Freeride World Tour Update
NEWSLETTER
Watch the teaser onwww.freerideworldtour.com
Launch of the secondFreerideWorld Tour
Sochi – Squaw ValleyUSA- Tignes – Verbier
3-OCT-2008
Four locations around the world have been selected for the second edition of the Freeride World Tour. On top of it, qualification events have joined as Freeride World Qualifier events making the Tour even more attractive, with more events and more riders. The planet’s top freeride skiers and snowboarders will start in Sochi with theNissan Russian Adventure2009 and then travel to the USA,FranceandSwitzerlandto prove their skills on some of the world’s most challenging faces. The Freeride World Tour has a prize purse of $250,000, the highest sum ever to be paid in ski or snowboard freeride contests.
On March 15, 2008, the first ever edition of the Freeride World Tour (FWT) was completed after five successful events around the globe, finishing with the prestigious Nissan O’Neill Xtreme inVerbier, Switzerland. Elyse Saugstad (USA) and Henrik Windstedt (SWE) in skiing, Ruth Leisibach (SUI) and Xavier de le Rue (FRA) in snowboarding became the first Freeride World Champions in history.
The Freeride World Tour is on for the second edition. The world best professional freeriders are backon the Tour and have all confirmed their participation. A number of 40 male and female riders pluswild cardsare invited to the first three contests: Nissan Russian Adventure in Sochi (Russia), Nissan Tram Face in Squaw Valley (USA), and Nissan Freeridein Tignes (France). The final contest will take place in Switzerland withthe Nissan Xtreme- Verbier 09, on the gruelling north face of the Bec des Rosses, one of the most challenging descents in the world of freeriding.
“It is great to see that the Tour will continue to its second year with all the top riders of last years edition present,said Swedish skier Henrik Windstedt, the sensational FreerideWorld Tour Champion2008.Wi
th the high level of the athletes, the standard of the riding will if possible be even greater than last year. The Tour will also develop and grow to an even higher quality event, which is just great for the future of this sport”, Windstedt further commented.
Founder and organiser Nicolas Hale-Woods (SUI) is very pleased with the progression of the Freeride World Tour to its second edition.The fact that 100% of the top ranked riders from last year have confirmed their participation for this year is really a measurement of success for the Freeride World Tour. We feel that the progression of the sport is strong. With the extensive support of our main partner Nissan, new partners joining in and top resorts like Sochi, Squaw Valley USA, Tignes and Verbier hosting our contests, we are attracting more and more attention of the public, the media and the industry.
Jean-Pierre Diernaz, General Manager of Nissans Marketing Communications in Europe said,As we prepare for the second year of Nissans commitment to the Freeride World Tour acrossEuropeandNorth America, we are very excited by the addition of new Freeride World Qualifier events in countries including Italy,SlovakiaandNorway. This will allow more athletes than ever before the opportunity to qualify for the four Nissan sponsored Tour events. Through these, we hope that the Freeride World Tour will uncover the next generation of male and female international skiers and snowboarders.
In order to allow freeriderswho are notqualified for the Freeride World Tour to participate and score points, the Pro Freeriders Board elected existing international events to be part of the Freeride World Qualifier (FWQ). The FWQ is a series of independently organised events around the world. Riders participating in those events collect points in the Freeride World Ranking (FWR), a unique ranking list for both FWT and FWQ events. Riders from the Freeride World Tour and the Qualifier will therefore climb up and down the ranking list throughout the season. Finally the three best results will count to score the 2009 Freeride World Champions who will be crowned in Verbier after the Xtreme.
Visit us atwww.freerideworldtour.com
The four events of the Freeride World Tour 2009 are:
1. NISSAN RUSSIANADVENTURE – SOCHI, RUSSIA
Dates: 20-25 JAN 2009
Contest day: Wednesday 21 January,reserve days: 20-25 JAN 2009
40 riders qualified + wild cards:
- 15 males: 10 best of FWT08 + 4 best of FWQ08 + 1 FWQ09 sister event* winner + wild cards
- 5 females: 2 best of FWT08 + 2 best of FWQ08 + 1 FWQ09 sister event* winner + wild cards
2. NISSAN TRAM FACE – SQUAW VALLEY USA
Dates: 27 FEB-05 MAR 2009
Contest day: Saturday 28 February, reserve days: 27 FEB-05 MAR
40 riders qualified + wild cards:
- 15 males: 10 best of FWT08 + 4 best of FWQ08 + 1 FWQ09 sister event* winner + wild cards
- 5 females: 2 best of FWT08 + 2 best of FWQ08 + 1 FWQ09 sister event* winner + wild cards
3. NISSAN FREERIDE DE TIGNES, FRANCE
Dates: 8-14 March 2009
Contest day: Monday 9 March, reserve days: 8-14 MAR
40 riders qualified + wild cards:
- 15 males: 10 best of FWT08 + 4 best of FWQ08 + 1 FWQ09 sister event* winner + wild cards
- 5 females: 2 best of FWT08 + 2 best of FWQ08 + 1 FWQ09 sister event* winner + wild cards
4. NISSAN XTREME- VERBIER 09, SWITZERLAND
Dates: 20-29 March 2009
Contest day: Saturday 21 March, reserve days: 20-29 March
22 riders qualified + wild cards:
- 8 best males on the FWR09 + wild cards
-3 best females on the FWR09 + wild cards
The final entry list for the Nissan Xtreme – Verbier 09 will be announced at 4pm CET the day of the Nissan Freeride de Tignes
* Four of the FWQ events are called sister events and are directly linked to a FWT contest. The winner of each category of a sister event is automatically qualified for the FWT contest to which it is linked.
Confirmed Freeride World Qualifier (FWQ) events are:
(additionnal events to be confirmed by October 15)
THE NORTH FACE MASTERS OF SNOWBOARDING -SNOWBIRD (USA), 30 January-1 February – Freeride World Qualifier, sister events of the Nissan Tram Face Squaw Valley (USA)
SPYDER BIG MOUNTAIN FIEBERBRUNN(AUT), 5-15 February 2009 – Freeride World Qualifier, sister event the Nissan Freeride de Tignes (FRA)
THE NORTH FACE MASTERSOF SNOWBOARDING – CRESTED BUTTE (USA),13-15 February – Freeride World Qualifier,sister events of the Nissan Tram Face Squaw Valley (USA)
WINTER MYSTICXPERIENCE(ITA),19-22 February 2009 – Freeride World Qualifier
THE NORTH FACE MASTERS OF SNOWBOARDING – KIRKWOOD(USA),6-8 March – Freeride World Qualifier
NENDAZ FREERIDE(SUI), 13-18 March 2009 – Freeride World Qualifier, sister event of the Nissan Xtreme Verbier 09 (SUI)
JASNA ADRENALIN(SK), 31 March-5 April 2009 – Freeride World Qualifier
RLDAL FREERIDE CHALLENGE(NOR), 22-26 April 2009 – Freeride World Qualifier, sister event of the Nissan Russian Adventure – Sochi 2010
LIST OF QUALIFIED AND CONFIRMED RIDERS FOR THE FIRST FWT EVENT IN SOCHI ATTACHED
Nissan are proud to be the founding partner of the Freeride World Tour, forming a key pillar in Nissans Sports Adventure programme which aims to support and promoteadventure sportsand an active outdoor lifestyle throughworld class events, media properties and integrated communications.
The Nissan Sports Adventure programme encompasses the NissanUCI Mountain Bike World Cup,UCI World Championships, the Nissan Outdoor Games and theNissan QashqaiChallenge. Nissan Sports Adventure combines the spirit of adventure with the controlled elements and skills of more traditional sports within the context of challenging and ever evolving environments. This sports adventure ethos reflects Nissans passion for adventure, independence and continuous achievement.
For more information on Nissans Sports Adventure programme please visit:www.nissan-sportsadventure.com
Visit us atwww.freerideworldtour.com
The partners of the Freeride World Tour 2009 events are:
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