Big mountain freeriding doesn’t simply require an expert’s skills, it also demands an athlete’s performance. An uncanny combination of strength, stamina, conditioning, and balance allows riders to sustain massive g-forces while turning and still stomping cliffs with precision…

For most recreational riders/skiers a pow day is why we come to the mountains. Those special conditions that offer up the coveted chance to feel weightless, floating, and perhaps even enlightened. If you are someone who has experienced a deep pow day, then you know how your life changed...

Big mountain slopes open riders up to extreme terrain with its natural obstacles, features, and highly variable snow. What worked on the groomers has little chance on these rowdy faces unless you make some adjustments to your game. My goal here (working off the superstar opinions of Jeremy Jones and Neil McNab) is simple. Learn how to control your speed by carving arcs that flow with the mountain. The application however, is more complicated…

Per the judge’s handbook, when they tried to score each individual category,“A problem occurred: one criterion would take too much value because it is easier to use the full scale on jumps than it is for control, fluidity or line. It made it difficult for someone riding steep and fast but with hardly any jumps to score well.”

“The goal of this judging system is to allow any style of riding to win on any given day. Whether a rider’s strength is steep terrain, big airs, technical tricks or speed, each style should be able to win on that day, the rider simply showed the most impressive run utilizing his own strengths….

Liam dropped next showing his “surf-style” of riding alternating between big turns with fresh rooster tails of pow and stop-checking others for instant face shots seemingly at will. We collected down below and then throttled it the remaining way to the lift. The Tavo train had officially left the station….