Lausanne, Switzerland – The first season of the Swatch Freeride World Tour by The North  Face (FWT) following its unification with the Freeskiing World Tour and The North Face Masters of Snowboarding will bring world-class skiers and snowboarders together on a global big mountain stage. Included on the roster are highly talented female freeriders who will put on a great show this coming season in FWT competitions and also at Freeride World Qualifier (FWQ) and Freeride Juniors events.

Highly decorated competitors and athletes, these women come from all aspects of snowboarding and skiing. Many have had vast training with national alpine race teams, freestyle and freeride programs from around the world. Women have been featured in big mountain competitions and films for many years. The continued increase of interest amongst women in the sport as well as recent advances in gear specifically designed for and by women have heightened the female playing field.

“It is so cool to have the best athletes from both tours throw down! I am hoping it will help benefit the women with more media coverage and recognition of how strong the women have been skiing the last couple of years,” says overall women’s 2012 Freeskiing World Tour Champion Crystal Wright, of Jackson Hole, Wyo.

Austrian Eva Walkner, who finished 2nd in the 2012 FWT added, “I think the level of women freeskiing has grown enormously over the last couple of years. We’re pushing each other a lot. The girls on the tour are going bigger and faster every year and show a pretty high level of women’s freeskiing. Freeskiing is not a just-for-fun sport anymore. In the past few years, it has become more and more professional on a very high level. For a run at the Freeride World Tour we have to know our line very exactly. And the preparation takes time, we need one or two days for only one run. Everything is very professional.”

This year’s merger has brought top women snowboarders onto the tour to join their freeskiing colleagues.

“This tour has given me the opportunity to travel the world and to test my abilities on some of the toughest venues with snowboarding’s most talented athletes,” said American snowboarder Shannan Yates, who successfully took part in the FWT and Masters of Snowboarding last winter. “The level of competition from the female athletes continues to impress me. I am so thrilled that I get the privilege to ride with some of the most talented women on snow.”

The women and men kick off the 2013 FWT competition season at Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada on Jan. 7. The women’s tour continues on to: Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, France (Jan. 26); Kirkwood, Calif. (Feb. 27); Fieberbrunn-PillerseeTal, Austria (Mar. 9); and concludes at Verbier, Switzerland (Mar. 23).

2013 Swatch Freeride World Tour by The North  Face
Pre-qualified Female Athletes: