Countdown to the 2012 Swatch Freeride World Tour in Chamonix Mont-Blanc - Media Accreditation is now open

Lutry, SUI – 19 December 2011 –

The date (21- 27 January) of the 2012 Swatch Freeride World Tour (FWT) is coming closer and closer. The Tour will once again stop in the famous French resort of Chamonix (www.chamonix.com), set against the beautiful backdrop of the Mont Blanc, and widely considered as the Mecca of Freeriding.

Media accreditation for Chamonix Mont-Blanc is now open. To register please download the media accreditation form and send the filled out form to the contacts below. All media should ideally register before the holidays - media accreditation will close on January 16.

The 5th season of the FWT promises again to become a competition full of suspense with the world’s best freeriders competing for the prestigious Swatch Freeride World Tour Champion title. Some exciting new riders from the 2011 Freeride World Qualifiers (FWQ) will join this year’s competition.

One of them is Ludovic Guillot-Diat, who won the men's 2011 Freeride World Qualifiers (FWQ) snowboard tour and at the same time his ticket for the FWT 2012. He competed for many years in the French boarder cross team and is looking forward to his first season on the Tour: “I am fortunate this year to be part of the dozen riders who will compete for the title. My main goal for this season is to acquire a maximum of experience. For that I will compete on the FWT and the FWQ to learn as much as I can. The program will be intense. A very good season for me would be to finish in the top 3 of a FWT and a victory of a FWQ stop. My long-term goal is to to become one day Freeride World Champion. The Freeride World Tour until last year was for me a childhood dream, I am now a big kid who will fulfill his dream!”

Kevin Guri won the 2011 FWQ ski competition. He comes from a Freestyle background and will be, at just 22 years old, the youngest competitor on the Tour: “I will have a very busy winter with a lot of competitions and also some shootings for films. I am looking forward to be at the start of the Freeride World Tour with a lot of very famous riders. I hope to learn a lot from them but also to bring a new and young vision to the Freeride World Tour with freestyle tricks in the faces.”

On the side of the women the tour welcomes back to the ski competition Lorraine Huber from Austria who was absent in 2011 and is ready for the new season: “Competing in the Freeride World Tour has been my major source of motivation to get my body in shape again this year. It was very tough coming back from chronic illness and a long-term knee injury but I'm feeling stronger than ever now. I haven't competed since 2010 and I don't want to put too much pressure on myself by setting my sights on a win, so my main goal is to enjoy the skiing and ski consistently.”

Click here to download the full list of confirmed riders for the 2012 Freeride World Tour in Chamonix Mont-Blanc.

About the Freeride World Tour

The Freeride World Tour was launched in 2008 and after four full seasons is now recognized by riders, the ski industry and the media as the competitive pinnacle of the sport. In 2012, the best Freeriders - men, women, skiers and snowboarders - will once again visit some of the world’s most iconic ski resorts in pursuit of the world title. The Freeride World Tour is supported by Freeride World Qualifier events around the world where the same criteria for event organisation, choice of locations, security, contest format, and judging is applied.

Freeride World Tour Media Relations:

International Media:

Yann Zopf

+ 41 79 555 3752

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UK:

Nadine Carle

+44 7905 25 24 60

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TV Distribution:

Quattro Media

Susanne Lenz

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+49 (0) 8093 - 572 21 (direct)

+49 (0) 177 - 736 36 72 (mobile)

Media Content & TV Distribution

Media Library: click here to access.

The Freeride World Tour Media Library gives you quick and easy access to documents, photos and videos free of any rights fees. Just create a password, search for the media and download.

FWT TV productions:

For each event a 26 minute highlight show will be produced available at event day + 7. Additionally, a 3 minutes news piece (event day), rough cuts (event day) and interviews are available. Behind the scene clips & interviews: available from the 2011 season here.

Photos: Click here to access a photo selection in high resolution or here for a black & white selection.

Please mention the copyright © freerideworldtour.com/ photographers + athlete’s name next to every photo used. The photos are free of rights and their use is exclusive to media. Thank you.