Freeriding is a style of skiing or snowboarding performed on natural, un-groomed terrain, without a set course, goals or rules. It evolved throughout the sport's formative years as a contrary response to the highly regimented style of ski competition prevalent at the time. Snowboarders primarily refer to freeriding as backcountry, sidecountry, or off-piste snowboarding, and sometimes big mountain or extreme riding.
Verbier is a village located in south-western Switzerland in the canton of Valais. It is a holiday resort and ski area in the Swiss Alps and is recognised as one of the premier off-piste resorts in the world. Some areas are covered with snow all year. Skiers have settled in the Verbier area in order to take advantage of the steep slopes, varied conditions, and resort culture.
Jon Anders Olsson is a former professional freeskier and alpine ski racer from Sweden. Born in Mora, Olsson started his career as a ski racer but at age 16 he switched his race skis for twin tips and quit ski racing. Eight years later, after a 50 000 SEK (US$5826.22) bet with fellow skier Jens Byggmark, Olsson started ski racing again with the goal of the bets being to make it to the Olympics in 2014. He now competes in both freestyle and ski racing. Olsson is known for his invention of several new double flips, including a D-spin 720 into a flatspin 540, a switch double rodeo 1080, a double flatspin 900, and a switch cork 720 to flatspin 540.
Francesca Martinelli is an Italian ski mountaineer.
Roberta Pedranzini is an Italian ski mountaineer.
Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff is a Swedish former professional road bicycle racer. Kessiakoff turned to road racing in 2009, having had a successful career as a professional mountain biker for many years, winning the Swedish national championship 4 times, and finishing third at the 2006 World Mountain biking championships. He twice represented Sweden at the Olympics. Kessiakoff retired in 2014.
Xavier de Le Rue is a French big mountain snowboarder, who started his pro career competing on the Boardercross pro tour. He competed for France at the 2006 Winter Olympics, but did not advance to the quarterfinals. At the FIS Snowboarding World Championships 2009 he won a silver medal. He is set to compete for France at the 2010 Winter Olympics. He is the brother of bronze medalist Paul-Henri de Le Rue.
Per Henrik Peter Windstedt is a Swedish big mountain skier who has excelled at many aspects of skiing. He was one of Sweden's top moguls competitors as a junior, and has made big air and superpipe podiums. He won the 2008 Freeride World Tour.
The Freeride World Tour, also referred to as the FWT Pro or simply the FWT, is an annual series of events in which freeride skiers and snowboarders compete for individual event wins, as well as the overall title of Freeride World Champion in their respective genders and disciplines. The events take place on off-piste terrain – ungroomed snow on steep slopes, often featuring areas of high exposure.
Chris Davenport is considered one of the world's most accomplished big-mountain skiers and mountaineers. A native of Aspen, Colorado, he has been called "one of North America's top 25 skiers by Skiing Magazine and is a "two-time extreme skiing world champion".
Tobias Ludvigsson is a Swedish cyclist who competed as a professional from 2010 to 2024.
Emelie Tina Forsberg is a Swedish athlete specializing in trail running and ski mountaineering. She has won repeated victories in different disciplines, including European and World Championships.
Nicholi Rogatkin is an American professional bike rider from Lincoln, Massachusetts, United States. Currently ranked #2 in the World. 2016 World Champion and 2018 Triple Crown Winner. The winningest FMB World Tour athlete with over 25 wins.
Estelle Balet was a Swiss freeride snowboarder and two-time world champion in 2015 and 2016 at the Freeride World Tour. She died in an avalanche on 19 April 2016, at the age of 21.
Matilda Rapaport was a Swedish alpine free-skier. She was married to Swedish alpine skier Mattias Hargin, and was the niece of Swedish actress Alexandra Rapaport.
Patrick Burgener, better known as Pat Burgener, is a Swiss professional snowboarder, two-time Olympian and musician. Pat joined the Swiss national team at the age of 14 and landed the world’s first Switch Backside Triple Cork 1440 in April 2011. Pat competed for Switzerland in the men's halfpipe at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang where he finished 5th overall. He earned two bronze medals in the halfpipe events at the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships 2017 and again in 2019. Pat was named to his second Swiss Olympic Snowboard Freestyle Team on 18 January 2022. He represented Switzerland in the men’s halfpipe at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing where he qualified for the finals and placed 11th overall. His career results also include nine World Cup podiums, five European Cup podiums and seven Swiss Champion titles respectively in halfpipe and early on in big air.
The Faction Collective is a Swiss ski equipment design company headquartered in Verbier, in the Swiss canton of Valais. Founded in Verbier in 2006 by a tight-knit group of freeride skiers, Faction now holds brand offices in Switzerland, United States, United Kingdom, France, Japan, Austria and China.
Lucas Eriksson is a Swedish cyclist, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam Tudor Pro Cycling Team. His brother Jacob is also a professional cyclist on the same team.
Sam Pilgrim is a professional freeride mountain biker who also makes YouTube videos. He was an FMB World Tour overall winner in 2013, becoming the first European athlete to win the competition since its establishment in 2010.
Jess Hotter is a New Zealand big mountain skier who won the women's skiing Freeride World Tour title in 2022.
