Samuel Anthamatten, Aurelien Ducroz and Jeremy Prevost, 2011 Freeride World Champions Tour
Photo courtesy of freerideworldtour.com / J.Bernard
A few days before the finale of the was to take place in Verbier, Switzerland, the famed face, Bec des Rosses, was not looking so good — there hadn't been snow in four weeks. Luckily, the snow fell and fell some more. On Thursday, eight inches poured down and four more came on Saturday, which postponed the event until Sunday.
This last event, the , determined the 2011 Freeride World Champion. Aurelien Ducroz, from France, took first for men's skiing with two huge cliff drops and some seriously confident riding. This run won Ducroz first place at the Xtreme Verbier podium, as well as the 2011 Freeride World Champion title. Samuel Anthamatten of Switzerland took second for the Freeride World Champion and Jeremy Prevost, from France, took third.
For men's snowboarding, Austria's Mitch Tolderer grabbed the World Champion title, with fellow Austrian, Flo Orley, taking second. , from France, won first for the Xtreme Verbier competition and took third overall for the Freeride World Champion.
Sweden's Janette Hargin took first for the both the Xtreme Verbier and the Freeride World Champion. She had some clean cliff drops and a fluid run. , from the US, placed second overall for the Freeride World Champion and Janina Kuzma, from New Zealand, placed third.
For women's snowboarding, Anne-Flore Marxer of France won both the Xtreme Verbier and the Freeride World Champion. This was Marxer's first season with the Freeride World Tour. Liz Kristoferitsch of Austria placed second for the Freeride World Champion with Ursula Wohlschlager, from Austria, took third in both the Xtreme Verbier and the Freeride World Champion.
–Mattie Schuler