On Wednesday 23rd January, 56 male and female skiers and snowboarders will take on the challenge of the first-ever Freeride World Tour contest on the gruelling McGee Mountain in Mammoth, California. Freeride World Tour organisers are also proud to announce a new partnership with outdoor industry leader The North Face. The brand will be supporting the Nissan Mammoth Challenge as well as two other events of the Tour; the Nissan Russian Adventure in Krasnaya Polyana / Sochi (Russia) and the Freeride de Tignes (France).

The USA Nissan Mammoth Challenge will take place from 22-26 January, with the first possible contest day being the 23rd January. The 56 riders are comprised of 19 male riders over both ski and snowboard, 8 female riders, including two male wild cards and one female wild card per discipline. Three riders per discipline have also qualified from the Nissan Mammoth Quest. The competition is sure to be fierce as they battle it out for their share of the $40,000 prize fund.

Mammoth Mountain in California is the home town of legendary snowboarder Steve Klassen – 5-time winner of the Verbier Xtreme. Steve Klassen is also event coordinator for this Freeride World Tour contest, guaranteeing a world-class event for riders and the public on the challenging McGee Mountain, 10 871 feet / 3313 metres above sea level.

This is the first time a freeride contest has been held on the McGee, located about 10 km south of the resort Mammoth Mountain. The average steepness of the McGee Mountain is around 35 degrees, with a long and demanding run with 1000 vertical metres. It has a natural quarterpipe which runs about half the length of the mountain and features numerous lips, gulleys and jumps.

Fresh snow reports from Mammoth Mountain show a snowfall of at least 2 meters last week which promises great conditions for the Nissan Mammoth Challenge. Event coordinator Steve Klassen reported that there is a 3 meter (100 inch) snow base, making for many challenging lines.

Today, freeriders from all over the globe will be competing in the pre-qualifying contest, the Mammoth Open. More than 100 skiers and snowboarders have already applied for the Open contest from 15 – 17 January in the hope of joining in the Nissan Mammoth Challenge. The top 5 men and top 2 women will be allowed to progress to the Nissan Mammoth Challenge next week.

For the New Year, the Freeride World Tour just launched its new website. The website will rapidly expand once the tour starts with updated news, pictures, videos, athlete profiles, results and information about the tour.