The Freeride World Tour (FWT) announced on January 30 that the upcoming Tour Stop in Andorra has been officially canceled. The Ordino Arcalís venue is always heavily anticipated, as the incredible face forces riders to get creative in an exposed environment. Unfortunately, they, too, have suffered from variable conditions this year. The FWT organizers cited insufficient snow conditions and said the snow-pack did not meet their safety standards.
While the resort remains open and conditions in bounds are very skiable, the conditions are just not the same when leaving the resort boundary. “Even though the mountain offered optimal conditions a few weeks ago,” FWT said in a statement, “recent rains and rising temperatures have damaged the off-piste snowpack, making it too dangerous for professional freeriding.” This smart decision might be frustrating, but it’s clearly the right choice that puts rider safety first.
“Ordino Arcalís, Andorra, has delivered some of the best FWT competitions of the last decade. The number of quality mountains, excellent for freeriding, is impressive in this country. Riders, staff and fans are very sad not to be able to come to Andorra this year, and are looking forward to next winter!” – Nicolas Hale-Woods, FWT Founder
The news comes after the crew put on an unconventional and successful stop one of 2024 in Verbier, Switzerland. The original location for stop one was Baqueira Beret, but similar snow conditions forced it to be canceled. Verbier was a big success and held favorable snow conditions. The base was softer, with many riders front punching on their landings. As of right now, there is no plan to reschedule this second stop, as was done with the previous one. The grim truth is that these cancelations will likely become far more normal as the global climate because continuously unpredictable. Stay tuned for FWT updates, and keep your snow prayers to Ullr coming strong! The next FWT Pro Competition will be at Kicking Horse, Canada, with a weather window from February 14-20.
Click here for the FREESKIER recap of the recent FWT ’24 Stop One in Verbier, Switzerland.
