Freeride World Tour 2011 men and women skiers are tuning their powder boards in preparation for the next event of the tour: The North American Freeskiing Championships Kirkwood 2011 by Swatch, The North Face and Sierra Nevada is scheduled to take place this Saturday, 26 February, at Kirkwood ski station located just south of California’s Lake Tahoe.
Will current FWT leader Janette Hargin (SWE) have what it takes to continue her string of five consecutive podium appearances against North America’s best skiers and the top women league of the Freeride World Tour? Clearly, the North AmericanFreeskiing Championships is a key event in the run for the 2011 Freeride World Champion title.
Qualifiers are set to start today, Thursday, 24th February with finals scheduled for Saturday, 26th February. The Freeride World Tour athletes are automatically qualified into the finals.
The venue for the Kirkwood event is an area called The Cirque, which is a 260-meter face at the top of 2987-meter Thimble Peak. The face is heavily featured with the possibility for cliff drops of all sizes, multiple drops and fun rock hits.
Kirkwood has been getting so much snow recently that on 19 February 2011 Skiinfo.com proclaimed, “Kirkwood has received the most snowfall in the world in the past 7 days” after the resort received almost three meters in one week. This abundance of fresh snow on top of a 445cm base should provide the kind of soft landings that will allow the riders to launch big airs and throw down their best tricks.
Women’s Main Events 2011
The North Face Masters of Snowboarding 2011 by Swatch, Kirkwood (USA)
Date: 5 March 2011 – SNOWBOARD ONLY
Salomon Extreme Freeride Championship, Taos, New Mexico, (USA)
Date: 5 March 2011 – SKI ONLY
Nendaz Freeride (SUI)
Date: 12 March 2011
Nissan Xtreme Verbier 2011 by Swatch (SUI)
Date: 19 March 2011 – FINAL for qualified riders
Röldal Freeride (NOR)
Date: 30 April 2011
