The Freeride World Tour Kicks off In Hakuba, Japan This Week
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The conditions have been DEEP in Austria the last few, and the FWT athletes have been getting some last-minute training in.
The wait is finally over. After almost a year of waiting, we finally get to watch some of the best freeride skiers and snowboarders on the planet huck their carcasses on the world stage again. The Freeride World Tour, freeriding’s preeminent competition circuit, returns to Hakuba, Japan this week to kick off the 2019 season.
With an already stacked athlete roster, FWT also just announced two additional wild cards. Local skier Taisuke Kusunoki will join the fray in Japan, and Logan Pehota will make an appearance on his home turf a few weeks at Kicking Horse. Kusunoki won the FWQ Hakuba event two years ago, showcasing his smooth style in bottomless powder and will join fellow wild card Travis Rice and Victor De le Rue in competition in Japan. Young gun Pehota already has three seasons of FWT experience, including a win with one of the highest scores ever recorded at Kicking Horse last year.
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Last season, the Hakuba competition was canceled due to TOO much snow. Imagine that, canceling a ski competition because of snow? Luckily, the event ended up being re-staged a few weeks later in Kicking Horse, and Arianna Tricomi and Ivan Malakhov took wins with impressive lines.
The window in Hakuba is open from January 19-26, so tune in for the live stream and watch the best skiers and snowboarders show off their skills for the first time this season.
