Verbier, Switzerland – A first full season of the newly unified Swatch Freeride World Tour by The North Face (FWT) came to an end today with jaw-dropping action on the mythical Bec des Rosses face in Verbier, Switzerland. The four Freeride World Tour Champions were crowned at the end of a six-event global series. Thousands of spectators onsite and more than 180,000 viewers on the live webcast watched the show go down in real time.

Only the highest ranked 2013 FWT athletes and a few exclusive wild cards qualified for the steeps of the Bec des Rosses. With a solid base, thanks to great snow conditions all season and the additional fresh snow earlier in the week, the intimidating face was in great condition to provide a world-class venue for the riders.

Men’s Ski

Victory on the Bec des Rosses and the race for the Freeride World Champion title was a true nail biter, playing out with the five last riders of the day. Kevin Guri of France skied a spectacular high speed run landing a big air, which put the Frenchman on the top spot of the day, with a score of 86.33 points. Guri, age 23, was elated taking both his first victory and podium of the year at the prestigious Swatch Xtreme Verbier.

The battle for the overall title kept the fans in suspense until the very last rider out of the gate, Reine Barkered. The solid Swede and 2012 Champion took second with an outstanding run on the “Bec” but it was not enough to hold on to the title. American Drew Tabke, finishing an exceptional season with a sixth place at Verbier, was crowned the new Freeride World Tour Champion.

Tabke, a veteran of freeride competitions, won the season’s first competition in Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada in January, and never let go of the top spot on the overall standings. Tabke’s style of riding could be described as a benchmark for the 2013 season; a very talented skier, capable of mixing freestyle tricks and big mountain skills on the same run with solid hard charging but still very fluid skiing.

“This is what I’ve worked for throughout almost 10 years of competition. Verbier couldn’t be a better place to do it,” said Tabke. “It’s a lot of time we put in. We all dedicate a lot of our lives to this so to have it come around is a big payoff for sure. There is a lot of amazing history in freeriding that has pushed us to this moment and I’m really excited to see what will happen the next few years, too.”

Men’s Snowboard

American snowboarder Ralph Backstrom doubled it down by taking the Swatch Xtreme Verbier 2013 victory and winning the World Champion title with a close to flawless run on the Bec des Rosses. Scoring the high points of 93.67. Backstrom charged down the face right out of the start gate, taking several impressive airs. The battle for first was severe, as several potential champions were putting it all on the line to earn the top spot. French big mountain rider Aurélien Routens’ confidence almost paid off, but he still managed to take second in front of his countryman and defending World Champion Jonathan Charlet in third.

Backstrom, probably the most consistent rider of the field, has been close to the Freeride World Tour title for several years. The talented American was very moved to finally have reached the top spot.

“I’ve got no words. I’m pretty emotional,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of years trying to get this. I’ve been second a few times and really happy to finally take down the whole tour! There have been a few ups and downs this year, first winning in Revelstoke and then quite a variable season, so I’m really stoked to end on a high note here in Verbier.”

Women’s Ski

After her rookie success, taking second at Fieberbrunn-PillerseeTal in Austria, Matilda Rapaport of Sweden received a wildcard to Verbier only two days ago. She continued her streak by dominating the women’s field on the intimidating face, starting the run with an impressive cliff drop, charging down with very solid riding and several big jumps. She took the prestigious Swatch Xtreme Verbier 2013 victory by scoring 84.67 points. The second wild card of the day, Austrian Lorraine Huber, skied a similar line and scored second place with 81.0 points.

Austrian Nadine Wallner could have played it safe in Verbier as she already had secured the World Champion title after her victory at Fieberbrunn-PillerseeTal. But once again she demonstrated consistent, strong skiing, finishing third. Wallner, who qualified for the tour through the Freeride World Qualifier system, was still overwhelmed by her performance.

“It’s hard to believe it. It’s my first year on the tour and I did not expect to win the overall title!” Wallner exclaimed. “I was focusing on each contest. Every competition is special and I was really stoked to ski the Bec des Rosses for the first time in such great conditions!”

Women’s Snowboard

In a tight and very competent field of women snowboarders, Elodie Mouthon of France came out on top on the Bec des Rosses with the high score of 86.33 points. Her fast, aggressive riding paid off, linking several great airs in a fluid line. The local rookie Estelle Ballet earned respect by taking second in front of season favorite Margot Rozies of France, even though both riders had similar impressive runs down the powder covered face.

With the win in Verbier and a total of four podium finishes, Mouthon managed to grab the Freeride World Champion title on her first year on the tour.

“I am really thrilled to both win here today and win the world champion title. It’s my first season on the tour and I am happy with my overall results at each event. It helped me build confidence coming in to the finals today,” Mouthon explained. “I felt good on the face and my goal was to do a fluid but challenging run.”

“The 2013 FWT season was an amazing step in the growth of the freeride movement,” acknowledged Adam Comey, FWT General Manager Americas. “The quality of talent we have witnessed throughout the tour is so evenly matched between the two regions. It is fantastic to see athletes finally competing on a unified world tour for a single world championship. Congratulations to all the athletes for an incredible season and especially to our newly crowned true world champions. We are ecstatic to start working on the 2014 season.”