The Wild Card: Aymar Navarro

In North America, most of us might recognize Aymar Navarro from his exploits on YouTube or Instagram. For the last few seasons, he has teamed up with a handful of like-minded folks to explore the best skiing and riding South America has to offer. Those journeys have taken him far off the beaten path, and the resulting videos from his summer vacation - bunched together under the title #SouthLines - absolutely never disappoint. There must be something in that rare Chilean air he breathes up there.

Those brief glimpses into his world, and the fiery Spanish personality he exudes - visible in social media correspondence with friends like "DALEEEE!!!" with five fire emojis - are of course only a surface-level interpretation of the fun-loving, hard-charging but extremely calculated mountain goat that is Navarro. For anyone watching the Freeride World Tour, Navarro has proven to be a formidable contender. His penchant for choosing consequential lines with huge exposure and finding sniper landings for big airs cements his character on the Tour. With two solid results under his belt this season, including a top ten result in Hakuba, we're stoked to see what else he has in store. ¡Vamos Aymar!

The Pyrenees

Spain is best known for a few things: bullfighting, tapas, flamenco, and soccer, to name a few. Freeskiing, or mountain sports in general, typically don't appear anywhere on that list. However, quietly tucked away on the Spanish-French border lie some of Europe's most rugged mountains - the Pyrenees. For Navarro, these rocky peaks have been home for most of his life, shaping his view of the vertical world. When he started climbing, Navarro naturally combined these skills with his skiing at a young age. Over the years, he has refined those abilities to take his skiing to new heights, literally. While the Freeride World Tour's competition runs might look gnarly to most, for him, the true challenge arises when he's out skiing big lines with deadly exposure.

Aymar Navarro's skiing can be likened to that of a Formula 1 racer - full gas, with technical precision when it matters. FWT photos.

The Pyrenees offer a lifetime's worth of this type of skiing - you just need to go find it.

From The Local to the World Stage

Growing up in a country that reveres soccer stars like gods, the path to becoming a professional freeskier was never clear for Navarro. Nearly a decade ago, he started competing at local qualifying events, working his way up the rankings, acquiring sponsors, and making a name for himself via youtube and other social media. Looking back at the start of his career, Navarro shares: "It is true that Spain is better known for other things such as football, tennis or the beach and beers, but we have spectacular mountains that many people should know! They have great potential and there are very nice ski resorts such as Baqueira Beret in the Val d'Aran. It is not easy to be Spanish and to get to the Freeride World Tour so we have our own freeride projects. Little by little and with a lot of energy we have been able to make a small hole in this world. But it has not been easy."

Now that he is in the spotlight on the world stage, the stakes are high, but for Navarro, it's all just skiing. "I think all the tour stops have their magical part, some have better sections, others better snow. The truth is that thanks to this great experience on the Tour I have been able to ski in spectacular places with some of the best riders and legends of this sport and that makes you improve and at the same time enjoy all this even more!"

South America

When asked why he prefers South American skiing over anywhere else, Navarro's answer is simple: the comfort and the fact that there is so much more to ski. "We have been doing season in South America for many years," he says, "and we have always felt very comfortable." With a community of great friends - it helps when you speak the language - the terrain becomes more accessible. However, Navarro says, "even if we go for 10 more years we will not finish one percent of the mountains in the Andes!" The comfort is what draws him in, but the expanse and wild nature to these peaks is what keeps him and his friends coming back.

The Future

Eight years of competition at the highest level have certainly left their mark on Navarro. His skiing has progressed immensely, he has relished in the opportunity to travel the world to ski, and the family atmosphere on the Tour is something he looks forward to coming back to every year. However, the commitment required to follow an entire season of the tour leaves little room for anything else. After eight seasons, Navarro reckons this might be his last.

Podium results don't come easy, but skiing on home turf in Andorra is surely an advantage. FWT photos.

What's next? Navarro wants to focus his skiing elsewhere. With projects like #SouthLines proving highly successful, he wants to pursue more filming opportunities, especially if they involve climbing and skiing big mountains all over the world. The draw the South America is irresistable, but there are bigger mountains around the world he has set his eyes on.