freeride world tour salary

The Freeride World Tour makes history in 2020 with equal prize money for men and women

Featured Image: Courtesy of Freeride World Tour/ Dom Daher

When skiers and snowboarders drop into their line in Hakuba, Japan, January 18-25, men and women on the Freeride World Tour (FWT) will compete for equal prize money–a first in the tour’s history. As part of its ongoing commitment to gender equality in sports, the FWT will hand out equal purses throughout the entire tour.

“This is a major step forward to elevate women’s freeride skiing and snowboarding, and is simply the right and only thing to do for the FWT,” says FWT CEO, Nicolas Hale-Woods, in a press release. “Our women athletes have proven their engagement in the sport with huge progression showcased these last years, becoming role models for many around the world.”

The tour’s head judge, Berti Denervraud adds, “The move from equal-average to equal prize money will hopefully encourage freeriders from categories with less licensed athletes compared to other categories, to participate at junior and amateur competitions and to qualify for the World Tour.

Riding on the momentum of the World Surf League’s equal prize money for men and women and the WNBA’s exciting new salary deal , the FWT is setting a much-needed example for the ski industry–and the sports world as a whole–by giving women equivalent winnings on this year’s tour. The investment in its female athletes will hopefully return in a higher level of competition on the tour and encourage the next generation of female skiers to take it even bigger. Now, let the equal competition begin!

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The Freeride World Tour Commits to Equal Prize Money

Starting this year, men and women will earn the same prize money on the Freeride World Tour

Heading out the door? Read this article on the Outside app available now on iOS devices for members! >","name":"in-content-cta","type":"link"}}'>Download the app .

On January 19, skiers and snowboarders kicked off the first competition of the 2020 season of the Freeride World Tour, in Hakuba, Japan. But the excitement surrounding the event wasn’t just about the athletes riding insane lines down the the South Bowl or hitting massive airs. Last week, the FWT announced that it would pay equal prize money across all categories. That means that now skiers and snowboarders will receive the same cash prizes, regardless of gender. 

“It’s one of the biggest steps that freeride has taken in the last five years, and freeride has grown exponentially in that time,” says Emma Patterson, a rookie skier on this year’s World Tour. “It gives validation to us as freeride women. I think it will really grow our sport in the long run.” Other women on the Tour agree that it’s about time. “We’re all working just as hard,” says Jacqueline Pollard, a second year skier on the Tour. “We’re all putting in the same time and effort, so we deserve the same amount of money.” 

The FWT’s old prize money system tried to be fair. Since freeride competitions were first organized 25 years ago, there have always been more men than women at the start gate. Today, there are roughly 50 elite athletes competing on the World Tour circuit—the highest level of competition. Athletes compete in five events, on some of the most challenging alpine faces in the world. On the current World Tour roster, there are 24 male skiers, 12 female skiers, 11 male snowboarders, and 8   female snowboarders.  

Theoretically, it’s harder to podium in the men’s skiing compared to women’s skiing because there are more athletes in that discipline. To account for these differences, the FWT issued prize money based on the number of athletes competing in each discipline. The result? Staggered payouts—$6,000 to the top male skier, $4,000 to the top female skier, $4,000 to the top male snowboarder, and $3,000 to the top female snowboarder. Prizes at Xtreme Verbier, the World Tour’s iconic final event, were slightly higher. 

Mathematically, you can make an argument for why this makes sense. It’s proportional. When the total event prize money allotted to any given discipline was averaged across the number of competitors in that category, the dollar amount allocated per athlete was roughly the same. So, since there are more male skiers, they received a larger pool of resources.

But over the past two years, the discussion around pay parity and gender equality heated up—within FWT management and among athletes—and the FWT decided it was time to make a change. While the old system may have been mathematically fair, it was hard to understand and explain the calculations behind the numbers. And it definitely didn’t look or feel equal. 

Nicolas Hale-Woods, CEO of the FWT, says that he had a hard time justifying the system to critics at times. “Most of the people did not understand it or did not agree,” he says. “You would have the argument that in the starting gates, the female skiers and snowboarders would take the same risks as the men and would have the same costs to compete on the Tour,” he says. He acknowledges that the World Surf League’s commitment to offer equal prize money  to men and women (beginning in 2019), despite differing numbers of male and female competitors on tour, influenced the decision. In the end, he believes it’s the correct decision   and sends the right message to women on Tour and in the qualifiers, to girls on the junior circuit, and to everyone watching.

Now, regardless of category, the first place winner receives $5,000, second place receives $3,000, and third place receives $2,000. Not only do female skiers and snowboarders get a bump in prize money, male snowboarders do too. As one might expect, some members of the men’s skiing category were frustrated. With money from their category reassigned to other groups, they feel the financial loss directly. Plus, despite having the largest class of competitors, they’re competing for the same prize money as disciplines with fewer athletes. 

And prize money parity doesn’t just apply to World Tour events. All prizes in the qualification circuit, a series of 60 events that feeds up-and-coming talent into the World Tour, will also be the same. “We believe it’s important to be consistent across the whole pyramid of the sport,” says Hale-Woods. Juniors and Qualifiers are already   subject to the same judging criteria as the World Tour—equalizing prize money was a logical next step. (At the Junior level, athletes don’t receive cash prizes.) 

It’s no surprise that there are more men competing on the FWT and in freeriding in general. Like other action sports, there are systems and an overall culture  in place that encourage and invest more in boys and men. For example, men’s skiing was first introduced on the World Tour in 2004, while women’s skiing didn’t debut until two years later. On the current qualifier circuit, there are 813 male athletes and only 260 female athletes.

To counter this historical advantage, along with the equal prize money news, the FWT also announced the creation of Girls Just Wanna Have Pow , a program designed to grow women’s involvement in freeriding. The public can share ski and snowboard sessions with pro FWT female athletes at three of the competitions this year—at Kicking Horse in British Columbia, Canada; Ordino Arcalis in Andorra, Spain; and Fieberbrunn, Austria.

“It’s a domino effect. If you’re a young boy, you see there is more opportunity,” says skier Jackie Paaso, who’s in her 11th year on the World Tour and a member of the pro freerider board that consulted with the FWT on the equal prize money decision. “I was a mogul skier back in the day, and I remember being told, you don’t need to do 360s. When has anyone ever told a young boy when they’re 10, 11, or 12 years old that you don’t need to do that? I was constantly told there’s too much risk.   It’s hard to progress when you only have so many options for movement.”

The move to parity in prize money begins to change the old narrative, and is one step toward building the infrastructure necessary to nurture and encourage women freeriders. With this decision, the FWT joins a growing number of sports that are making a commitment and taking a stand in favor of gender equality . In addition to surfing, sports like cycling and ultrarunning  have instituted new equal pay and maternity policies in recent years. And the WNBA just announced a historic eight-year collective bargaining agreement that provides players with higher salaries, better travel conditions and accommodations, and full paid maternity leave. 

The FWT is betting that by investing in female athletes, more girls and women will come to and stay in the sport. And that in turn will grow freeriding as a whole, in terms of audience and sponsors. It’s a necessary bet. Participation numbers, opportunities, and progression in the sport won’t magically level up without more investment and opportunities.  

At the end of the day, it’s not really about money. When Pollard, who grew up skiing at Alta in Utah, saw the number of young skiers from the ski academy repost the FWT equal prize money announcement, she realized the decision impacts more than just the athletes on Tour. “It helps younger generations realize that female skiing is going somewhere,” she says.

“We’re still doing this for the love of the sport,” Paaso says. “We’re not talking NFL salaries. Young girls need to see that there are opportunities out there for us, that there’s something worth fighting for.”

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Freeride World Tour Is Hiring For The Xtreme Verbier ($992 USD Over 4 Days)

Before you get too fired up, French and English fluency is a requirement so if you don’t “pala vu” don’t bother. But if you sprechen französisch and want earn some dough ($31 USD per hour) while getting to experience the pinnacle of competition big mountain freeriding you can APPLY HERE :

Event Assistant | Job Description

We’re looking for a talented and enthusiastic person to assist us during the Freeride World Tour – Xtreme Verbier. Interested?  APPLY NOW

Reporting to the FWT Production Manager during the Xtreme Verbier, the person will be responsible for: → Taking a helicopter to film some of the world’s best freeriders from the top of the Bec Des Rosses. → Helping setup the optic fibre to connect different areas of the live webcast. → Taking control of the GoPro to ensure all filming is of a high standard.

What we’re looking for You’ll need to be a great skier especially when it comes to out of bounds skiing, and you’ll also need to be comfortable using a GoPro and more than capable of capturing great footage.

About you You’ll need to be fluent in English and French, and it goes without saying that you should be enthusiastic and passionate about delivering excellent service. We’re also expecting the person to remain composed under pressure, and be capable of working on their own as well as part of a small team.

The benefits We think the dream job should reward you for your hard work, that’s why you can expect plenty of benefits throughout your time in Verbier including: Riding the helicopter to the top of the Bec Des Rosses Free accomodation on-site Ski as much as you like on non-competition days Your very own event t-shirt Free food and drink during official FWT events A salary of CHF 1’000

Anything else? That’s pretty much it! The job will take place over 4 days between the 21st and 31st of March 2019. All applicants should be available for the entire duration. Good luck! We look forward to hearing from you.

Shifts 09:30 – 18:30  |  34 hours First shift: 21th March 2019, 09:30-18:30 and  3 shift(s) more

Pay CHF 1,062.50   –  CHF 31.25 p/h

Location 1936 Bagnes

• Categories:  
• Freeride World Tour

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FWT Freeride Annual Accident Insurance

FWT now offers athletes the possibility to have an annual accident and evacuation insurance for freeride anywhere in the world through a simple subscription process directly through your Liveheats profile. Want to sign up?

FIND OUT ALL THE DETAILS

This insurance is proposed to FWT Junior, Qualifier, Challenger and Pro riders (that are 10+ yo), of any nationality. Cover applies throughout the world.

Yes each rider has to make sure that they have personal medical insurance valid in all countries where they are competing. In the disclaimer that each rider will have to sign when entering a contest, it will be mentioned that they have checked the above.

When declaring an accident case, the rider will have to give the insurance a document attesting that his or her insurance does not cover the expenses.

The FWT insurance covers you anywhere in the world, during the practice of freeride in:

• Competitions
• Preparation

You can find by clicking on the button just below all the amounts and limits of the insurance coverage, the terms and the conditions.

You will be covered from the moment you buy the insurance until 1 st of November of 2024

The cost for a full year is 272.50 incl. VAT per athlete. Based on the amount of months of validity, the price will adapt to make sure you get the best price for your coverage!

Yes, this insurance covers the practice of Freeride (skiing and Snowboarding) during competitions and training.

In case of accident, you will have to declare it to the insurance company, check out the full protocol on the link just below.

Note: Make sure to declare your accident in the first 24 hours following it!

Note: You must first check if your base insurance covers the accident – if not, the FWT insurance will cover it.

For the riders who subscribed to the FWT Freeride Annual Accident Insurance, please email us at [email protected] (for the FWT Qualifier athletes) or at [email protected] (for the FWT Junior athletes) to get a partial refund on their registration fees for the evacuation insurance, starting from the date of subscription to the FWT Freeride Annual Accident Insurance (if the organiser is using the FWT Evacuation Insurance).

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