© Nissan Freeride Engadin St. Mori —  Photo: C. Margot 

Freeride World Tour Ski Men and Women to Battle it out in Snow-Covered Kirkwood, California

The Best Riders on the Best Mountains
in the Ultimate Freeride Competition

PR: Verbier, Switzerland – February 23, 2011 – The top Freeride World Tour 2011 athletes are in the Lake Tahoe area preparing for all-time conditions at this weekend’s North American Freeskiing Championships Kirkwood 2011 by Swatch, The North Face and Sierra Nevada. 

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The North American Freeskiing Championships Kirkwood 2011 by Swatch, The North Face and Sierra Nevada

Freeride World Tour 2011 men and women skiers are tuning their powder boards in preparation for the next event of the tour. The North American Freeskiing Championships Kirkwood 2011 by Swatch, The North Face and Sierra Nevada is scheduled to take place this Saturday, 26 February, at Kirkwood ski station located just south of California’s Lake Tahoe.

Has Henrik Windstedt (SWE) fully recovered from his badly bruised ribs to protect his lead against his closest competitors? Will FWT women ski leader Janette Hargin (SWE) have what it takes to continue her string of five consecutive podium appearances against North America’s best skiers and the top women league of the Freeride World Tour? Clearly, the North AmericanFreeskiing Championships is a key event in the run for the 2011 Freeride World Champion title.

Keep an eye on FreerideWorldTour.com for all the latest info.

The Freeride World Tour is collaborating with the North American Freeskiing Championships, an exciting event featuring the top riders from North America as well as the athletes competing in the Freeride World Tour.

Weather permitting, qualifiers are set to being on Thursday, 24 February with finals scheduled for Saturday, 26 February. The Freeride World Tour athletes are automatically qualified into the finals. The venue for the Kirkwood event is an area called The Cirque, which is a 260-meter face at the top of 2987-meter Thimble Peak. The face is heavily featured with the possibility for cliff drops of all sizes, multiple drops and fun rock hits.

Kirkwood has been getting so much snow recently that on 19 February 2011 Skiinfo.com proclaimed, “Kirkwood has received the most snowfall in the world in the past 7 days” after the resort received almost three meters in one week. This abundance of fresh snow on top of a 445cm base should provide the kind of soft landings that will allow the riders to launch big airs and throw down their best tricks. To see the Freeride World Tour riders’ entry list, click here.

The Freeride World Tour 2011 six stages:

1. Nissan Freeride de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc 2011 by Swatch (FRA) Date: 22 January 2011 – Men / Women – Ski / Snowboard

2. Nissan Freeride Engadin St. Moritz 2011 by Swatch (SUI) Date: 30 January 2011 – Men – Ski / Snowboard

3.a The North Face Masters of Crystal Mountain 2011 by Swatch and PrimaLoft (USA) Date: 7 February 2011 – Men – Snowboard

3.b North American Freeskiing Championships Kirkwood 2011 by Swatch, The North Face and Sierra Nevada (USA) Date: 25 February 2011 – Men / Women – Ski

4. Nissan Russian Adventure Sochi 2011 (RUS) Date: 5 March 2011 – Men – Ski / Snowboard

5. Swatch Big Mountain Fieberbrunn 2011 by Nissan (AUT) Date: 12 March 2011 – Men – Ski / Snowboard

6. Nissan Xtreme Verbier 2011 by Swatch (SUI) Date: 19 March 2011 2011 (Finals) – Men / Women – Ski / Snowboard