Editor

A unique mix of the world's foremost freeride skiers and snowboarders have all confirmed their participation in the Freeride World Tour 2010, with the prize purse of no less than $206 200. The athletes will see a new event on the 2010 Tour calendar, the Nissan Freeride de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, with scheduled competition day on January 30.

"The fluidity in the choice of lines, the perfection of technical jumps combined with speed, has pushed freeriding into a new era. Chamonix-Mont-Blanc hosted one of the first European freeride contests in 1994, and we have decided to continue our involvement in freeriding with the second stage of the Freeride World Tour 2010," stated Éric Fournier, Mayor of the mythical freeride mecca of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc.

The World Elite Confirmed to the Freeride World Tour 2010
Professional athletes with a serious commitment to the sport and with different backgrounds such as freestyle, alpine skiing, boarder cross, or filming for important film productions, is pushing the sport of freeriding to even higher levels, promising an eventful season for the Freeride World Tour 2010. A good example is snowboarder Xavier de Le Rue (FRA) - two-time Freeride World Champion (2009, 2008), and four time World Champion in boarder cross (2001-2003, 2007), competing for France at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, parallel to defending his World Champion title in freeride: "Freeride and boarder cross are really complementary; boarder cross develops technicality, speed and stability, which has meant a lot for my freeriding career, and in freeriding the depth of one's mental capacity is probably one of the most exceptional aspects, the mind's total focus when riding a difficult face. "

Riders qualified for first stage of the FWT* (with Freeride World Ranking indicated or wild card/WC):

Ski Men (20) - Click on the names which are highlighted to see profiles
1. Aurelien Ducroz FRA
2. Reine Barkered SWE
3. Sverre Liliequist SWE
4. Matthias Haunholder AUT
5. Henrik Windstedt SWE
6. Thibaud Duchosal FRA
7. Raphy Gillioz SUI
8. Seb Michaud FRA
9. Thomas Diet FRA
10. Kaj Zackrisson SWE
11. Torgrim Vole NOR
12. Griffin Post USA
WC. Stefan Hausl AUT
WC. Adrien Coirier FRA
WC. Richard Permin FRA
WC. JT Holmes USA
WC. Phil Meier SUI
WC. Cody Townsend USA
WC. Tim Dutton USA
WC. Sebastian Hannemann GER
WC. Egor Srokin RUS

Snowboard Men (10)
1. Xavier De Le Rue FRA
3. Max Zipser AUT
4. Matt Annetts USA
6. Mitch Toelderer AUT
7. Flo Orley AUT
8. Will Brommelsiek USA
WC. Eric Themel AUT
WC. Cyril Neri SUI
WC. Niklas Hollsten FIN
WC. Egor Druzhinin RUS

Ski Women (9)
1. Ane Enderud NOR
2. Marja Persson SWE
3. Jess Mc Millan USA
4. Elyse Saugstad USA
WC. Rebecka Eriksson SWE
WC. Caroline Meynet FRA
WC. Janette Hargin SWE
WC. Stina Jakobsson SWE
WC. Crystal Wright USA

Snowboard Women (4)
1. Susan Mol USA
2. Aline Bock GER
WC. Vivian Aasen NOR
WC. Maria Kuzma NZL

*The first stage of the FWT10 for male riders is Nissan Russian Adventure by Swatch in Sochi, Russia, 21 January.
The first stage of the FWT10 for female riders is Nissan Freeride de Chamonix in France, 30 January

17 Freeride World Qualifier Events World Wide
For the 2010 ranking, there are 17 independently organised Freeride World Qualifier events (FWQ) around the globe, all certified by the Pro Freeriders Board, using the same judging and points system as the Freeride World Tour events. The FWQ events allow younger talent and new nationalities to progress in the sport and eventually earn one of the desired slots of the World Tour.

"The Freeride World Qualifier events are great for the development of the sport. Younger talented riders with new style see their chance to advance to the World Tour, pushing the sport to new dimensions," said skier Ane Enderud (NOR), Freeride World Champion 2009, who had a steep progression curve last season, advancing from winner of the FWQ 2008 to winner of the FWT 2009.

The 2010 Freeride World Qualifier Events (FWQ)

31 Mar - 05 Apr 2009: Jasna Adrenalin (SVK)
22-26 Apr 2009: Röldal Freeride Challenge (NOR)
Aug - Sep  2009: Three events in New Zealand, where the overall result counts as one in the FWQ Ranking: The North Face Big Mountain At The Volkl New Zealand Freeski Open, The Remarkables & Treble Cone (NZL), K2 Big Mountain Chill Series, Craigieburn & Mt Olympus (NZL), Export 33 Xtreme, Whakapapa, Mt Ruapehu (NZL)
23-26 Jan 2010: The North Face Masters of Snowboarding, Snowbird, Utah (USA)
5-9 Feb 2010: Freeride de Flaine (FRA)
8-11 Feb 2010: Stimorol Engadinsnow, Silvaplana/St Moritz (SUI)
9-12 Feb 2010: The North Face Masters of Snowboarding, Crystal Mt, Washington (USA)
11-18 Feb 2010: Scott Big Mountain Fieberbrunn (AUT)
                        *Counts as FWT event for female FWT riders
19-23 Feb 2010: Nissan Eldorado Freeride, Vallnord (AND/ESP)
18-22 Feb 2010: Nissan Mystic Freeride, Alagna (ITA)
25-28 Feb 2010: The North Face Masters of Snowboarding Kirkwood, CA (USA)
4-7 Mar 2010: Freeride Battle Slovenia, Kanin (SI)
10-13 Mar 2010: Salomon Extreme Freeride Championship, Taos, New Mexico (USA)
12-17 Mar 2010: Nendaz Freeride (SUI)
16-21 Mar 2010: Giro Jasna Adrenalin, Jasna (SVK)
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Events 2010 but ranking counts for 2011
23-27 Mar 2010: Czech Open Davos (CHE)
14-18 Apr 2010: Röldal Freeride Challenge (NOR)
17-19 May 2010: Scandinavian Big Mountain Championships, Riksgransen (SWE)

The 2010 Freeride World Tour's four stages:

1. NISSAN RUSSIAN ADVENTURE BY SWATCH - SOCHI, RUSSIA
Date : January 21st 2010

2. NISSAN FREERIDE OF CHAMONIX-MONT-BLANC - FRANCE
Date : January 30th 2010

3. NISSAN TRAM FACE - SQUAW VALLEY USA - UNITED STATES
Date : February 27th 2010

4. NISSAN XTREME BY SWATCH - VERBIER, SWITZERLAND
Date : March 20th 2010