Latest news with #FWT
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Colorado Ski Resorts Report Third-Busiest Season on Record
Colorado's 2024-2025 ski season was the third busiest on record, with a projected 13.8 million skier visits, according to a preliminary report from Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA).This number, the ski resort industry trade association said in a press release, 'highlights the ongoing enthusiasm for skiing and snowboarding in Colorado.''This season brought a little bit of everything, starting off strong with solid snowfall in November, followed by weather variability mid-season and a snowy spring that kept many ski areas open well into May,' said CSCUSA President and CEO Melanie Mills, in the press release.'Our member resorts did a great job of adapting to changing conditions while offering a welcoming and enjoyable experience for a broad range of visitors,' she noted several event highlights that took place last winter, generating buzz on Colorado's Snowmass hosted the inaugural Snow League, a halfpipe competition and brainchild of Olympian Shaun White. Arapahoe Basin saw two stops of the International Freeskiers and Snowboarders Association (IFSA) Challenger Tour, where skiers competed for a ticket to the Freeride World Tour (FWT). Copper Mountain welcomed X Games Street Style and the USASA National to keep up with the best stories and photos in skiing? Subscribe to the new Powder To The People newsletter for weekly updates. Infrastructure and operational developments drew attention, too. Eldora opened its new Caribou Lodge. The multi-use facility houses Ignite Adaptive Sports, an organization that helps people with disabilities participate in snow sports. Ski Cooper made affordability a priority, launching $45 midweek lift tickets in a market where lift tickets oftentimes cost five times that. 'Across our member resorts, we saw people carving their first turns, reconnecting with annual traditions, and finding their place on the slopes,' said Mills. 'In a chaotic world, skiing remains a meaningful touchstone for so many.'Notably, one ski resort in Colorado, Arapahoe Basin, remains open for the 2024-2025 announcement from CSCUSA follows a nationwide assessment from the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), which found that, based on preliminary data, the 2024-2025 ski season was the second busiest on record across the Ski Resorts Report Third-Busiest Season on Record first appeared on Powder on Jun 6, 2025
Forbes
14-04-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Freeride World Tour Will Return To U.S. In 2026 With Alaska Stop
The FIS Freeride World Tour will return to Alaska in 2026 with the YETI Haines Alaska Pro in March, ... More the first FWT event in Alaska since 2017 Nine years after the last U.S. Freeride World Tour stop, the iconic freeride competition will return to Alaska in March 2026 for the YETI Haines Alaska Pro. Alaska hosted Freeride World Tour (FWT) events for three consecutive years between 2015 and 2017 at the iconic Haines venue, revered in the freeride community (and nicknamed 'the Dream Stop') for its technical spines and abundant powder thanks to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean. Before Alaska, U.S. FWT stops included Kirkwood, California, in 2011, 2013 and 2014; Palisades Tahoe, California, in 2009 and 2010; Crested Butte, Colorado, in 2009; Snowbird, Utah, in 2009; and Mammoth, California, in 2008. The last time FWT held a competition in the U.S. (2017), Americans swept the men's snowboard category and took first in women's snowboard. 'Haines offers some of the most iconic big-mountain lines on the planet, and we can't wait to see the world's top athletes push their limits right here in our backyard,' said Haines Alaska tourism director Rebecca Hylton. The Freeride World Tour competition in Haines, Alaska, in 2016 'Bringing the Tour back to Alaska has been a dream in the making for years,' said Freeride World Tour CEO and founder Nicolas Hale-Woods. 'Haines offers some of the most dramatic and respected terrain in the world—it's the ultimate freeride venue.' Hale-Woods founded FWT in 1996 as the Verbier Extreme, and it ran as a snowboard-only contest until 2004. Now celebrating its 30th anniversary, the Xtreme Verbier on the Bec des Rosses in Switzerland serves as the FWT Finals. It's not that the event has run for 30 years that gives Hale-Woods the greatest satisfaction. It's that he knows it will run for another 30. Hale-Woods and the FWT more broadly have played a monumental role in the sport's growth. Much like surfing and the WSL, freeriding is supported by a pyramid of development programs overseen by FWT, from the FWT Pro circuit to the FWT Challenger, FWT Qualifier and FWT Junior levels. The FWT also collaborates with ski schools to offer freeride programs to riders of all ages at its FWT Academies. But a return to the U.S. isn't the only big news in store for freeride. The sport hopes to make its Olympic debut at the 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps and expand to the 2034 Winter Olympics in Park City, Utah. The inaugural Freeride World Championships in February 2026 are a crucial step in freeride's journey to becoming an Olympic sport, with the events held between May 1, 2024–April 30, 2025 serving as world championships qualifiers. To join the Olympic program, a sport must demonstrate that it has strong participation around the globe. Any new Olympic sport must have gender parity in its athlete quotas. There's no question freeride is on the rise in the U.S., especially among women. There are more than 100 events across the U.S. within the FWT pyramid. Since 2022, women's participation across all FWT divisions has increased by a whopping 93.6 percent. The U.S. is freeride's biggest market in terms of number of participants, partners and resorts organizing events, says Hale-Woods. What's more, it's becoming clear that in ski clubs across the U.S., the freeride division, not alpine, is the largest. Between 2021 and 2024, the overall growth of licensed freeride athletes across the globe increased by 116.35 percent. That makes Hale-Woods optimistic about the sport's continued growth overall but especially in the U.S., as well as the chance for the contiguous U.S. to host a freeride world cup event or world championships ahead of the 2034 Olympics. Hale-Woods and his co-founder, Philippe Buttet, launched the first Verbier Extreme in the winter of 1996—sponsored by a then-expanding brand out of Switzerland by the name of Red Bull, which still lacked wide distribution and therefore provided half its sponsorship fee of $90,000 in cash and half in pallets of the energy drink. Back then, Hale-Woods never imagined freeride could one day be in the Olympics. Then, the Swiss-Brit entrepreneur was just hoping to stage a successful snowboarding event. The Bec des Rosses is a rock-studded and steep venue in the best of conditions, with a vertical of 600m and a 45° to 55° incline, and that first year, snow conditions were terrible. But by a stroke of luck or favor from Mother Nature, a foot of snow blanketed the venue two days before the event, and 30 years later, the rest is history. Today, FWT Management SA serves as a centralized system for freeride, a sport that now has more than 10,000 licensed riders in the world and 250-plus events annually, so that the organization acts more like a sport federation than a private company—including defining rules, organizing an events calendar and generating world rankings. This was attractive to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) when FWT was looking for strategic partners, and FWT is now officially part of FIS but still largely autonomous. An Olympic freeride event will inherently face some of the same challenges as Olympic surfing events, namely that organizers and NBC can't commit to the event being held on one specific day due to numerous factors like weather, safety and, in the case of freeriding, snowfall. Freeride competitions are typically planned to happen within a weeklong weather window to allow for a successful and safe event. But Hale-Woods has been impressed, in his conversations with the committees for French Alps 2030 and Salt Lake City 2034, by how much Olympic organizers are willing to be creative and flexible in their approach to the sport. 'You don't need a lot of infrastructure and resources to organize a freeride competition,' Hale-Woods said. 'If you have snow and a mountain, even without lifts or groomers or artificial snow, you can hold a freeride comp. You need three judges that can see the venue, you need a starting point and a finish point and you have your stadium basically. This means competitions can take place in Turkey, in Lebanon, in Argentina, in China, everywhere.' 'There is a global freeride community that is excited about the sport's future,' he added. That community eagerly awaits a decision on the sport's potential Olympic designation this summer.
BBC News
31-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Life on the edge - GB freerider Bramwell chases Olympic dream
As Cody Bramwell balanced on the summit of the Kakhiani mountain face in Georgia, it was not just the edge of his snowboard that was teetering over the precipice - his life's dream was 30-year-old feared this could be his last chance to make it back to the top of his chosen sport of freeriding, after a season out with injury and subsequent poor form had put the brakes on a promising plans taking shape to include the daredevil discipline in the Winter Olympics in 2030, he knew this would be the perfect time to make his mark in a sport that rewards those who take the biggest risks. Until recently, Bramwell had been one of the rising stars of freeriding - which combines the thrills and spills of freestyle skiing and snowboarding with the freedom of off-piste riding, with competitors judged on the tricks they pull and the difficulty of the route they take down a sheer, rocky for the Swedish-born snowboarder, who has an English father and has chosen to compete for Great Britain, his career now looked to be fading fast. After being given a wildcard to compete this season on the Freeride World Tour (FWT), Bramwell crashed out of the opening three events and was facing relegation from the top-tier as he prepared to "drop in" for his fourth run in Georgia."I was so down and disappointed and kind of thought 'oh well, my career is over I guess'," he said. "It was going to be so hard to make it back from last place. So I just decided to go in, have fun and enjoy it, as this might be one of my last competitions." From fears of missing out, to winning the biggest prize Bramwell was bottom of the overall standings with two events of the regular season remaining. Only the top 60% of the field would retain their pro licence for the 2025-26 season and make it through to the FWT final in the Swiss resort of claiming successive overall third-place finishes in 2021 and 2022, before missing the 2023 campaign with a broken ankle, he looked set to lose his place in the FWT top tier for what promises to be a transformative year for the sport. The tour is joining forces with the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), which runs the World Cup programmes in alpine skiing, as well as freestyle skiing and planned for 2026 include the first Freeriding World Championships, while an application will be submitted to the International Olympic Committee today (Monday, 31 March) to request inclusion in the 2030 Winter Games in France. Bramwell faced the prospect of missing out on the wealth of opportunities about to open up to the top riders, but he still had one more chance to redeem himself - and this time his stars aligned. Throwing caution to the wind, he aced his run in Georgia to claim just the second win of his career and first in five years. A second-placed finish in the next event in Austria saw him jump to third place in the overall standings and qualify for the tour final. Even better was to come in the sport's spiritual home of Verbier, where Bramwell produced a jaw-dropping run to win FWT's blue-riband event. "I guess I just earned so much confidence from that win in Georgia," he explained. "Every time I am up at the start I am asking myself 'what am I doing here?'."Standing at the start gate is stressful, but as soon as you drop in I am like 'ok, this is what I love to do'."But for the final, I was the least nervous, I would say, because I had already saved my snowboarding career for at least another 12 months." 'To be an Olympian would be the craziest dream' With the shackles off, Bramwell began his descent of Verbier's Bec des Rosses with an audacious back flip over an exposed rocky outcrop, then navigated a breakneck passage through a narrow gully, hurtling through a cascading shower of falling snow before ending with a soaring 360-degree jump. Judges score each competitor on the difficulty of the line they choose down the mountain, the fluidity, control and technique shown in their run and the style of their jumps, as well as the amount of time they spend in the claimed victory in Verbier with an impressive score of 92.67 out of 100, and moved from rock bottom after three events to finish the season in second place overall. "Winning the whole tour would have been amazing, but at least now we have some more chances," added Bramwell. "The Xtreme Verbier is the most legendary freeride competition, so to win that for the first time is the biggest dream ever."The Briton is now looking forward to a much brighter future, and the potential to one day step on to an Olympic podium. That possibility is by no means assured, but FIS told BBC Sport that it was finalising documents to put forward freeride as an Olympic discipline for the 2030 Winter Games, with the International Olympic Committee due to make a decision in December. FIS secretary general Michel Vion said: "From FIS' standpoint, freeride clearly meets all the evaluation criteria, including a strong position on promoting sustainability and environmental responsibility. Freeride is ready to bring value to the Olympic movement."Bramwell added: "To be an Olympian would be the craziest dream ever, that would be so cool. "My goal is the Olympics, but there is a lot going on in this sport and I just want to be along for the ride."
Filipino Times
28-01-2025
- Filipino Times
From the UAE to the World: Meet Kach Medina Umandap, the first Filipina who proved you can travel the world with just a PH passport
Kach Medina Umandap, a 36-year-old Filipina digital nomad, has made history as the first and youngest Filipino to travel to all 193 United Nations-recognized countries using solely a Philippine passport. Umandap completed her extraordinary journey on January 6, 2025, with her final stop in Sudan, overcoming years of challenges and restrictions associated with traveling on a low-passport-index nationality. A UAE-based overseas Filipino worker (OFW), Umandap divides her time between the Philippines and Dubai. Her career as a digital nomad and travel blogger has enabled her to earn a living while pursuing her dream of traveling the world. Through her work, she has documented her experiences, inspiring others to break from conventional travel norms and embrace a nomadic lifestyle. Umandap's journey was announced by the global community of Filipino World Travelers (FWT), which celebrates Filipinos breaking barriers in international travel. Drawing inspiration from Filipino-Americans Odette Ricasa, aged 79, and Luisa Yu, aged 80, the only other Filipinos to have traveled all United Nations countries, Umandap's accomplishment stands out due to her use of a Philippine passport solely. Umandap holds no dual citizenship, is not a permanent resident of any other country, and, as a dedicated OFW, relies solely on her Philippine passport to navigate her travels. This makes her the first and youngest Filipino to achieve this milestone using only a Philippine passport and arguably the first woman from a developing country with a low passport index to complete such a monumental task. According to NomadMania, a website that tracks travel accomplishments, there are fewer than 500 individuals worldwide who have achieved the feat of visiting all 193 UN countries. In 2024, Umandap visited 26 African countries, saving Sudan as her final destination due to the country's ongoing civil war. By reaching Port Sudan in early 2025, Umandap became one of the first tourists to visit the region since the unrest, offering a glimmer of hope for the revival of Sudan's tourism industry. Umandap returned from her trip and arrived in Cebu on January 13, 2025, and celebrated this remarkable achievement in the Philippines.
Filipino Times
27-01-2025
- Filipino Times
UAE-based Filipina digital nomad Kach Medina Umandap completes historic journey to all UN countries using solely a Philippine passport
Kach Medina Umandap, a 36-year-old Filipina digital nomad, has made history as the first and youngest Filipino to travel to all 193 United Nations-recognized countries using solely a Philippine passport. Umandap completed her extraordinary journey on January 6, 2025, with her final stop in Sudan, overcoming years of challenges and restrictions associated with traveling on a low-passport-index nationality. A UAE-based overseas Filipino worker (OFW), Umandap divides her time between the Philippines and Dubai. Her career as a digital nomad and travel blogger has enabled her to earn a living while pursuing her dream of traveling the world. Through her work, she has documented her experiences, inspiring others to break from conventional travel norms and embrace a nomadic lifestyle. Umandap's journey was announced by the global community of Filipino World Travelers (FWT), which celebrates Filipinos breaking barriers in international travel. Drawing inspiration from Filipino-Americans Odette Ricasa, aged 79, and Luisa Yu, aged 80, the only other Filipinos to have traveled all United Nations countries, Umandap's accomplishment stands out due to her use of a Philippine passport solely. Umandap holds no dual citizenship, is not a permanent resident of any other country, and, as a dedicated OFW, relies solely on her Philippine passport to navigate her travels. This makes her the first and youngest Filipino to achieve this milestone using only a Philippine passport and arguably the first woman from a developing country with a low passport index to complete such a monumental task. According to NomadMania, a website that tracks travel accomplishments, there are fewer than 500 individuals worldwide who have achieved the feat of visiting all 193 UN countries. In 2024, Umandap visited 26 African countries, saving Sudan as her final destination due to the country's ongoing civil war. By reaching Port Sudan in early 2025, Umandap became one of the first tourists to visit the region since the unrest, offering a glimmer of hope for the revival of Sudan's tourism industry. Umandap returned from her trip and arrived in Cebu on January 13, 2025, and celebrated this remarkable achievement in the Philippines.
