By Raúl Revuelta
All the excitement comes to a head at the sixth and final stage, the Swatch Xtreme Verbier 2013 by The North Face. The four Freeride World Tour Champions will be crowned at the 18th edition of the “Xtreme” when the athletes take on the legendary and notorious Bec des Rosses, considered the pinnacle of freeride competitions.
Due to a storm predicted to hit the Verbier St Bernard region on Saturday, the Swatch Freeride World Tour by The North Face 2013(FWT) was re-scheduled to take place one day earlier than announced, on Friday March 22. Competition will start at 9 am CET (1 am PST) and live will start from 8:45 am.
With its extreme nature, only the best 12 male skiers, 6 male snowboarders, 5 female skiers and 4 female snowboarders of the 2013 FWT are qualified for the finals on the steeps of Bec des Rosses. In addition, there will also a few exciting exclusive wild cards, including three-time world snowboard champion Xavier de Le Rue(FRA) and five-time Xtreme winner Steve Klassen (USA) in the male snowboard division, as well as Stefan Haeusl(AUT), Aurélien Ducroz (FRA), Samuel Anthamatten (SUI) and Seb Michaud (FRA) in the male skiers. In the snowboard category, upcoming talent and local rider Estelle Ballet (SUI) will also take part in the competition on her home mountain. Crystal Wright (USA) and Lorraine Huber (AUT), actual leader of the FWQ ranking also got the chance to ski the « Bec » in the female ski category.
The venue: Bec des Rosses.
This is the intimidatingly steep, massive pyramid of snow and rock where the final competition, the Xtreme Verbier is held each year. Its name alone is enough to strike fear into the hearts of those who have ridden it, as well as those who will confront it for the first time.
Few benchmarks in sports stand the test of time quite like the Xtreme Verbier. Surfing has Jaws. Formula One has the Monaco Grand Prix. Freeride has the Bec des Rosses. 2013 will be the 18th year in a row that a freeride competition has been held on this face, and new lines continue to be uncovered and new styles put to the test.
