Freeride

Off-Piste competition in its purest form

FORECAST

AVALANCHE

What is Freeride?

Freeride is the term given to skiing or snowboarding natural, un-pisted, usually steep and sometimes rocky terrain. The term freeride is allied with other words such as “Big Mountain” or “Extreme”.

Freeride Competition

Freeride competition involves being judged on how well you ski or snowboard down a designated mountain face which can include deep snow, gullies, cornices and rock drops.

Competitors are granted one competition run and are expected to perform across five judged criteria including:-

  1. Line Choice

  2. Technique

  3. Control

  4. Air and Style

  5. Fluidity

They are scored out of 100 points. A high-scoring run will involve a fast and fluid display of extreme drops and tricks, all combined into one seemless run.

Competition Levels

Junior competitions are run for 13-17yr olds. In Scotland, the Junior Coe Cup is run by British Freeride and takes place at Glencoe in the 3rd weekend of March. Across Europe and the southern hemisphere, Freeride World Tour Junior competitions run in most countries throughout the season and follow the format described above.

Senior competitions are run for male and female skiers and snowboarders aged 18 and over. In Scotland, British Freeride runs the Scottish Freedom Series which offers three separate events across the season. Across Europe and the southern hemisphere the Freeride World Tour is structured with 3 tiers of competition namely, the Freeride World Qualifiers, the Freeride Challenger Series and the Freeride World Tour, which is invitational only to the best-performing freeride athletes.

How To Get Started?

British Freeride was set up in 2015 to provide Freeride coaching in the United Kingdom and abroad. It currently provides a coaching programme for 13-17yr olds looking to get into Freeride, which incorporates a series of coaching weekends, a Scottish competition series and overseas camps. If you are under 18 and interested in getting into off-piste performance freeride, please contact British Freeride directly.

If you are over 18 and would like to get some freeride coaching, this can be organised on an as-and-when-required basis by contacting the British Freeride coaching team info@britishfreeride.org.

Other resources

Guidebooks:

- Scottish Offpiste Skiing & Snowboarding Glencoe: Kenny Biggin

- Scottish Offpiste Skiing & Snowboarding Nevis Range and Ben Nevis: Kenny Biggin

- Ski Mountaineering in Scotland SMC: Donald J. Bennet

Apps:

- Fatmap (for route and avalanche awareness planning both before and during the backcountry)

- View Ranger (Digital mapping compatible with smart phone)

- OS Mapping (Digital mapping compatible with smart phone & computer)

- Trailforks (Some ski area info, limited use)

Maps:

- Ordinance Survey & Harvies Maps cover all of the UK’s best skiing areas

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