French skier Astrid Cheylus competes during the Freeride World Tour final Verbier Xtreme on the Bec de Rosses mountain, above the Swiss Alps resort of Verbier, on March 22, 2024.
AFP via Getty Images
On Tuesday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that freeride skiing and snowboarding have been approved as program additions for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games in the French Alps. The historic announcement marks freeride’s Olympic debut.
U.S. Ski & Snowboard will also formally bring freeride under its national governing body.
The decision was announced as part of the IOC Executive Board’s review of the competition program for the French Alps 2030 Games, which are expected to feature 3,046 athletes, with 1,525 women and 1,521 men competing across 126 medal events. It will be the first Winter Olympics to achieve gender parity in athlete participation, as Paris 2024 did for the Summer Olympics.
Freeride as a competitive discipline dates back to 1991, when the first competition was held in Valdez, Alaska. Now, more than three decades later, it will arrive on the Olympic stage with four medal events: men’s ski, women’s ski, men’s snowboard and women’s snowboard. Each discipline will see 22 athletes per gender qualify.
Unlike traditional alpine or freestyle events, freeride athletes compete on natural, ungroomed mountain terrain, selecting their own lines through cliffs, chutes and other natural features. Performances are judged on criteria including line choice, control, fluidity, technique and style rather than speed.
“Bringing freeride to the Olympics will create extensive opportunities for current athletes, future athletes and the wider ski and ride industry,” said Freeride World Tour (FWT) founder and CEO Nicolas Hale-Woods, pointing to anticipated growth in coaching, sponsorship, financial opportunities and training.
Freeride boasts more than 320 global events and more than 10,000 licensed riders, expanding ski clubs around the world and growing participation across all ages and genders.
The FWT has shaped the development of freeride for three decades, from the creation of the Xtreme Verbier in 1996 to the inaugural FIS Freeride World Championships in 2026. The circuit provides a structured pathway for athletes through four competition series: Junior and Qualifier events, Challenger competitions and the elite-level Freeride World Tour.
The addition of freeride is among several changes to the 2030 Olympic program, which also includes the debut of synchronized figure skating, new mixed-gender events in freestyle skiing and snowboarding and women’s ski jumping super team competition. Nordic combined—the only Winter Olympics discipline to exclude women entirely—has been removed from the program.
“The Olympics is such a huge milestone, and having this first historic event take place in the French Alps, which is pretty much the center of freeriding, will make it unlike anything we’ve seen before,” said Mia Jones, 2026 FIS Freeride World Champion and advocate for women in freeride snowboarding. “The excitement and community surrounding the Olympics, combined with the history of the French Alps, will make it a really special event.”
Mia Jones (second from right) was the inaugural women’s snowboard 2026 FIS Freeride World Champion.
Lévy Loye / Freeride World Tour
Freeride’s Olympic inclusion follows its growing international recognition. The International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS) acquired the Freeride World Tour in 2022 and officially recognized freeride as a discipline in 2024.
Outside FIS competition, events such as Natural Selection Tour have been successful in combining freestyle and freeride elements in a competition format that translates to TV and streaming.
U.S. Ski & Snowboard will publish athlete selection criteria and name elite freeride teams during the 2026–27 season. Freeride skiers will compete as part of the Stifel U.S. Freeski Team, while snowboarders will join the Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team. The NGB also announced a partnership with the International Freeskiers & Snowboarders Association (IFSA), which will continue managing grassroots freeride competition in the U.S.
U.S. Ski & Snowboard, which is headquartered in Park City, Utah, shared its hope that freeride will also appear on the program for the Salt Lake City 2034 Olympics.
The IOC said the program changes for the French Alps 2030 Games are intended to advance gender equality while ensuring the Winter Olympic program continues to evolve and remain relevant to future generations of athletes and fans. Freeride’s inclusion represents one of the most significant additions to the Games, bringing a discipline long associated with the backcountry onto the Olympic stage for the first time.