History of Nendaz Freeride

Nendaz Freeride has been going since 2007, and has rapidly snowballed into what it is now – with up to 500 skiers and snowboarders every year descending on the face as though it’s some sort of freeride Mecca.

“Huge props to the FWT for adopting equal prize funds”

Although there’s €10,000 up for grabs for both male and female ski winners (huge props to the FWT for adopting equal prize funds), the focus isn’t just on who can send the biggest backie during the heats. Nandaz Freeride has been set up to celebrate the community around the sport – as long-time commentator of the event, Charlie Boscoe put it:

“It’s a celebration of skiing and the spirit of freeriding. The competitors want to win, obviously, but the event is more about enjoying the mountains and the company of like-minded people than it is about winning a medal.”

And what would be the favourite moment of Cyril Lanfranchi, the man who has put fourteen years of blood, sweat and tears into founding and running the event? That’ll be the winning line by Leo Slemett in 2016, before Leo went on to win the 2017 Freeride World Tour on his debut season. Did we mention that this face is a rite of passage for all FWT athletes?

Team Nendaz Freeride

Nendaz Freeride is a freeride festival of events too. This year, if everything goes to plan, the event is due to take place between the 7th and 10th March. With five different competitions taking place, from the Nendaz Freeride Junior competitions all the way up to the 4* Freeride World Qualifier with athletes look to go a step closer to the summit of freeride skiing – the Freeride World Tour.

“The whole ethos of the Nendaz Freeride isn’t just to push people into the FWT”

The whole ethos of the Nendaz Freeride isn’t just to push people into the FWT. The team at Nendaz Freeride have also set up ’Team Nendaz Freeride’ where nine young athletes are selected with the objective to help and support these youngsters as they progress within their specific discipline – ranging from freeride and freestyle coaching, to avalanche safety training.

Support from Nendaz also trickles down to real youth level, where the ‘Nendaz Freeride Kids’ event  sees some of the raddest 7 – 14 year olds on the planet getting the opportunity to learn the basics of freeride riding and avalanche safety training. Who knows, many of these kids could come on to become the next Leo, Sam, Maël or Jeremie.

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Check out the full Nendaz Freeride programme here

Get to know the varied and challenging Nendaz terrain here

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For more information on Valais head to the region’s official website.

For more on booking your Valais adventure, head to the Visit Valais shop.