Weather Window Extended for Freeride Skiing's Super Bowl

FWT organizers said the competition venue currently has new snow and a solid snowpack. The apparent aim is to hold the Xtreme Verbier before conditions worsen.
 
The FWT doesn't schedule its competitions on specific dates in advance. Rather, it uses windows of time to account for shifting mountain weather. Then, 48 hours in advance, organizers pick the day with the best weather and snow. While a competition on Thursday isn't guaranteed, organizers called it "the best window."

As is tradition, the Xtreme Verbier is scheduled to be held on the Bec des Rosses. The towering face soars above 10,000 feet. It's steep and technical and asks the very most of FWT competitors. In short, it's the perfect place for the final freeride throwdown of the season and, historically, has seen more than a few absurd highlights, like Mickael Bimboes' 2019 run where he hit 80 miles per hour as he cruised towards the finish corral. Another more recent standout was Marcus Goguen's massive double-stager in 2024.

At the Xtreme Verbier, Winners earn 12,000 points rather than the usual 10,00 awarded during the rest of the season. Only the upper 60% of men and women on the leaderboards earn a ticket to the Xtreme Verbier. For the rest of the field, their FWT season is now over.

The ski men lost a final opportunity to score points at the Fieberbrunn Pro in Austria—which was canceled due to poor snow conditions—and several successful athletes on that roster, including Maxime Chabloz, won't appear at the Xtreme Verbier. The ski women still competed in Austria on March 7.

Going into Verbier, Marcus Goguen stands atop the season-long men's rankings, followed by Martin Bender and Valentin Rainer. Goguen has led a dominant season, with three podiums and two first-place finishes. He maintains an overall lead of 3,600 points but could be usurped by Bender or Rainer in the fight for the overall title.

In the women's field, Justine Dufour-Lapointe and Astrid Cheylus are neck-in-neck, holding first and second, respectively, with a narrow separation of only 1,280 points. Jenna Keller is in third. Dufour-Lapointe, a former mogul skiing Olympic medalist, has been the most consistent competitor amongst the women, with three podium finishes.