Victor de Le Rue stood in the starting tent atop the Bec de Rosses, 10,574 feet above Verbier, Switzerland, and surveyed the terrain. After some fist bumps, he dropped into the face, with pitches from 45 to 60 degrees, where cliff bands and outcroppings mar the surface like sharks waiting to attack. A place to survive. Instead, he turned it into a playground.
After a quick drop off a narrow outcropping, he surfed through a powder field, approached a snowy ridge, and lept into a backflip with the deftness of a leopard. From there, the dance continued. A backside 360 off a cliff, slashes through wind-whipped snow, and a run-capping drop over an extended rock formation. This is freeride. At once, a demonstration of skill and creativity.
On July 7, the International Olympic Committee announced Freeride skiing and snowboarding’s inclusion in the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps. It’s a long-awaited validation for the discipline’s athletes and proponents, and promises to add an authentic, artistic flair to the Olympic stage.
The Mountain Is the Course: Understanding Freeride
While most skiing and snowboarding competitions take place on groomed courses and obstacles, freeride contests are different. Instead, athletes compete on untouched mountains — like on the Bec de Rosses or above Valdez, Alaska — free to add their personal twist while negotiating the world’s most demanding terrain. Some may take a path across cliffs and drops, demonstrating acrobatic skills, while others might emphasize speed and control through narrow chutes or harrowing pitches. Freeriding is all about freedom.
The competition side of freeride began with the Verbier Extreme in 1996 on the iconic Bec de Rosses face in Verbier, Switzerland, led by founders Phillipe Boutest and Nicholas Hale-Woods. That later grew into the Freeride World Tour (FWT) in 2007, which continues to this day, with athletes competing in venues including Val Thorens, France; Haines, Alaska; and culminating at the Yeti Extreme Verbier.
The Natural Selection Tour (NST) is another freeride competition series that elevates athletes’ creativity to new levels, with occasional man-made obstacles to let imaginations run wild. Founded by Travis Rice, Carter Westfall, Circe Wallace, Liam Griffin, and Jeff Pensiero, the tour features each tour stop as an adventure to bucket-list snow destinations like Revelstoke, BC, and Valdez, Alaska.
But the key is this: snow athletes are free to perform, like a painter on a canvas, interacting with the mountain in their own personal way. Take Liam Rivera’s winning run from the 2026 Verbier Extreme, where he exhibited a calm, controlled style, while floating over cliff bands and threading chutes at mach speed. Or Mikkel Bang dropping into a remote Alaska dreamscape, surfing down spines, spinning off lips, and turning a peak into a skatepark.
At the 2030 Olympics, freeride will offer a creative contrast to the regimented ski and snowboard competitions that focus on stopwatches or scoring rubrics. But perhaps more importantly, it’ll occur on open, untouched mountains, and offer perhaps the truest test of skiing and snowboarding skill.
Why the Olympics Wants Freeride
How did the IOC decide to include freeride in the French Alps? According to the organization, “Freeride has experienced rapid international growth, benefitting from a strong youth fanbase and visually spectacular competition. It uses a natural field of play, which minimises its impact on the Games. Comprising four events, it will provide an Olympic opportunity for 44 athletes (22 women and 22 men) to compete at the Games for the first time. Freeride started in the 1990s to develop as a discipline.”
U.S. Ski & Snowboard President and CEO Sophie Goldschmidt added, “Freeride’s addition to the Olympic program confirms that these athletes belong on the biggest stage in the world. We are proud to build a pathway for the best American freeriders throughout the next four years, and are eager to watch them represent Team USA in 2030.”
No Clock, No Course: How Freeride Is Scored
As the FWT notes, “When it comes to freeriding, we all know that there are different terrains and different ways to express oneself within a terrain.” The sport’s scoring system reflects that, grading athletes on a scale of 0-100 across Line, Control, Technique, Fluidity, and Air and Style. The judging panel consists of at least three certified judges, who execute the rider-approved scoring system.
Scoring Categories for the FIS Freeride World Tour:
Line
This category is what it sounds like: a competitor’s chosen path down the mountain. Criteria include danger and difficulty, and creativity and uniqueness. Does the skier/rider set themselves apart from others, and leave onlookers inspired?
Control
Ideally, competitors demonstrate confidence and control throughout their run, showing the mastery required to ride the world’s most challenging terrain. Deductions occur for falls or riding with hesitation. This category goes hand in hand with riding technique.
Technique
Here, judges decide if control issues happen due to poor technique. But riders who stay in control are allowed their own style or technique without deductions. For example, competitors can lose points while side slipping a section where others arc turns.
Fluidity
This category is tied as much to riding mastery as it is to visual appeal. Runs with multiple stop-and-go moments aren’t fun to watch, and they show a lack of flow and confidence. Top competitors execute runs without hesitation, combining smooth navigation and turns with composed drops and landings.
Air and Style
Here, freeride’s excitement emerges, as airtime lets riders show their drive and style. Using the natural features of mountains provides a greater challenge than manmade obstacles, and competitors must gauge approach, maneuver, and landing while navigating cliffs and 45-degree pitches. Tricks and grabs can increase scores, and poise and fluidity separate the best riders.
The Freeride Community Reacts
Across the freeride community, positive reactions emerged from athletes and organizers, thankful for the sport’s inclusion on the world stage. 2030 represents the culmination of decades of growth, as the discipline continues to attract participants. Here’s what the sport’s leading voices had to say.
Nicholas Hale-Woods
Nicholas Hale-Woods has been at the forefront of the freeride movement since the beginning. He co-founded the Verbier Extreme in 1996 and founded the Freeride World Tour (FWT) in 2007. Raised in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, he learned snowsports early in life and developed a passion for snowboarding in the 1980s. He’ll help lead the coordination of freeride into the 2030 Olympics.
Upon the announcement of Freeride’s inclusion in the 2030 Olympics, Hale-Woods shared on FWT’s Instagram:
“It’s a moment of joy for the entire freeride community, and the result of three decades of commitment and dedication alongside an incredible team. My first thoughts go to the riders, from those who first believed in this discipline and helped build it, to the young athletes who can now dream of an Olympic medal. I think too of the organizers and everyone who has grown this sport over the years, and of all the partners who trusted us throughout the journey.”
Regarding the Olympics being a full-circle moment for the sport, Hale-Woods exclusively told The Manual:
“The Olympic inclusion will feel like a full-circle moment when the 2030 Olympic Freeride competition is a success for all parties. At this stage, the inclusion is a satisfaction, but we have a lot of work in front of us, including the qualification system definition, the Olympic venue preparation, the freeride integration in National Ski Associations, all this keeping the sport athlete-driven, for the core and spirit of the sport to remain. This is a very exciting four years to come!”
Justine Dufour-Lapointe
Canada’s Justine Dufour-Lapointe is the youngest of three freeride-focused sisters, the trio going by the name “3DSL”. She learned to ski on Mont Blanc, close to her Montreal home, where her sisters coached her among an epicenter of freestyle skiing. Justine went on to win Olympic Gold in Moguls in 2014, and Silver in 2018. She then took her skills to the Freeride World Tour, where she earned the 2025 World Championship.
Regarding Freeride’s introduction to the 2030 Olympics, Justine told Freeskier Magazine:
“There are no limits to creativity, and everything is possible, which is what freeride is all about. I also really love that the sport is promoting and valuing creativity over perfection, because I think some sports in the Olympics are always focused on perfect 10 out of 10 scores, and that’s why freeride is so special; it’s not about being perfect.”
Travis Rice
Travis Rice hails from Jackson, Wyoming, where he grew up among the Tetons as the son of a ski patroller. Known for his creative approach — whether riding, competing, or filmmaking — he’s had an illustrious career that continues to this day. Films like The Art of Flight redefined snowboard cinema, and his latest project, the Natural Selection Tour, turns venues like Revelstoke, B.C. and Valdez, Alaska into competitive playgrounds.
Travis exclusively told The Manual:
“I’m cautiously optimistic. If this is done well, everybody wins. More people discover freeride. More events create more opportunities. More young snowboarders and skiers choose this path, which builds a deeper pool of talent for the entire sport and inspires more people to spend quality time immersed in nature. Riders, filmmakers, and events like Natural Selection have helped elevate freeride to the point that it’s gained attention from the Olympics.
“The opportunity now is to preserve what made freeriding worth watching in the first place. The pinnacle of freeride happens on world-class natural terrain, where athletes have the freedom to combine creativity, style, mountain knowledge, and technical ability — and turn that into something unforgettable, where a rider’s contest run could stand up to the ender of a film part.”
Mathilde Gremaud
Winner of the 2026 Olympic Slopestyle competition, Mathilde Gremaud learned to ski at age two near her hometown of Fribourg, Switzerland. As the daughter of ski racers, the sport came naturally, so much so that she was the first female freeskier to land a Switch Double Cork 1440 (backwards takeoff, two off-axis flips, and 1440 degrees of rotation). She holds more than 20 World Cup podium finishes.
Gremaud shared on FWT’s Instagram:
“It’s an exciting moment for freeride. The Olympics are a huge opportunity to showcase the sport to the world and inspire the next generation. At the same time, what makes freeride special is the freedom, creativity, and respect for the mountains. I believe the athletes and we other skiers/fans can embrace this new chapter while staying true to those values!”
2030: Where the Mountain Writes the Script
Olympic snowsports athletes show amazing skills across downhill racing, slopestyle courses, and halfpipes. But there’s always a rigidity to the competition, whether beating the clock or meeting a formula to elevate scores. Small variations in personalities and tricks create some unique moments — like Kaishu Hirano’s method airs or Mikaela Shiffrin’s technical mastery — but by and large, most runs look the same. Freeride changes that.
Now, free to express themselves, athletes can ride a mountain their way, with the mix of skill and creativity that’s been lacking in races and trick-based competitions. The ability to negotiate a 50-degree face, the courage to leap off a cliff band, and the composure to hold it together on open, ungroomed terrain will add an authentic, imaginative aspect to Olympic ski and snowboard competitions.
