The world's top big-mountain skiers and snowboarders will compete in Mammoth in January as part of the Freeride World Tour, a new circuit that features athletes taking on some of the toughest terrain there is.
The tour will stop in Mammoth Jan. 22-26, according to one of the tour's sponsors, and will begin a four-stop tour that takes the athletes to Sochi, Russia, France and Switzerland.
Steve Klassen, a world-rennowned big-mountain snowboarder who owns Wave Rave Snwoboard Shop in Mammoth, was the driving force in landing the event for Mammoth, the tour's only North American stop. Klassen sits on the newly created Pro Freeriders Board, made up of eight of the most prominent riders in the sport.
The event will feature big-mountain skiing and snowboarding for both men and women.
The Freeriders Board compiled a hypothetical ranking of the 2006/2007 season based on the most important events and selected the 36 best riders according to a points system. These athletes qualify for the Freeride World Tour 2008.
The riders who are ranked lower than 14 (men) and 4 (women) can enter the events of the Freeride World Qualifying Tour. At those events, in Mammoth and Schruns, there will also be a pre-qualification (open), giving This unknown, top-level riders the chance to establish themselves in the freeride hierarchy.
The contestants are judged by a jury, which is trained and certified by the PFB and led by Jean-Yves Michellod (Head Judge: Ski) and Berti Denervaud (Head Judge: Snowboard).
Other events ive heard are gonna be in Russia, and 2 in europe... soo sick finals in mammoth are gonan be heli acsess
