The recent news of freeride’s addition to the 2030 Winter Olympic Games, held fittingly in the French Alps, has been polarizing. Most of the chatter around the decision has come not from the physical act of snowboarding. Rather, it stems from “FIS-ification” of freeride as a medium, FIS being the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, the governing body that oversees and plans snowboarding on the Olympic stage.

Sage Kotsenburg, an Olympic gold medalist himself, took to Instagram to lament the idea of FIS entering the freeride space, writing, “In my lifetime I watched FIS singlehandedly suck the soul out of Slope, Pipe, and Big Air. I don’t wanna see a day where a coach is telling a kid which way down the mountain will accumulate the most points…” Fair, especially considering—if one looks at it in a literal way—that the strictness of a competition format, especially under such a widely recognized governing body, is antithetical to the namesake of the discipline: freeride.

But, of course, freeride competitions do exist already, that’s the world we live in. And, while there are certainly a number of boarders out there who echo Kotsenburg’s sentiment, there are many who do not, most of whom look at this decision with a sense of cautious optimism, or at the very least a nascent curiosity.

“ If there's going to be snowboarders that want to do it, I just hope that the snowboarders we all like and want to watch are down and make it look as good as possible.” Blake Moller, a professional snowboarder, told me over the phone. It’s a good point. For the well-being of the sport, both within snowboarding and among the people we hope to convince to give it a try. having a rider pool that accurately represents the landscape of backcountry riders who are currently putting in work through video parts (arguably the freest form of freeride), would be the best-case scenario. There would be characters again, underdogs. Think Heikki Sorsa rocking a mohawk at the 2002 Olympics. This is all to say: Will we see an influx of exclusively slopestyle riders looking for what they think might be an easy medal with a few years of training?

At this point, nobody knows. I would guess yes, but that’s just a guess. Does this mean that just because you do slopestyle you aren’t allowed to do freeride? Of course not. There are countless examples of slope riders with serious backcountry bona fides (Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, Mark McMorris, Stale Sandbech and the list goes on.) I’m just saying, there’s a chance certain riders might think to themselves, I’m going to the Olympics anyway, I’m sure I can get in on this freeride thing. And what you have as a result of that are countless video part riders out there, who maybe aren’t familiar with the intricacies of FIS, who risk getting overlooked for the Olympics. And I will admit that it’s too early in the process, and the logistics are still too under wraps to cry foul on anything as of yet. But the skeptic can look at the landscape and see where things are going.

In late 2022, FIS acquired the Freeride World Tour, and this past year, the FWT hosted its first Olympic test event in Andorra. So, while no official information regarding the qualification process is out, it’s reasonable to assume that the Freeride World Tour will be a pipeline into the Olympics. This, of course, comes with its own set of problems, like whether the backcountry riders that snowboard fans truly love to watch will be willing to sacrifice a year of filming to hop on the Freeride World Tour in the pursuit of Olympic glory? So, the question here is simple:  Is this the best way to find your athlete pool? 

The Freeride World Tour is not the only freeride contest in existence. And while it may have the infrastructure and backing of the IOC, general consensus in the snowboard community agrees: it’s not the most prestigious one either.

Cue Natural Selection, the brainchild of Travis Rice, arguably the greatest backcountry snowboarder of all time. Natural Selection has no affiliation with FIS, meaning it is not recognized by the IOC. It does nothing for points, but still it is seen as the pinnacle of freeride contests. A source I spoke to on background says that they saw the Freeride World Tour as a stepping stone to get to Natural Selection.

Watch the events side by side, and you’ll understand what they mean by this. The Freeride World Tour is more gung-ho, looser with the weather, occasionally running contests on crusty or icy conditions just to get the event out.

Natural Selection, on the other hand, is more locked down, patiently waiting for refills on snow between qualifying and finals day.

From an outsider's perspective, the Freeride World Tour seems to be run with a more business-centered mindset—six events a year plus an acquisition by FIS prove this point. While Natural Selection seems to run with a more snowboarder-centered mindset—Travis Rice at the reins seems to prove this point.  

Of course, this is all speculation. Maybe we will get the riders we deserve when freeride makes its debut four years from now. Maybe FIS will hear the cries over social media and take into account what will be good for snowboarding, though that might be wishful thinking. And as for Natural Selection, maybe they will simply continue to exist as the purists' choice for contests, an antidote to some coach holding an iPad at the top of a line. Because at the end of the day, what can’t be cured by seeing Brin Alexander send it into the ether?