Freeride World Tour Showdown in Fieberbrunn

The official event window for the Fieberbrunn Pro is March 5 to 10, but no official competition date has been communicated yet. The weather forecast doesn’t promise any new snow until at least mid of next week, so chances are the event is going down on the weekend with plenty of sunshine and rather high temperatures. Unfortunately riders won’t be treated to lots of powder, but we have seen great contests happening in Fieberbrunn in spring-like conditions before. If anything, the quite low elevation of the Wildseeloder face is an advantage right now, since the avalanche situation remains to be problematic at higher elevations in Austria—the more pronounced cycles of melting and freezing at lower elevations throughout the season should allow for a safe contest in the Skicircus.

Tension is high ahead of the Fieberbrunn Pro, since it is the last contest before a cut is made ahead of the two final FWT stops in 2026. With the perspective of the first Freeride World Tour event happening on the iconic faces of Haines, Alaska in March since 2017, athletes are anxious to book their ticket to AK. Following the cancellation of the Georgia Pro—not just once but twice—the cut will be based on the best two results out of three possible ones for every rider. In case of a tie, the best single result should be used as a tie-breaker (confirmation pending).

In the Ski Women’s category, six athletes will make the trip to Alaska. The current tour leader, rookie Agostina Vietti from Argentina, has already secured her ticket and as it stands is the only rider guaranteed a spot. Justine Dufour-Lapointe, winner in Spain, is almost certain to qualify, but her eighth place in France leaves a shadow of a doubt. Similarly, Sybille Bleanjean—currently third in the tour standings—is likely to qualify based on her sixth place in Spain and second place in France. Another good result in Fieberbrunn would solidify things, of course. On the other side of the list, Lena Kohler, Molly Armanino and Astrid Cheylus almost certainly require a win in Fieberbrunn to keep their chances alive. Of course, all of them are capable of doing so, particularly Astrid Cheylus is a favorite in every freeride competition she enters based on her outstanding performances last season. Inbetween, it is a really tight race for a spot at the FWT finals between five athletes: Zoe Delzoppo, Wynter McBride, Lou Barin, Zuzanna Witych and Jenny Keller. All of them have at least one Top 5 result in their books but definitely need another strong result at the Wildseeloder to solidify their position.

In the Ski Men’s, Ben Richards is the undisputed leader so far, winning all events this season—both FWT stops and the FIS Freeride World Championships—and thus going to the finals for sure. Ross Tester with a fifth and a third place finish as well as Max Hitzig with two fourth places are also guaranteed to make the cut. Behind those, however, it’s a wide open field. With a total of 13 riders booking their flight to AK, predictions are hard to be made. Joey Leonardo, Toby Rafford and WeiTien Ho are looking great with one podium result each so far, but they likely still need a solid second result to make the cut. For all the others on the list down till Valentin Rainer, currently sitting in 16th position of the overall ranking, a qualification is feasible with at least one Top 10 finish already in the books. Another Top 10 result or preferably better is necessary, though, and from what we’ve seen in Baqueira-Beret and Val Thorens earlier this season, those are really hard to achieve in a roster of 22 starters—a good line including some solid tricks and sizable drop without any hiccups are prerequisite. Notable rider on the line: Swedish legend Kristofer Turdell, who probably needs at least a podium finish in Fieberbrunn to continue his run on the 2026 Freeride World Tour. Good Luck Kristofer, the FWT wouldn’t be the same without you!