Top action at The North Face Frontier

The action at The North Face Frontier event started on Saturday, 29 August with the 2-star Freeride World Qualifier at The Remarkables’ Shadow Basin. The New Zealand’s ski season biggest storm had blessed the area with half a meter of fresh snow, providing uncharacteristic conditions for a freeride competition, particularly on the Southern Hemisphere. 110 skiers and snowboarders didn’t mind and put on a show throughout the day. The only question for non-competitors was, would you want to watch it or rather take advantage of the conditions yourself? As the sun was out, both was definitely a convincing offer.

At the end of the day, Australia’s Lulu Laird took top honors in Ski Women ahead of local skier Ruby Hewitt and Great Britain’s Phoebe Hughes. Laird had an absolute stand-out run and she proved that the level is high these days even at 2-star events. As winner she qualified for the following 4-star contest where she also managed to podium. For the Hewitt family it was a special day, as Ruby’s brother finished third in Ski Men behind fellow kiwi Hamish Henderson in first and Finbar Doig from Ireland in second place.

The main course then followed on Tuesday. A 4-star FWQ, the first competition of the highest caliber for everyone on the hunt for a Freeride World Tour qualification in the 2026/2027 season, took place at The Remarkables’ infamous Alta Chutes. A refresh of 20 cm provided perfect conditions for 70 athletes from 14 different countries. Only visibility could have been better, but that didn’t hold back these skiers and snowboarders, who performed on a level not shy of the highest expectations.

In Ski Women, British veteran India Cairns claimed the top spot with a fast and committed run including a series of nice airs. “The snow has just never been that good in a comp, so you could ski stuff that you wouldn’t have looked at before,” commented Cairns. She was accompanied on the podium by Lulu Laird as second and Mika Imai from Japan in third. Annabelle Francis and Mari Henderson represented New Zealand among the top 5.

Germany’s Mika Rolshoven topped the Men’s Ski field, producing one of the most impressive runs of the day. Sticking to the fall line, Rolshoven charged through a massive triple drop and maintained speed and fluidity throughout his run, before finishing with another huge air off the ‘Hank Time’ rock drop—a feature named after legendary NZ skier Hank Bilous. The inspiration for Mika’s line, however, came from another kiwi skier, reigning FWT champion Ben Richards. Explained Mika: “I saw his run [on Instagram] and thought it was literally exactly the kind of stuff I would like to do,” said Rolshoven. 

18-year-old Mika Rolshoven clearly strives to follow his brother Tiemo’s path to the main stage of the Freeride World Tour and he’s the perfect example of the next wave of young guns in freeride skiing. Mika was followed by four more teenagers in the top ranks: Zebedee Schreiber from the US in second, Switzerland’s Leo Flett in third and local skier Aiden Fitzpatrick in fourth. 34-year-old Coen Bennie-Faull from Australia in fifth proved that more experienced riders still have their chances, too.