5 Bold Predictions for The 2025 Xtreme Verbier

1. Ross Tester Will Win the Men's Field

Ross Tester has been a consistent presence on the FWT since 2020 (except for a brief hiatus last season). During his rookie season, he placed second overall with two first-place finishes. In the ensuing seasons, he never finished the winter without ranking fifth overall.
 
This year, however, Tester's dealt with what appears to be a raft of bad luck. He won the first competition of 2025, but since then, he hasn't been able to earn a position on the podium. During his latest appearance in the Georgia Pro, he landed on a rock and lost his ski.

That's to say that Tester, presumably, is hungry for a piece of the podium. He also has the chops to put down a winning or, at the very least, high-scoring run. We're banking on Tester putting on a show for Team America.

2. A Former Mogul Skier Will Take the Overall Title for the Third Year in a Row

This might be the least bold prediction of the bunch. Justine Dufour-Lapointe—previously a mogul-skiing Olympian—has had the most consistent season of any of the women. She has earned first, second, and third throughout the FWT season. That consistency should translate well to the Xtreme Verbier.

Last winter, Hedvig Wessel, who also previously skied moguls, was the overall winner. The year before that, Dufour-Lapointe took the overall title. We aren't sure what it is about mogul skiing, but previous competitors in the discipline seem to take to freeride really, really well. Here's to the three-pete for the bump skiers.

3. Astrid Cheylus Will Try a Double Backflip

We aren't exactly sure how the snow on the Bec is (the FWT said it's 20 cm of cold, light powder on top of hardpack), nor are we sure if there's an adequate windlip for big tricks (in years past, there has been a windlip)—but if anyone in the women's field can throw a double backflip in Verbier, it's Astrid Cheylus. During the 2024 Nendaz Backcountry Invitational, the French skier stomped a double, so the snow conditions—not Cheylus' freestyle know-how—will be the limiting factor.

4. Abel Moga Will Send a Huge Frontflip

Backflips are a common trick on the FWT. Frontflips? Less so. That hasn't stopped Spanish rider Abel Moga from peppering his runs with some forward somersaults, though. Again, the snow conditions will play a role in what we do or don't see from Moga, but his frontflips are dialed.

5. Marcus Goguen Will Do Something Terrifying but Will Land on His Feet

Marcus Goguen has a well-deserved reputation for effortlessly skiing terrifying lines on the Bec. In 2024, he rode a double stager that would've, without a shadow of a doubt, sent a regular person to the hospital, but Goguen isn't a regular person. He has the guts of someone like Aymar Navarro but the precision of Eric Hjorleifson. Goguen's skis are always in the right place.
 
The combination means that, in all likelihood, Goguen will string together some nearly impossible mixture of features and tricks come Thursday.