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Following the first several events of the season, the women’s Freeride World Tour is heating up nicely with Janette Hargin (SWE), a former Olympic ski racer, leading the skiers’ ranking, and several wild card snowboarders, including freestyle icon Anne-Flore Marxer (FRA/SUI), all having a shot at the Freeride World Champion title. 

Ski Women

As the 2011 Freeride World Tour (FWT) season progresses the women’s ski ranking is taking shape as Janette Hargin (SWE) is beginning to take a commanding lead. Hargin has impressed everyone by transitioning from her career as a World Cup ski racer to taking a podium spot in each of the last five FWT/FWQ contests she entered, including three first places. Hargin leads the overall FWT Ski Women ranking with 4800 points.

Following Hargin is Janina Kuzma (NZL) with 3650 points. Kuzma has also appeared regularly on the podium this season except for an atypical seventh place finish at the Big Mountain Hochfügen in Austria, which is dragging her down in the rankings. Eva Walkner (AUT) follows closely with 3340 points after competing in only three events.

Janette Hargin comments: “I had a great start to the season, I’m super happy and I am so motivated for the upcoming events. With the new format for the female skiers it is really open and there are so many girls who have had the chance to compete. There are a lot more than last season and it’s super interesting and a lot of fun to be involved. For me, I want to continue to ski consistently but I also want to step it up with challenging lines, bigger cliff jumps, and just push everything a bit more.”

The next event for FWT women and men skiers is the North American Freeskiing Championships Kirkwood 2011 by Swatch, The North Face and Sierra Nevada (USA) on 25 February 2011.

Snowboard Women

The women’s snowboard rankings have been especially exciting to follow this season with three wild card riders in the top three positions at this point. At the head of the field in 2011 is newcomer Liz Kristoferitsch (AUT) who has blasted onto the 2011 tour with two wins and a second place out of four events for a total of 4250 points.

Liz Kristoferitsch states: “This season has been like a dream so far. Now I will concentrate one-hundred percent on the FWT so I just quit my job to have more time. My aim is to make it into the finals at Verbier.” Kristoferitsch added, “It was a good decision for the FWT to open up the competitions and give more women the chance to compete. One can clearly see that this has given a fresh/good input to the tour and it is more interesting now for upcoming riders. In my opinion it will help push the limits of women´s freeriding.”

Also in her first season on the tour, Ursula Wohlschlager (AUT) is in second place with 3490 points after competing in five events. In third place with 3250 points after competing in only two stages is freestyle champion Anne-Flore Marxer (FRA/SUI), who is now showing her skills on the big mountain scene with amazing results. After winning the Nissan Freeride de Chamonix Mont-Blanc 2011 by Swatch as a wildcard, Marxer has decided to compete on the full tour, which guarantees a dramatic run-up to the final event in Verbier, Switzerland.

Anne-Flore Marxer:“My plan for this winter was to shoot and film as much as possible, but after winning in Cham, I decided I should give it a shot and see how I could do on the whole tour. The atmosphere with the other riders is really fun, and they helped me out big time in Hochfügen by lending me all the gear I needed to compete after my boardbag didn't arrive in time at the airport.”

Will 2010 Freeride World Champion Aline Bock (GER) who is currently in fourth place, be able to regain her winning form and fight her way back to defend her title? Or will the rookies continue to hold their lead? The one thing that’s for sure is the battle for the three qualifying spots and an epic showdown on the Bec des Rosses in Verbier, Switzerland is far from over.

The next event for women snowboarders will be The North Face Masters of Snowboarding 2011 by Swatch, Kirkwood (USA) on 5 March 2011.

Women’s Main Events 2011

1. La Clusaz Radikal Mountain (FRA)

Date: 16 January 2011

2. Nissan Freeride de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc 2011 by Swatch (FRA)

Date: 22 January 2011

3. Big Mountain Hochfügen (AUT)

Date: 5 February 2011

4a. The North American Freeskiing Championships Kirkwood 2011 by Swatch, The North Face and Sierra Nevada (USA)

Date: 25 February 2011 - SKI ONLY

4b. The North Face Masters of Snowboarding 2011 by Swatch, Kirkwood (USA)

Date: 5 March 2011 - SNOWBOARD ONLY

5. Salomon Extreme Freeride Championship, Taos, New Mexico, (USA)

Date: 5 March 2011 - SKI ONLY

6. Nendaz Freeride (SUI)

Date: 12 March 2011

7. Nissan Xtreme Verbier 2011 by Swatch (SUI)

Date: 19 March 2011 - FINAL for qualified riders

8. Röldal Freeride (NOR)

Date: 30 April 2011