Freeride World Tour 2026 Season Overview

Featured Image: Dom Daher, Freeride World Tour

The 2026 Freeride World Tour is nearly upon us. This is not a drill! With Stop One confirmed for this Thursday, January 15, in Baquiera Beret, Spain, it's time to look ahead and see what's coming down the pipeline for freeride's biggest stage.

Schedule + Venues

The locations have remained the same as the 2025 schedule, with one major difference. The Kicking Horse stop, home to the famous Ozone competition face, is no more. Instead, riders will be heading north this March for the YETI Alaska Haines Pro.

The season will start in Spain with the Baquiera Beret Pro, which has a weather window from January 16 - 21. The Baquiera stop, located high in the Pyrenees Mountains, always provides a thrilling start to the season, with the Tuc de Bacivèr face being the venue of choice this season. Variable conditions, combined with steep, rocky terrain, make for a challenging playground.

From there, the crew will head to the Val Thorens Pro in France, with a weather window of January 24 - 29. Last year marked the first time the Tour was in France since 2017. The return to the French Alps was electric, with a storm rolling through the mountains the previous day. Riders will surely be hoping for another pow-filled comp this time around. Young gun Astrid Cheylus was able to claim victory in front of her home crowd last year, and the odds are in her favor for a repeat of last year's success on the Cime Caron face.

February starts in the Caucasus Mountains with the Georgia Pro, a stop that's become a favorite of riders and fans. Incredible runs from Marcus Goguen, Martin Bender and Zuzanna Witych made the comp an overall highlight of the 2025 season. With a weather window from February 22 - 28, it's reasonable to expect deep snow with prevalent avalanche danger, as has been the case in previous years.

The first leg of the 2026 season will finish with the Fieberbrunn Pro in Austria from March 5 - 10. One of the most legendary stops in the Tour's history, Fieberbrunn's Wildseeloder face provides an ecstatic crowd atmosphere and unbeatable terrain. Riders will have to ante up, as this will be their last chance to make the cut before the FWT Finals.

Riders will have their three best scores from the season counted towards qualification for the FWT Finals, which will consist of two stops: the YETI Haines Alaska Pro and the notorious YETI Xtreme Verbier Pro. Only the top 60% of riders will advance. "These Finals present two contrasting big mountain challenges: Alaska’s deep, wild backcountry and Verbier’s steep, technical terrain," the official press release explained.

The FWT held a stop in Alaska from 2015 - 2017, and the deep snow, massive spines and daunting terrain offered up to riders was second to none. With Natural Selection Ski reminding us what's possible in an Alaskan freeride competition last winter, it's hard not to wonder what will be in store for FWT competitors.

The NST Ski comp had a wide variety of snow conditions, with the day starting on less-than-optimal sun-baked crust. In any normal venue, this would be less consequential. But the towering lines of Alaska are far less forgiving. It will be interesting to see how Tour organizers look to minimize these possible weather disruptions.

As always, the season will conclude in Verbier, Switzerland. One of the most famous freeride areas in the world, the Bec des Rosses mountain in Verbier is always a thrilling final stop. The face reaches pitches around 55-60 degrees, making it the steepest competition venue on the tour.

Roster

21 Ski Men and 11 Ski Women have been slated to take the stage this winter on the Tour. Perhaps the most intriguing part is the sheer number of qualified rookies who will be making their debuts. Eight rookies on the men's side and four on the women's side will all be hoping to make a remarkable first impression.

2026 FWT Women's Ski Roster

Justine Dufour-Lapointe (CAN) - Reigning FWT Champion

Jenna Keller (SUI)

Astrid Cheylus (FRA)

Lena Kohler (GER)

Molly Armanino (USA)

Lily Bradley (USA)

Editor's Note: As of 1/13/26, Lily Bradley has withdrawn from the 2026 FWT

Zuzanna Witych (POL)

Lou Barin (FRA) - Rookie

Zoé Delzoppo (FRA) - Rookie

Wynter McBride (USA) - Rookie

Agostina Vietti (ARG) - Rookie

FWT Men's Ski Roster:

Marcus Goguen (CAN) - Reigning FWT Champion

Martin Bender (SUI)

Toby Rafford (USA)

Valentin Rainer (AUT) - 2023 FWT Champion

Ben Richards (NZL)

Ross Tester (USA)

WeiTien Ho (CAN)

Virgile Didier (FRA)

Tiemo Rolshoven (GER)

Abel Moga (SPA)

Oscar Mandin (FRA)

Carl Regner Eriksson (SWE)

Kristofer Turdell (SWE) - 2018 & 2021 FWT Champion

Victor Hale-Woods (SUI) - Rookie

Paul de Pourtalès (SUI) - Rookie

Ugo Troubat (FRA) - Rookie

Fynn Powell (NZL) - Rookie

Kelly Hilleke (USA) - Rookie

Joey Leonardo (USA) - Rookie

Lochlan Harvey (CAN) - Rookie

Jack Kolesch (CAN) - Rookie

The overwhelming amount of talent in this roster is hard to comprehend. Veterans like Trudell, a two-time FWT Champion, or Dufour-Lapointe, fresh off a dominant season, will have to face off with young guns like Kelly Hilleke and Agostina Vietti, who have been making massive waves in IFSA competitions.

It's impossible to say whether these rookies will perform when the noise gets loud but they absolutely have the skills to take on the skiers they've been looking up to for years. Time will tell, but we're excited either way.

Stay tuned as FREESKIER continues to bring you the latest from the 2026 Freeride World Tour.