The grand final of this year’s Freeride World Tour is going to happen this Friday already. The organizers decided to schedule the Xtreme Verbier one day before the original weather window since conditions on the famous Bec des Rosses are currently favorable and the forecast for next week predicts high winds and snowfall with no clear window for a contest. The starting time is set for 10:00 a.m. CET, so in case you are around the area, be sure to come to Verbier to see all the action live, or join the livestream.
Quick News
Watch out: The Xtreme Verbier happens already this Friday!
It came a bit as a surprise today, when the FWT announced that the much anticipated final event of an incredible season will already happen this Friday ahead of the official event dates. However, following the cancellation of the Xtreme Verbier 2023 due to unfavorable weather and later on a dangerous snow pack, the motto is likely “better safe than sorry”. The forecast is good with only light wind and mainly blue skies, so it’s definitely worth overturning your plans for this Friday and heading to Verbier. And what’s more, for the first time since 2018 riders will be able to start from the very top of the legendary Bec des Rosses! It’s only the men, though, who will start from the “Big Bec” while the women will ride the face of the “Petit Bec”. It’s up for debate whether this is a good decision or not, but at least some of the riders will be happy as you can read in our pre-finals interview with Manon Loschi and Max Hitzig.
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Hedvig Wessel looks forward to the final stage of the FWT 2024.
Dom Daher/Freeride World Tour
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And we all look forward to action like this huge cliff drop by Kristofer Turdell in 2021.
Jeremy Bernard/Freeride World Tour
The starting time for the competition on Friday is set at 10:00 a.m. local time and the livestream will start at 9:45. Snowboard Women will drop first followed by Ski Women, both from the well-known Petit Bec—what an understatement—before all eyes will move slightly to the left for the Snowboard Men and then the Ski Men to tackle the main face with more than 500 vertical meters of extreme steepness. It’s going to be a tough fight for the most highly regarded trophy on the FWT, and it’s also going to be an exciting contest for the overall title, particularly in the Ski Women’s where Astrid Cheylus, Hedvig Wessel and Manon Loschi all still have a perfect position to seal the deal. In the ski men’s, it’s a slightly different story since Max Hitzig had a dominant season so far with podium finishes in all four events. Another podium and nobody will be able to surpass Max; but a podium on the Bec is no easy task and Marcus Goguen could still upset the ranking with another win.
So be sure to head to Verbier if you can. If traveling isn’t an option for you this Friday, tune in to the livestream on the official event website with lots of comfy extras like readily available live rankings, or simply watch the stream here:
