-Woods said.

At the Kicking Horse event, the accompanying financial partnership only covers about 25% of the FWT's costs. This means other, higher-paying partners like Verbier or Baqueira-Beret effectively subsidize the Kicking Horse competition for the FWT.

A representative from Palisades Tahoe, California, which held two FWT events in the past, said that money wasn't a limiting factor during previous collaborations between the FWT and Palisades.

They called cost-sharing partnerships customary and explained that Palisades helped cover expenses for more recent events held at the resort, like the Stifel Palisades Tahoe World Cup and the U.S. National Freestyle Championships.

However, when Palisades hosted FWT events in 2009 and 2010, the resort contributed less financially than current European FWT partners. "We needed a North American event no matter what," Hale-Woods said. “It was the best option then in terms of venues and support of the resort.”

While Palisades' freeride venues differ from what's available in Europe—they're smaller and less committing—the FWT would work with the resort again in the future if an equitable deal could be struck.

"Generally, venues are shorter in North America than in the Alps, yes. That doesn't mean they're not interesting," Hale-Woods said, citing Jackie Paaso's iconic cliff drop during the 2010 FWT stop at Palisades. "They [the Palisades events] were good."

Despite the apparent financial gridlock, the FWT is endeavoring to host another North American competition and has entered discussions with Alaskan partners and destinations in the hope that they can find a way to balance the checkbooks. These discussions haven't produced anything concrete, but they could lead to an Alaskan stop of the FWT in 2026.

The FIS' recognition of freeride may create more openings. "The inclination worldwide is that it's going to grow the sport. It's going to grow the number of participants," Hale-Woods said.

He posits that the recognition—alongside a possible Olympic freeride event in 2030—should create more events, fans, media attention, and, hopefully, greater interest in FWT stops from North American resorts.

"Is this going to impact Palisades or Kirkwood sending us an email saying we want a World Tour event and we can finance it for 50%? Today, I don't know," Hale-Woods said.

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