5 Colorado athletes compete at Freeride World Tour season opener in Baqueira Beret

Five Coloradans — including two with Vail-area ties — competed in the Freeride World Tour season opener in Baqueria Beret, Spain on Thursday.

Current Ski and Snowboard Club coach Agostina Vietti led the way with a fourth-place finish in her first event on freeride’s premiere tour.

“The best part of the day was realizing I stomped my first FWT run and getting to the finish corral — that made me so happy,” the 28-year-old said.

Vietti qualified for the FWT via her second-place finish at the A-Basin Challenger Series event last April. That secured a runner-up placement in the overall standings, making her the first Argentinian woman to qualify for the FWT.

The tour rookie used quick turns in the upper couloir of the Tuc de Bacivèr face and kept the speed high through rough snow conditions on the 430-meter descent. She put down a four-point landing on her bottom air to post a 69.67 score, earning a round in the hot seat. Canadian Justine Dufour-Lapointe topped the 10-woman field with an 86.33 while Wynter McBride led the American contingent in fifth.

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“Watching the rest of the athletes was really cool, too,” Vietti continued. “I’m excited to keep traveling around Europe and ski all the FWT stops resorts, especially Georgia.”

The Freeride World Tour originally started as a single event — Xtreme Verbier — in 1996. By 2008, it had evolved into an international series highlighting the world’s most legendary faces. The FWT brand also includes FWT Challenger, Qualifier and Junior circuits within its pipeline. In December 2022, FWT merged with the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS). The inaugural FIS Freeride World Championship is set to take place in Andorra this February and will feature 66 riders.

The 2026 FWT roster includes 21 male skiers, 11 female skiers, 11 male snowboarders and seven female snowboarders. About 3,000 fans showed up in Spain on Thursday to watch the first of six events on the 2026 calendar.

“This is definitely the best crowd I’ve seen in freeride. It’s awesome,” Holden Samuels told FWT after leading the American men with a bronze in the snowboard competition. Samuels stomped his first cliff drop and pulled off two more 360s to finish with 82.67 points, right behind Liam Riveria (88.67) and Sacha Balicco (84.67).

Fellow American Warren Doyle finished 10th in his return to the pro circuit. The Breckenridge snowboarder competed on the FWT in 2024, then re-qualified through the FWT Challengers events last winter. The 25-year-old, who now calls Bridger Bowl his home hill, stuck a big 360 but missed two other landings.

Skier Joey Leonardo of Edwards showed poise and style with multiple large airs and grabs, tallying a score of 73.00, good for 14th.

“Being a rookie I was a little intimidated at first, but everyone has been so kind and welcoming,” the 22-year-old stated.

In FWT competitions, athletes are judged on their line, control, technique, fluidity and air and style.

“As for my first run on tour, I really wanted to put a run to my feet considering the visual inspection component, something I am not used to,” Leonardo continued. “I was able to achieve my goal, but as soon as I landed my last air I wish I had done more. It was a great first step and now with some gained confidence I am really looking forward to pushing myself further in the next stop.”

Kelly Hilleke of Aspen started strong, flipping into a closeout couloir, but lost a ski in a fall and thus wound up as one of three men’s skiers without a posted score. Hilleke and Leonardo finished first and second in the overall Challenger series standings last year to punch their tickets to this winter’s FWT.

Skier Shayne Blue Sandblom, who grew up in Silt, Colorado and trained with Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard, finished ninth in his debut.

The second stop of the FWT is on the Cime Caron in Val Thorens, France at the end of the month. From there, the tour travels to Georgia to take on the Kakhiani, perched high in the Caucasus Mountains. Fieberbrunn hosts the final event before ‘the Cut’ in early March. After the Austrian event, riders are ranked by their top-3 performances, with only the top 60% advancing to the Finals in Haines, Alaska March 15-22 and Verbier, Switzerland March 28-April 5.