Squaw Valley, CA - Forty of the world's best freeriders will travel to Squaw Valley in late February, where for the first time ever they'll compete on the ram Face section of the mountain, which has been closed since Squaw Valley opened in 1949.

Participants arrive at Squaw on February 26, opening ceremonies take place on Friday, February 27 and competition is scheduled for Saturday, February 28 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. In the case of inclement weather, the event will be postponed to an alternate date between February 29 and March 5. There will be live music and ongoing events at The Village at Squaw Valley plus another village at Squaw Valley's High Camp.

Riders participating in the Squaw event, which is the second leg of the Nissan sponsored Freeride World Tour (FWT), will arrive in California after Sochi, Russia. After Squaw, they travel to Tignes, France and Verbier, Switzerland. The FWT is only going into its second year but boasts the largest prize purse for a freeride event in the history of the sport at $250,000 and, through a qualifying tour including the North Face Masters Events (see frequency TSJ #6.3) and sponsor exemptions, some of the best big mountain riders in the world are sure to be there.

With a week-long window and mid-winter snow conditions, the Squaw leg of the FWT should prove to be a weekend full of big hucks and big lines in some of the gnarlier terrain in the lower 48. See you there.

Photo: Olivier Marie