Lorraine Huber & Mickael Bimboes reign supreme during Crunch Time at FWT Fieberbrunn

The last stop of the Freeride World Tour before the cut-off—not only defining who gets to compete at the final in Verbier but also who re-qualifies for next years FWT—put an immense amount of pressure on all riders, but especially those sitting at the bottom of the FWT rankings. Needless to say, everyone was geared up to send it!

Have a read and re-live the all the action by the wise words of Mark von Roy. If you’re more of an impatient personality hit fast forward and watch the full replay above.

Ski Women start at 1:14 hours mark.

Ski Men start at 2:31 hours mark.

While the snow conditions on the Wildseeloder in Fieberbrunn were the best we have seen in recent years, flat light and sun-affected faces made solid and fast riding extra difficult for all the riders; and it showed, with many riders crashing out.

In the Women’s category, Lorraine Huber finally came back into form after some issues at the first three stops. Last season’s FWT champion claimed first with fast, solid riding and a big drop in the middle of the face, landed as if she didn’t even take off.

Fellow Austrian Eva Walkner also sped through the venue at high pace, emulating Lorraine’s line with the big drop in the middle of the venue and clean riding throughout. Good enough to slot in second place just behind Lorraine.

In the Men’s category, Mickael Bimboes blew everyone away by finding a huge transfer gap on the main ravine at the bottom section, something that has never been done before on this face. Combined with a big air at the top and smooth riding top to bottom, this run awarded the frenchman a score of 89,00 and first place. 

Kristoffer Turdell, a man that makes gnarly hits look effortless, did exactly that and sent the massive mid face cliff as a double, finding a 20 footer above the 60 footer. Skiing fast and smooth throughout the run, with a 360 at the bottom, the Swede was awarded a score of 85.33 and runner-up position. Kristoffer will start Verbier with a 1340 point lead in the overall FWT rankings, which will very difficult, if not impossible to catch. 

George Rodney, another former champion with issues during the first three stops, came out the gate with guns blazing—as usual—sending a huge backflip on the top section and then skiing an area that has never been hit before in competition, stomping a massive air right off the nose. Finally, a score to keep for the American, and good enough for third.

Other notable riders of note included 42-year-old FWT veteran Stefan Häusl. After 9 years on the tour, he dropped for his last ever competition run today and absolutely blitzed the whole face while sending a massive drop at the top. Thank you, Stefan and good luck for the future!

Markus Eder, always one for surprises, didn’t disappoint with a full-send 360 that landed on a rock but miraculously, the Italian skied away after a significant backslap. A big drop at the top and a huge backflip at the bottom, saved his total score, squeezing him into 10th with a score of 65 despite significant control issues. 

Sam “Ibex” Lee stayed true to his name, and billy-goated his way through a super technical top section and sent the massive compulsory drop at the moment perfectly. Unfortunately, he came unstuck in the bottom section.

Craig Murray, the youngest competitor on tour, yet again brought newschool to the FWT, grabbing almost all his airs and throwing a smooth flat 360 in the middle of his run. Unfortunately, he also got gobbled up by the bottom section. While both Kiwis crashed out today, they managed to squeeze into the top 13 in the overall rankings to qualify for the Verbier Xtreme and next season—definitely making the New Zealand freeride community proud.

Next up is the final on the Bec de Rosses in Verbier and like always, its bound to thrilling show. Be sure to stay tuned, the weather window is from the 31st of March till the 8th of April.

Freeride World Tour Women Fieberbrunn results

Freeride World Tour Women’s Overall rankings

Freeride World Tour Men Fieberbrunn Results

Freeride World Tour Men’s Overall Ranking

Freeride World Tour Men’s Overall Ranking