WOF 2014#50: Swatch Freeride World Tour 2015 - 20th Anniversary Xtreme Verbier - Part 1

Snowboard & Freeski: A freeriding history!

Freeride World Tour 2015 - 20th Anniversary of the Xtreme Verbier - Part 1

Verbier (Switzerland)

 

2015 is the year of  the 2oth Anniversary of the Xtreme Verbier - and as the legendary face of the Bec de Rosses has always been one of the most spectecular venues for freeriding and also hosts the final of the Freeride World Tour for years now it is time to have a look back!

The idea started sprouting in 1995 in the minds of Nicolas Hale-Woods and Philippe Buttet They wanted to organize the first ever snowboard freeride event in Europe on an extreme mountain face, yet visible for the public to enjoy the show live.

One year later the event was inaugurated in Verbier on the legendary Bec des Rosses in the Swiss Valais region. The Xtreme Verbier was born! In 2004, skiers were invited to compete at the event for the first time.

The competition format was inspired from surf competitions as organized by the ASP World Tour and was an immediate success among the athletes, the spectators, the media, partners and sponsors and gave life to a full world tour where the world’s best riders would compete on different epic mountains in some of the most renowned resorts of the world.