In 1996, the Freeride World Tour made its debut with the first Xtreme Verbier as a snowboard-only contest. Eight years later, it added skiers. And in 2026, it will become a gateway to the Olympic Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided to add freeride to the program for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games in the French Alps. It was announced on Tuesday, July 7, 2026.

22 female and 22 male freeride skiers and snowboarders will be allotted spots.

“I’m really stoked freeriding is now part of the Olympics," said Mia Jones in a press release. "This is such a huge opportunity for all the athletes and the entire sport. The energy surrounding the Olympics is truly unlike anything else so I can’t wait to see it all go down.”

Freeriding, of course, involves its riders descending down the mountain through ungroomed, natural terrain as opposed to a set course. Riders are judged on line choice, control, technique, style, and fluidity.

"Freeride’s addition to the Olympic program confirms that these athletes belong on the biggest stage in the world," U.S. Ski & Snowboard President and CEO Sophie Goldschmidt said in a press release. "We are proud to build a pathway for the best American freeriders throughout the next four years, and are eager to watch them represent Team USA in 2030."

The USSSA has partnered with FIS to oversee the grassroots competition series. The selection criteria for the U.S. team will be posted during this upcoming season. That means riders and skiers in the freeride world will receive the same support as those who compete in halfpipe, slopestyle, snowboard cross, and other disciplines.

“Bringing this discipline into our high-performance system means our coaches and sport scientists can start supporting these athletes now, well ahead of 2030,” said Anouk Patty, U.S. Ski & Snowboard Chief of Sport. “We are excited to welcome them to our organization.”

Though purists might resist it, the move makes sense. With the popularity of big mountain video projects and the growth of freeride contests like Travis Rice’s Natural Selection Tour and Robin Van Gyn’s Research and Development, there’s been an increased thirst for freeride. RnD has proceeded to push the progression of women’s riding as we’ve never seen before,  sending young riders like Billy Pelchat to compete at NST.

FIS purchased the Freeride World Tour back in 2024. Officials have looked at the towns of Montgenèvre and La Grave in France as potential freeride venues at the 2030 Olympics. If the contest comes to Utah in 2034, Powder Mountain, Snowbird, and Brighton seem like obvious choices.

The next question, of course, is this: what does this do to the current freeride landscape? The current roster of FWT riders includes Holden Samuels, Noémie Equy, and reigning champions Jones and Victor de le Rue. But because many of the world's best freeriders have opted for a life of filming video parts and chasing powder, it is not necessarily an accurate representation of the best freeriders of the world. If pioneers like Rice or Van Gyn want to qualify for the Olympics, they will likely have to ride in either the FWT or the FIS freeride circuit.