Here's How the Freeride World Tour Judges Its Runs

This might just be me, but the timing of this video's release—just after the FWT's 2024 Fieberbrunn Pro—feels intentional. At the very least, it's a timely coincidence.

Some viewers expressed frustration with the judges' decisions in that competition, particularly with the scoring of one rider in the men's field, Maxime Chabloz. 

Chabloz put down a heater of a run, lacing a double backflip and a cork 720, but he landed sixth with a score of 90.33. In comparison, the competition winner, Ben Richards, didn't spin over 360, focusing instead on more traditional, high-speed freeride skiing.

It's here that the FWT's past and future collide head-first. For years, the competition series was dominated by winning runs that looked more like Richards'—faster, with fewer spins—than Chabloz's. 

But a stacked crew of young guns continues to inject more freestyle elements into the FWT, presumably making the judges' jobs more complicated than they used to be. 

The question then arises: Should a slower run with more technical tricks beat a faster, freeride-heavy alternative? 

With their scoring at Fieberbrunn, the judges seem to have decided on an answer. While tricks will always be rewarded, the message, at least for now, appears clear—Besse and his cohort are still looking to preserve traditional freeride elements by highlighting runs that maintain pace and fluidity in exposed terrain.

That's not to say that newschool, trick-focused freeriding is suddenly out, though. Up-and-comer Marcus Goguen blended the past and present during the Georgia Pro, combining high-speed technical skiing with enormous tricks. 

His score? 98. Good enough for first place by a wide margin.