Freeride Skiing Takes a Another Step Toward the Olympics With This New Event

This winter, Freeride World Tour fans are getting a bonus event: the FIS Freeride World Championships.

In the tradition of the Alpine racing World Championships, held every two years, the upcoming event is billed as an all-out throwdown to determine the next World Champion of freeride.

It’ll start sometime between February 1 and February 6 at Ordino Arcalís, Andorra, a mountain locale that’s hosted Freeride World Tour events in the past. As with other freeride events, organizers are set to pick the date with the best weather conditions.

Here’s what to know about the FIS Freeride World Championships.

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An Olympic Indicator

This is an inaugural competition separate from the Freeride World Tour. It signals that freeride could become an Olympic event in the future. 

The groundwork for the FIS Freeride World Championships was laid in 2022 when FIS announced that it was buying the Freeride World Tour. 

FIS, or the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, is a multi-national body that governs sports from freestyle skiing to snowboarding. The organization oversees World Cup competitions that serve as qualifiers for the Winter Games.

Two years after FIS bought the Freeride World Tour, it added freeride to its list of officially recognized disciplines, making another move towards the Olympics. The upcoming FIS Freeride World Championships weave freeride even more closely into the Olympic infrastructure.

A recent press release called it “a crucial step on the path to becoming an Olympic sport on the brink of Freeride’s potential Olympic announcement.”

Questions remain, of course. And freeride won’t be an event at the Milano Cortina Games next month.

In another press release, the Freeride World Tour’s CEO, Nicolas Hale-Woods, noted that freeride is “aiming for an inclusion in the 2030 Olympic Games program.”

For now, what’s important is that given the list of invited skiers, the upcoming Championships should be one of the season’s most contested freeride competitions.

Athlete Roster

The FIS Freeride World Championships will have a broader cast of characters than this year’s Freeride World Tour, through several qualifying criteria. 

These are the skiers set to drop in, although the roster may get tweaked.

Who To Watch

Where do you start? The crew includes Freeride World Tour legends, young rookies, and surprise wildcards. We could, for another 1,000 words, profile every skier that has a shot at the Championship title—there isn’t a single dud on the roster.

Still, these are a few (but hardly all) skiers who stand out.

Women

Manon Loschi: The French shredder Manon Loschi was, during her brief time on the Freeride World Tour, always one to watch. She paired hard-charging with tricks, and even attempted a double backflip at the 2024 Yeti Extreme Verbier event. Loschi isn’t competing on the Tour this year, though, so fans will be stoked to see her back in the start gate as a wildcard.

Astrid Cheylus: Another Frenchwoman, Astrid Cheylus, like Loschi, has a flair for tricks and tough lines. Over the past two seasons, she’s placed second and third overall on the Freeride World Tour.

Justine Dufour-Lapointe: The reigning 2025 Freeride World Tour Justine Dufour-Lapointe is, consistently, the one to beat. She draws on her background as a successful mogul Olympian to rip down big mountain faces, with some backflips to boot. If she wins the day, she’ll have another trophy to join her silver and gold Olympic mogul medals.

Men

Ben Richards: So far this season, Ben Richards is on a tear. He’s gone two for two at both of 2026’s Freeride World Tour events, winning with high-speed, unbelievably clean runs.

Kai Jones: A surprising wildcard, Kai Jones is best known for his segments in Teton Gravity Research’s yearly movies. His film unchops are undeniable, but he’s relatively untested as a freeride competitor. The question, then, is whether Jones can translate his skills in a way the judges appreciate. Either way, he’s one of the most exciting additions to the roster.

Toby Rafford: Toby Rafford is quickly solidifying himself as a name to know. While he crashed at the latest Freeride World Tour stop in Val Thorens, his season opener was nothing short of draw-dropping. 

How To Watch the Freeride World Championships

Typically, watching FIS events in Europe involves navigating a confusing network of media providers. This competition, though, will stream on the Freeride World Tour’s website.

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