 This is the Freeride World Tour. The pinnacle of competitive freeriding. Elite skiers and snowboarders in both the women's and men's categories will attempt to conquer the most challenging big mountain faces in Europe. 2021 was a special season, and as usual, there was no shortage of drama. Welcome to Switzerland. Welcome to Verbier, the mecca of freeriding. This is where it all started in 1996, and this year it celebrates the 25th edition of the extreme Verbier, which takes place on the legendary Bektiros. The Bektiros is very special because it is the pinnacle of big mountain competition. The venue doesn't get bigger than that, it doesn't get scarier, and very few people get to ride it every year. It's our hand and come. It's the big one. Knowing just how it was the birthplace of really these freeriding events and what we're all here and what we're all passionate about, it's just a really unique and special experience to be here. The fact that it's the 25th edition is quite a statement for the sport because freeriding has often been considered as a young crazy punk sport in a way, and the fact that there's been already 25 editions of this kind of event shows that it's not just a few loose cannons that are being crazy on the mountain, it shows that it's something that has a legacy now and that is really established. I've grown up watching this since ages away, like I'm just watching it going down. It's always thought it's the craziest thing I've ever seen in my life, and now we're going to do it. This mountain, this is the boss. Especially here in Verbi, the competition is not within the category, it's more competition against yourself and against the Bektiros. I want to meet the guy who decided like, hey look, that's like the gnarliest face and the whole mountain of gnarly faces. Let's have a contest here. Who thought that was a good idea? Happy Lady Crew here. The snowboard women are the first to get helied up to the start, so let's go back and see how the season started. The season started in the microstate of Andorra in the middle of the Pyrenees. Due to the difficulties associated with travel this year, the decision was made to stay at the same location for the first two events in Ordino, Arcalis. In the snowboard women's category, all eyes were on Marianne Hayati. The French woman has dominated the tour for the last three years and has three world titles to prove it. No one has ever won the title four times. Could she be the first? I don't know, it was not about to reach a goal, it was just to have fun, especially with these weird periods. I was like, OK, I will try my best. I want to push my level further. Fresh from her second place at natural selection in Jackson Hole, came back and got her big mountain game face on. She barreled it into the face with the kind of confidence that only three world titles can bring you. She made her way down to the riders left on this very technical section. I was like, OK, the snow is sketchy, it's a spring session, but in the end I was happy to ride. I think the secret is also to be positive all the time. So I was like, OK, don't complain. It's really cool to be there with all your friends. It's sunny, so go for it, go straight and let's see. She kept her line direct and smooth through the midsection of the face and the judges loved seeing full line riding. So Marianne rewarded with a score of 84, yet another first place for the all-dominant French woman. Andorra was the only stop Marianne didn't win last season. But while she was celebrating, the others were clearly struggling. My trip to Andorra was rough. It took me like four days to get out of the United States because I couldn't get my PCR COVID test back in time for me to land in Spain. So I showed up the night before the contest, not in the most proper shape to be ready to compete the next day. However, Erica still managed to finish second ahead of a new face on the tour. Canada's Katie Anderson. Ah, she's amazing. It's so cool to have another North American out here ripping. It's been like kind of the European show for quite a few years. So I'm stoked to have another North American that's like really solid snowboarders. She's got incredible board control and like a really solid person too. Just a week later and they went again. And the Marianne Hayate show continued. I was almost keen to make another run. But in the end, I was really keen also to make the same run faster and stronger. The three-time world champion appeared to be subscribing to the if it ain't broke, don't fix it strategy. The score was not better compared to the last one. But yeah, I tried my best. That's the most important. But only Marianne herself could beat that score. She took her second win of the season. The rookie Katie Anderson went one better than her maiden result and took second ahead of Erica Vickander. The next stop was Fieberbrunn in Austria and there was no sign of Marianne slowing down. In the last four winters of competition on the Vildsee loader face, she's come out on top every time. Fieberbrunn is maybe one of my favorite stops because it's a mix of big mountain and backcountry. And I really like to express myself in this space. A win here in Austria would make it a third in three events in 2021 and deliver Marianne Haerti, her fourth world title with an event to spare. Marianne has proved time and again why she is untouchable in this category. And this line was yet another example of the riding skill that has made her so dominant. It was fun again. Even if the snow conditions were shitty, I really liked the couloir on the top and going fast and it was fun. It was a huge risk in some very, very dangerous snow but Marianne kept it redlined. It was clear that Marianne had set a target that would be asking the rest of the field to step a long, long way out of their comfort zone if they hoped to better her. It made me really stressed because at the same time I really want to see all of my friends going down with a big run and in the end I'm like, I wish to win today. So it's a mix of emotions. It's really fun. Michaela Davis-Meyen was the last to drop the only rider who could stop Marianne Haerti from taking the title. Luckily Michaela didn't hurt herself and Marianne had done it. Three events, three victories and the overall title secured with one event to spare. I mean, she's such an incredible athlete and such an amazing person. I like only have good things to say. I mean, obviously we all want to win but I'm happy when the best person wins of the day and she was the best and she beat us all fair and square. So, you know, props to her because it's amazing what she did. She had written a piece of Freeride World Tour history that day by becoming the first person to win the world title four times. I'm pretty happy, it's crazy. You know, I'm not the best person to be confident about myself and to have another world title it's just so nice, so good. Happy. Now back to Verbier. There is just one run left for the women but it is unquestionably the most challenging. The Bec de Ross is one of the... is the best stage of the world tour. This is why this is the final or so. It's a... this is the definition of Freeride. That's all. With her fourth world title securely tucked into her belt anyone would have forgiven Marion Hayate for taking a foot off the gas here in Verbier but in search of a perfect four wins from four Marion came on to the Bec de Ross and fired up. That might have contributed to that uncharacteristic fall at the top of her run but Marion, a true professional bounce back put that second drop in and started to settle down. My run was not really good on the top you know, I'm a little bit tired at the end of the season but I was really happy to manage the middle of my run I tried to go fast and big and the snow conditions are tricky. There was a compulsory cliff exit which she stomped beautifully and then two hands down on the car on the apron. Her fall at the top of this run would be the single blemish on an otherwise perfect season would it put a dampener on the close of her 2021 season. The young gun Katie Anderson was next and she wasn't in a position to threaten Marion's score but she was locked in a battle with Erika Vikhanda for second place overall. I mean we're good pals so I was really stoked even just to get to ride with Erika I've looked up to her for a long time so yeah I was really just stoked to be on the podium and seeing how she rides and also looking up to Marion as well and yeah just enjoying my time. Erika Vikhanda was the last to drop and the only one left between Katie and a perfect season. At the top I thought it was pretty nice the snow was like decent up there and I took a slightly different line than everybody else so I'm pretty stoked on that it got to a slightly more technical zone if you will and once you got kind of past that one choke the snow is super hard super wind affected and it was again a pure survival mode run I'm not super duper proud of the snowboarding but I stayed on my feet sometimes that's just the name of the game at the podium 61 at 0.67 confirms a perfect season for Marion Hayate 4 wins from 4 she's actually speechless sorry take it in Marion Marion this is your moment to take it in there are some cheers I'm sorry I'm emotional today that's it Katie Anderson in her first season managed to take second in the overall but it was clear that all the riders need to step up their game if they want to halt the charge of Marion Hayate I think this is my the best season ever for me but you know what I'm I'm not proud of my runs I want to push further my scores and I want to push further myself in the first women's ski competition in Andorra Norway's Hedvik vessel came in with a clear goal of becoming this year's tall champion the defending champion from Andorra in 2020 was desperate to start the 2021 season with a win when I look at the face I always try to find a cliff where I can do a flip and I like it when it's a bit kicky because that's what I'm used to from Murgles and having more of a jump kind of feeling I'm not as good at flat takeoffs and doing flips Dodging Rock she found her way to the top of one of the biggest cliffs in the venue even though the landing and everything under it didn't look as good that was not my focus I was focusing on the takeoff and that's it phenomenal control to get that speed checked and then to continue the rest of the run so much salt and pepper of rocks in the run out of that cliff direct, powerful skiing capped with that incredible backflip Hedvik vessel has made a serious statement of intent in the race for the 2021 women's freeride world tour championship it went absolutely to plan for vessel she came, she skied and she claimed victory for the second cup I was a bit nervous but I still had a really cool line planned and I was super excited about it but then when I dropped in as soon as I did my first turn my skis bumped into each other and I hit a rock and then I it was just so hard for me to take down the speed it was sad not to be able to try that run I was super excited about that that's what happens sometimes and in tricky conditions it's hard it's difficult it was quite the opposite story for Verbier Local, Elizabeth Geritzen in Andorra I was really excited about the face had a good run in mind and after my first drop my ski just popped off for no reason really so that was a bit frustrating but looking back now I think this bad luck really pushed me to do a 360 in the second competition Elizabeth Geritzen does not deal in half measures a disappointing first event after she lost her ski on one of the biggest drops of the day ski women were the last category to drop and Elizabeth took it steady through this section I did some thinking about probabilities that my ski would come off for no reason again and I was like that doesn't happen I took a look at my bindings set the din just a little bit higher, not much higher and I just went for it a beautiful right side three a tiny little back slap but taking that kind of risk at the top of the face would be a huge boost with the judges she'd been practicing 360s all week she managed to nail that one I actually learned how to do 360s this year just looking back at the winning runs these past few years I realized there was really something missing in my style so I pushed myself in the beginning of the season I was just like okay I'm going to do a 360 a day every time I go skiing I'm going to do one even if it's shitty conditions and I did that and it really made me confident about it 79.67 for Elizabeth Geritzen and you can see what it means to her I don't think I would have amped myself up to do that 360 so everything happens for a reason I guess Geritzen took the win in the second competition but due to both Geritzen and vessels inconsistencies the overall lead went to France's Julia Willman I chose a line where I started on the steep part so it was a bit like technical it's like fit well with my kind of riding when it's steep and technique it was for a big cliff then it was super hard to manage the speed because the snow was super hard so it was interesting I was like wow I need to be strong on my legs and then I ended up doing a double and then another hit and I was really happy with it because it went all super fluid and super smooth so I was super stoked about that another sick run today really high level in the women's ski category and coming out of France it is Julia Willman my first podium on the tour so it's been a long process for me to arrive here but then I was really happy in the second competition she went for a different line so I chose a line where I could like go fast so I tried to go as fast as I could and then like still like do some jumps and send it and I landed and it was super happy different line, same result with two second places that was wearing the Golden Leaders jersey going into Austria it was cool, I mean I tried to not change my mind because I had the golden beam on my shoulder but definitely it was something like I mean it wasn't my goal of the winter and it kind of became my new goal to be a first so it was like wow it's kind of challenging and then in Fibre Bruin it was like hard for me to find a line the snow was super challenging actually I chose the bad line for the leader's jersey I knew that Fibre Bruin was going to be a bit of a game changer in terms of the title or not all the girls were pretty close there was also a new player joining the game last year's champion Arianna Tricomi of Italy missed the first two events in Andorra I got the chance to film some projects that I've been actually dreaming about for a longer time in my beautiful Dolomite I decided to do that instead but watching the come from the couch was definitely really hard the question was would she be sharp and competition ready the conditions were anything but perfect it was so hard conditions the tracks that was on the hill they froze it was just so firm and hard it was almost like hitting ice balls and when you see a three-time world champion like Tricomi struggling you know it's tricky out there I'm happy about my run unfortunately I kind of crashed but recovered and skied on but obviously that just not the best point the snow was very variable quite hard to ski actually and also after the tracks was actually quite hard to stay on our feet I'm happy about some cliffs that I hit part of the game to crash all good Elizabeth Gerritsen was the next victim the conditions all went well till her first big hit for us there's a bit of low visibility and very variable snow and then I landed I think in what we call a death cookie and I kind of caught my ski and then I tumbled so it was Hedvig's turn and usually she goes for the all or nothing tactic but this one she approached like a future tour champion I chose a more strategic line I went for a more safe line and I did one good hit and then I just took it slow and I wanted to stay on my feet that was super important for me playing it safe did cost to the win but it served the Norwegian well in the overall standings the victory went to Poland Zuzana Wietek not only stepping up to the podium for the first time but going straight to the top spot it was so cool to see Zuzana win good run and a lot of feature in her run that first the feeling of your first win is so special and I'm just so happy for her and happy that you managed to put it down and qualify for next year Hedvig's second place saw her stack enough points to reclaim the leader's jersey for the girls it's super tight with the title and now I I get the document back super cool but it's a high level in the girls this year so it's going to be tight that's cool you need to fight so as the women made their way up to the start in Verbier they all knew the fight was on I probably plan different lines different variations I know a line where I go super big or maybe smaller so I have some options depending on the quality also I'm starting last of the girls so I will know a little bit how it looks and hopefully that will be an advantage Arianna Tricomi had the highest score so far and was looking comfortable in the hot seat next was one of the big title contenders Juliet Willman okay I'm still in the race to win this water but I'm not putting myself in stress mode so I just want to do a good run like a run where I have a lot of pleasure and where I can ski fast and show my skills and then I will see the results Juliet was in full attack mode and her skiing was shouting loud and clear I want this she lined up one of the biggest cliffs on the face and with no hesitation sent it she had come so far and pushed so hard but her hopes for 2021 were gone so now it was the turn of Vervier local and 2019 extreme Vervier winner Elizabeth Gerritsen I was quite unlucky and bad snow maybe bad line choice I don't know so now I'm out of contention for the title but I'm actually quite happy not to have that pressure here on the back at home I'm not skiing for a title I'm just skiing for fun and skiing to show my friends and my family here on this face that was probably a good mindset to start with but her calculations were wrong she still had an admittedly slim but possible chance to take the title I'm not going to lie I had a bit of difficulties with the snow it was very changing it was not as smooth as my run in 2019 but I did a similar line and I stomped all my airs so yeah I'm happy I did what I could with the conditions today the judges were less critical and Elizabeth moved into first place pushing tricome out of the hot seat yeah when the score popped up 88 I was like that's a really high score and I was really happy one woman was left up top Hedwig Vessel didn't need to win a second place finish would secure her her first world tour title snow was super tricky and I just wanted to stand on my feet in the cliff when I just arrived to it looking back that was I guess a bad decision because it wasn't enough for me to take the title without it I don't know anything about math it was not my day it was a bit of a special moment because I didn't even know mathematically that it was still possible for me to take the title so I didn't ride for that today I didn't have that kind of pressure on my shoulder so in that sense maybe it was an unfair race with Hedwig because she knew that she had a thing to play today okay so Elizabeth just won the title with 20 points that's like not now it's time for the men's competition and the riders are checking their lines again at the start of the week conditions were perfect but heavy wind over the weekends dripped all of the fresh snow from the face that does mean we are starting not from the top we are starting from the normally it's the women's start so this time it's men's and women's from the lower start most of the men had already chosen their lines now they needed to find an alternative and quickly back in Andorra the snowboard men's category started with a battle of the young guns I felt I came into this season much more prepared and a bit more experienced so that's why I just paid off in the beginning there Cody Bramwell took second at this event in 2020 in his debut event could he go one better this year that was the question on everyone's lit Bramwell definitely had ambitions he made his way out onto the same cliff and saw Hedwig vessel backflip I had scoped this backflip up top so I kind of did the hardest part already which is like a bit of a risky heavy landing backie because the conditions are pretty hard pack but then I've grown up doing that in Sweden so it's kind of my style of riding so I felt pretty confident in it and then I had this little early pop kind of gap at the end which I was a bit worried about but that worked out pretty nicely a very very big run for the Brit back in the start gate was the younger brother of freeride skier Griffin Moller Blake is the prodigal son of North American freeriding right now he won four of the five four star qualifying events that he entered in 2020 the big question is whether he can now replicate that dominance at the highest level yeah I honestly thought he was going to take me so I was like yeah I was definitely a bit worried but then we were like good friends and we ride all time together and we pretty much scope very similar line like that so we knew if he landed it we'd be like very close to each other just like nudged him on that one he was like in hot seat he was nervous yeah for sure the score came in and Moller took second I was super happy with that that's like one of my main goals this season getting the win so super nice to get it straight out of the way a week later and Blake Moller started first and was ready for redemption I like switched it up a little bit from the first stop I started up higher and I saw this pocket little three I wanted to do real bad he found his way onto this rocky outcrop and managed to snipe a backside 360 into a very tight landing I went back to that same double and then hit the same air Cody hit first comp as well but didn't really like change my line all that much I knew like this the first face check we had for the second comp I was there for like five minutes because I already knew what I wanted to do I didn't want to just overthink it at all so that's kind of how I worked too overthink things and just go and ride like I were to get dropped off somewhere you know a great run but would it be enough to score higher than Cody Bramwell this time or would the Brit make it two out of two I came in I wanted to go for it again and just like try to go for that top spot I messed up like didn't work out sometimes it doesn't work out I guess but like the thing was I crashed in the very the easiest part of my run so I kind of lost focus in the middle I landed my hardest part in the beginning I messed up my second part and then yeah it happened sometimes you just go stay focused the entire time I guess so the rookie Blake Moller took his first win at just the second time of asking I was just really hopeful but it's pretty insane that it came to life so I'm super excited the tour then moved on to Feeberbrunn and Blake Moller was wearing the leader's jersey it was Cody's turn to drop first Feeberbrunn was awesome I was there I had my crash and my win so in Feebrunn I was just really focused on just putting down like a solid run I was kind of just playing a bit smart in Feebrunn with the crusty snow Cody was in survival mode but the tactic paid off and he took the hot seat just stay in your feet just get down that's it and I managed to stay in my feet it wasn't the cleanest but I'm happy I just did Tomahawk or anything guys I'm gonna go next up was Victor de la Rue of France who hadn't distinguished himself in Andorra I was feeling a bit stressed and for some reason I really didn't ride that well and I was not stocked on my runs but then I went to Feeberbrunn and I was like ah forget about the contest just do a run that you would be stocked to do the 2019 world champion is one of those riders looking for a good result here going from start number two the opposite start to Niels Mendek he headed out to the right hand side of the face more shade over here so a better snow quality but less accumulation so lines are harder to come by and you've got to watch out for those sharks Victor set off on this high line into this lip and sent a beautiful 360 way bigger than anything else we'd seen in the category up to this point but he was far from done he was heading straight for the canyon when I look at it for me I'm like it doesn't go it's not possible so this is why I was pretty confused I really looked from a bunch of different angles drone angles, pictures from the side at the top I was like it doesn't go but I don't care the snow is bad I just want to try and in the worst case I would hit the wall it actually went super smooth so I was really happy De La Rue rediscovered the form that delivered in the world in 2019 and a 90.67 is an immense score Blake Moeller was next and he knew he'd need something extraordinary to challenge Victor February was good I had nothing to lose going into it so I figured I wanted to try something that was kind of out of the comfort zone a little bit I like to think it's inside but yeah it didn't work out but I was stoked to just try a trick off that hit it was too perfect to not try a back serve so I had to and so it was Victor De La Rue who took the win I'm super damn stoked to take another victory here I had it like two years ago and this year I was really riding pretty bad like the first two stops so and this one I was just like okay I'm not even sure if my line would work but I just tried we'll see and it worked out and I got the win so it's really giving me a lot of energy for all the rest of the season In the overall, Blake Moeller holds on to the top spot with De La Rue moving ahead of Bramwell into second with three different winners from each event and no consistency beneath them the men's snowboard category is still wide open now it's time to return to the back and the final descents would decide it all it's still like pretty mind blowing with the back to Ross and it's crazy I'm super excited just look at the mountain it's so extreme it's amazing because it started with snowboarders so we're just kind of keeping the culture going this face is just so impressive and so scary it's the best that's why we do it sugar here you still in here? we'll go over I'll see you later I'll see you later see you at the bottom then he committed to the compulsory cliff exit he managed to control the speed and shut it down heading left above a serious cliff band it worked out it kind of had to change my line because I didn't get speed to this one here I wanted to do but I had a plan B if it didn't work out and I managed to stay on my feet till the end so I'm pretty damn happy I couldn't ask for more I actually baffled the judges rewarded Cody a huge 89.67 oh what that's a lit score 89 bro what? it would take something very special to best it if Blake Moller was feeling any pressure dropping into the bet thereos for the first time and bidding to win the free ride world tour title it didn't show in fact popping out of the gate it looked like he couldn't wait to get stuck in he headed straight to some of the steepest and most exposed terrain I kind of want to just point it through that back three doubles on and then I kind of just didn't but it went pretty good maybe should have backied this windlip down here but we learned it would be a nervous wait but 82 would see Blake slot into second all you baby and Cody Bramwell survived one serious challenge freaking amazing season though glad I came the second would come in the shape of this man Victor Dilarou he's so solid and precise on a board regardless of snow quality for this race I'm going to try to take the same approach that I did in Fiberbrunn just nothing too much about the contest but just I have one run I would be happy to ride I don't know if it goes but I just want to go and try and if it goes I think should be good so and if it doesn't go I would have tried at least and I won't feel bad Victor let it run and found a new cross-court line and threw a high-speed three into the same exposed pocket as Blake but rather than attempt to shut it down Victor embraced the mayhem and sent the cliff all the features came out so quick it was pretty steep with pretty compact snow so it really came quick but I pretty much stomped everything just on my 360 did a little slash after kind of but yeah I rode fast I did a nice three about this wizard-like board control and full commitment were rewarded with a 92.67 victory for Victor Dillerou on the Bec de Ross when you see the score coming and you see a 92 I think and yeah first place and that means winning Verbier which is insane and winning the Freire Rotter so it's really awesome and insane and I really didn't expect this to happen this year especially after the really bad beginning of season I've done to win in Verbier like it's really a big thing so Cody Bramwell in third the rookie Blake Moller a dream season to finish in second blocking off the title with a masterful performance on the Bec today your Freire Rot World Champion Bec the Frenchman Victor Dillerou makes it two freeride world tour titles he's catching up with his older brother Xavier slowly and it's so cool because he was never you know within our family where we all super competitors he's never been one of those and we always thought is that really for him and he's been really killing it and really showing some amazing you know combination of skills and he's been rocking basically back to Andorra one last time for the ski men's category and it was a rookie who took the tour by storm yeah I mean I was definitely nervous hiking up there but once I got on top of it I knew what I was doing and I'm confident in those tricks so once it came to game time I was able to dial it in and get it done next in was the 2017 junior world champion and winner of the FWQ in North America in 2020 Ross Tester at his first ever freeride world tour event and he had his foot pinned to the floor from the very start he made his way across to the left hand side of that shoot for a huge 360 and then made his way down into this technical section in the middle of the face Armando Varo had come in here snuck his way through but at this point Ross Tester decides to turn left on a brand new drop it was a flat landing but his legs were up to the challenge he then made his way down to the same drop that we'd seen Isaac Freeland take on but Ross Tester wanted to add a little more flair he went for the backflip into the guts of the shoot and stomped it popped out of the wind lip and it was a very very impressive debut for the man from Scor Valley meant the judges had no choice but to reward him with a 92.33 so a fairytale win for the American in his first ever freeride world tour event I changed my game plan going into the second stop for sure I wanted to take the same line or similar line I guess and kind of change up the tricks and just kind of show more of what I've got I guess I think I was feeling maybe a little too confident and it felt really nice in the air and I came around and spotted and the ground was just right there and I was like oh I'm done next up, Sweden's Christopher Turdell who desperately needed a good result to make up for his poor finish at the first stop of the tour I didn't manage to go that far in my first comp run of the season to maybe only 10 or 15 seconds before my binding popped and it was game over and that's the thing you always know the margins are so small so you try to bar as high as you can and then you take it down just a notch to be on the safe side but yeah that comp didn't work out Desperate to make amends here hasn't rediscovered the devastating form that won him the world championship in 2018 but it feels like he might be getting close to his best again out of his skiing For the second comp I was coming down into the finish area and felt such a relief because I knew it was going to be a pretty good run then you never know how far it's going to go in the ranking and results but ending up on the podium was such a relief and going into a few runs with at least one good result Next to drop was Andrew Pollard aka A-Poll First stop was ok didn't really push it that hard been coming off a shoulder injury and would like to not dislocate it again so I kind of had to put one down on his track and yeah had a good run He was back and he meant business a huge left three to open his account I'm always trying to look for something that's super fun and enjoyable to ski if it's not fun to ski it's not fun to watch and then set himself up for this big finish landing heavy in a bomb hole he was able to hold on and take it into the finish yeah it was pretty cool like I haven't won one of these comps ever before I'm predominantly like a fifth to third play skier you know and pride myself on that consistency so it was fun to kind of turn the dial up a little bit and get that first place spot Rainey Barker had rounded out the podium in third but looking at the overall standings it was another rookie on top Mayel Olivier was the most consistent in the field it was incredible I have no expectation about this one just super excited to jump into the big league with all those legends and it was like pure pleasure and adrenaline so I'm stuck to have done this one and made a good run in his debut event he ended up in second and backed it up with a fourth place at the second stop I knew I was people was looking at me because I didn't put them on the first one but didn't get too nervous and I managed to land like another very cool run I had a very good feeling on this one so both friends in Nando are sick I'm super stuck hey now I recognize you thank you I hope so our snowboarder made a lot of bomb holes in my landing so we'll see in Fiberbrunn it was Rene Bacred who kicked things off and he got everyone hyped with his positive attitude it's funny that I think I had a positive approach there which I did that day but my normal is I'm staying super negative to mess with the minds of the other competitor and then I do my thing anyway I had a good feeling I just want to go for it and started first which I really do I think it's my second time in my career I started first I was like okay let's kick this off with a bang and try to motivate everyone this day he's a huge cliff at Mac 10 got my line exactly the way I wanted it come down to the middle snow got a little tricky but better than expected actually at the very end I had medium sized air into some snow that was extremely challenging and it was just hold on for their life and make it to the finish line overall pretty fun despite that final scare he made it to the finish area with one of the most electrifying runs of 2021 under his belt next it was the turn of Ross Tester the man with the freestyle skills of an ex-games contender and the edge control of an Alpine racer Fieberrun was super fun just like Andorra I found a line that I was really confident in and knew I could have fun with I was looking at all the really gnarly free riding lines that ran well and I knew I could ski that but I was a little bit worried so I just took a little more chill something I could do tricks on and it went well a couple of very playful turns and jumps and then he made his way down onto the exit cliff Tau, cryback and had a go at this one and failed could Ross Tester make it work yes he could huge left side 360 into Tau crybacks Reine and Ross had landed two very different runs but how would they compare it was tough to wait for the result now because now we got the classical big mountain versus more freestyle Ross is such an amazing skier he put on a super solid run and I always knew that that's how you can beat the big mountain line and he did Tester betters bar crib by just one point and the mayor of Stomptown has to vacate the hot seat Christopher Turdell was under pressure here to stick a run and get a solid position to ensure he would advance to Verbier so the question was would he throttle back and aim to guarantee a finish in the middle of the pack or would he give it his all coming from this little bit smaller phase due to low snow year in Andorra we ended up on the Fieberbrunn which is more of a big mountain style phase especially in the upper part so I wanted to skier fast and fluid run more big mountain style he jumped the same cliff as Reine even a bit cleaner and then went full throttle I just wanted to link my upper part with a new future in the end so I wanted to try the canning gap and on a future like that you definitely don't want to come in with too low speed so I think I came in a little bit too fast almost lost balance before the takeoff the takeoff was more of a kick than I expected so I got sent over the canyon and I was actually happy to land on my feet after that one so an emphatic descent that was going for the win would the judges agree no 87 points enough for third just behind Reiner I'm happy to be there it was really surprising honestly I would have hated to be a judge I was watching every guy I was like he's going to take it he's going to take it but I didn't really know what my line looked like from a judge's perspective definitely props to all the riders people ripped it up super fun to watch next to challenge test to score was Carl Regner Ericsson who also went for the big mountain line but mixed it up at the end I got to mix technical skiing with my playful skiing and it went really well I grabbed the third place together with Christopher which is super fun pretty much guaranteed podium at this point so stoked on that despite wearing the golden bid the French rookie Meille Olivier had said that he wasn't feeling the weight of expectation that comes with leading the free ride world tour rankings I tried to keep with my own style it wasn't feeling favorable and I didn't want to eat the main features I tried to find a really nice transfer gap or things like that coming on to one of the most exposed areas of the face he looked for a double between these rocks unfortunately he lent back Ross Tester would be crowned winner of his second event in 2021 came out to have fun and worked out I guess in the overall former tour leader Meille Olivier drops down to fourth, Turdell jumps up to share the second spot with Rainier Barcret and the rookie Ross Tester will ride in the golden bid in Verbia it's going to be interesting I don't like wearing the golden bid because I think it's bad luck I mean I'm stoked to get on the back and go try that out I've always wanted to ski it try and put in some freestyle and good skiing yeah the rookie did it again while the two third place finishers had to find a way to share the podium yeah I sat on Christophe Liddell's shoulders that was quite dangerous actually but Christophe was a strong so yeah it was fun back in Verbia for the final and it would come down to the wire the overall is going to be exciting now it's all going to come down to the finals Ross is in an extremely good position going in with the lead and I think he can stay there if he's first or second in this event if he stumbled the two sweet Barcret and Turdell as well as the rookie Meille Olivier were hot on his heels the Frenchman was the first to drop I tried to go big and unfortunately I took too much speed and I can't manage to take my next feature and I crashed but I'm still happy with me to have tried and not give up and not take a mellow line I could have taken a mellow line and just to be sure to end it top five but competing it's like that so I really wanted to go back on the podium so I try a crash I will be back next year with better results the next to drop was Christopher Turdell world champion in 2018 he's won at almost every stop on the tour at some stage in his career except Verbier I kind of scooped the line yesterday and last night I looked at all pictures and kind of figured it out but it included two really really big drops which made me not sleep very well next one Christopher Turdell three, two, one dropping Christopher opened straight off the bat with a beautiful swooping drop where he changed edges in the air and then he tucked underneath that cliff band and set his path down the fall line another drop he started to flatter the snow conditions with some incredibly smooth skiing another drop and then just as we were getting lulled into a false sense of security it's a left turn into a pocket of snow above a truly monstrous cliff I'm happy that I was able to include a little bit of technical small turns with big drops and a backflip on the end so I'm happy to manage to land a line that included a little bit of everything a 90.67 put Turdell one step closer to that elusive Verbier victory good to be back next up was the most experienced competitor in the field Reine Barcret for me, going into an event like this the ranking has never really mattered I want to win on extreme Verbier so I would approach it exactly the same way as I do with any year so my run was pretty scary I had one thing planned one guy was hitting it before me and it went well for him and I thought ok, I just go for it but I knew I had needed to add something a little extra at the bottom on the top, it was way bigger than I thought and super speed after and I knew I had to end with a backflip even if it was a small one I blamed the freestyle a little bit but I like it and it's super fun to do of course it's not fun to throw away a good run on a tiny little wind lift backflip but it's the small margins now when people ride really well that do it and then you might have to add a trick for the hop seat wow only the tall leader was left to skate enjoy the run try my best yeah, there's only Ross Tessi left he's got it in him it's his to win and to lose so it's been crazy it's been a little bit overwhelming back home it's super low key and we just tread with buddies and now the whole world's eyes on me so I got to hold it down rookie Ross Tessi had his dreams at his fingertips he's leading the free ride world tour and was dropping into the bec de Ross as the last rider of the day could he control the adrenaline and do the unthinkable win the extreme verbier and in the process take the world title he started the line in exactly the same way as Turdell and then headed for the wind lift where undoubtedly he would put his freestyle repertoire to work my run was alright it was nothing that I really planned to do I looked at the face and saw all the features and I watched all the riders go and I ended up just skiing right past all my features and I saw where Leo did a big backflip so I said maybe I'll just do that, that was pretty sick yeah I ended up stomping it so stoked on that backflip oh my god the only thing I saw from his run was that huge backflip so it could have gone anyway, I had no idea yes it would they're talking about an 85.67 which would see the rookie finish just off the podium in fourth and confirm Christopher Turdell as the 2021 freeride world tour champion to win here in Verbier both the extreme Verbier and the overall freeride world tour it really can't get any better on that so in the overall René Barquerid slips to fifth while Carl Regner Ericsson moves up to third Christopher Turdell makes it two world titles now it's time to say goodbye from the 25th anniversary of the Verbier extreme despite all the factors against it in 2021 the freeride world tour has delivered yet another year of spectacular and safe competition join us again in 2022