Vail-area skiers compete in Freeride World Tour final in Verbier, Switzerland
J. Bernard/Freeride World Tour
A pair of Vail-area skiers competed in Xtreme Verbier, the grand finale of the Freeride World Tour, last month.
Agostina Vietti and Joey Leonardo took to the iconic Bec des Rosses face — the birthplace of the FWT — in the final stop on March 28 in Switzerland. Vietti, who is a coach at Ski and Snowboard Club Vail, finished fifth in the ski women category while Leonardo placed 13th in the ski men division.
“This season started with a really great start for me. I’m very proud,” Vietti told FWT’s media liaison, Torie Palffy. “It was so much fun to travel all over and ski so many cool places. I’m planning on coming back next year, and I’m just excited to keep skiing, to keep competing.”
Vietti, who became the first Argentinian to win an FWT event in any category on Jan. 26 in Val Thorens, France, came into the finals ranked fourth in the standings.
“Before Verbier, I got a chance to go to Vail, Colorado where I live most of the year,” Vietti said prior to the 31st edition of Xtreme Verbier. “It was so nice to be back and see some friends. I’ve fallen in love with every place we go on the Tour, but I also like to be at home in Vail a lot.”
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In her inaugural trip down the 600-meter vertical drop, which features the steepest slopes on the circuit, Vietti demonstrated her trademark, full-speed approach right out of gate 2. The 28-year-old launched three big airs above significant exposure and capped off her run with a cliff jump and tail ollie shifty for style points. Her score, 77.5, was just 2.17 away from the silver medal spot.
“The conditions today are so good,” Vietti told FWT after. “But I’m hungry for more.”
France’s Lou Barin took top honors in the ski women event with a 95.00, securing the season title in the process. Canadian Justine Dufour-Lapoint (79.67) finished second and Swiss skier Sybille Blanjean (78.97) claimed the bronze. Vietti finished her first FWT campaign ranked fifth in the discipline standings.
Leonardo blasted out of gate 1 and put together a pair of doubles on the upper section. After navigating over to a cluster of cliffs, the 23-year-old launched a 360 off a massive drop. Unfortunately, his skis stopped immediately and released in the deep-snow landing. The venue received upwards of 50 centimeters of snow in the days leading up to the event.
“I was pretty nervous at the top, but the snow was so good, which really helped out,” Leonardo said. “I just wasn’t ready for my flat landing, so I’m a little bummed about that, but that’s the way this sport is. It’s how it goes, and I’m just really happy to be here.”
Fifty-two athletes — including five from Colorado — started the FIS Freeride World Tour (FWT), which included six scheduled stops. Normally, after the first four competitions, the upper 60% of the field — based on athletes’ best three results up to that point — advance to the two final competitions. But unfavorable conditions forced organizers to cancel two events this year: the Georgia Pro staged at Küthai-Innsbruck, Austria in February and the Fieberbrunn Pro in March. Hence, “The Cut” was determined using results from the first two competitions of the season.
Leonardo — who won the 2020 FWT Junior World Championship and finished eighth the following year at world juniors in Verbier — wound up ninth in the overall ski men standings.
“I can’t wait for next year,” the tour rookie said. “This is a great learning experience, and I can’t wait to do it again.”
Australian Benjamin Richards won the event and the overall title. Victor de Le Rue was the snowboard men season champion and Mia Jones — whose dad, Jeremy, won at Xtreme Verbier 21 years ago — won the snowboard women category.
“It’s just incredible,” de Le Rue told FWT after his record-breaking fifth title. “That was my goal coming into the season. The competition was insane, with amazing snow conditions.”
Despite the fall, Leonardo left Switzerland with a smile.
“This experience is a dream come true. This is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a little kid, and so finally getting to experience that — it’s been everything and more that I wanted it to be,” he stated. “Today’s competition was the craziest competition I’ve ever watched, and I’m just honestly so grateful to be here and to have people supporting me.”
