The first stop of the SWATCH FREERIDE WORLD TOUR BY THE NORTH FACE 2013 (FWT) concluded today. Revelstoke Mountain Resort’s Mac Daddy face burst through a sea of clouds and was illuminated by crystal clear skies.

The picturesque day started with men’s snowboarding on the pristine, snow-covered venue. Ralph Backstrom of Squaw Valley, CA, USA defended his 2012 Revelstoke title: “I was a little nervous we wouldn’t have good light conditions after the past few days but was so excited to have bluebird skies,” explained Backstrom. “The super steep pitch of Mac Daddy makes it difficult not to go over the handle bars when landing jumps. I really like the big features that exist on this terrain.” As the Freeride World Tour season continues, Backstrom is looking forward to competing in the coming events.

Continuing on the men’s snowboard podium was Ludovic Guillot-Diat of Villard-de-Lans, France taking second place with a very fast and fluid run. Also representing France was third place finisher Aurelien Routens from La Grave who aggressively charged down the fall line.

In the afternoon, it was time for the women to put on the show. Shannan Yates of Snowbird Ski Resort, Utah USA took the ladies snowboard podium with her smooth style and confident big mountain riding. “This is the steepest venue the female snowboarders have yet to face,” said Yates. “The top of the run was variable and icy, making it hard to go fast, but I managed to ride my line and land both airs.”

Margot Rozies of Pyrenees, France managed to grab the second spot and Elodie Mouthon also from France joined the podium in third.

Snowboard Men:
1. Backstrom Ralph USA
2. Guillot-diat Ludovic FRA
3. Routens Aurelien FRA

Snowboard Women:
1. Yates Shannan USA
2. Rozies Margot FRA
3. Mouthon Elodie FRA

“It is difficult to describe what a momentous accomplishment today’s event was for the riders and sport of freeriding,” said FWT Americas Event Director Bryan Barlow. “Today officially marked the unification of the Freeride World Tour. We have set the bar very high here at Revelstoke and I look forward to watching the season unfold. See you in Courmayeur, Italy, next weekend !”

The SWATCH FREERIDE WORLD TOUR BY THE NORTH FACE® continues its competition schedule in 

• Courmayeur Mont Blanc, Italy on January 19th (Men's Snowboard), 
• Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, France on January 26th (Men's and Women's Snowboard),
• Kirkwood, California, USA on February 27th (Men's and Women's Snowboard), 
• Fieberbrunn PillerseeTal, Austria on March 9th (Men's and Women's Snowboard), and concludes in
• Verbier, Switzerland on March 23rd (Men's and Women's Snowboard).

Archive video of the event action is located on FreerideWorldTour.com. Fans may select to view the entire event or just watch their favorite riders’ runs on the FWT video player.

Follow the Freeride World Tour on Facebook and Twitter: @FreerideWTour  and #FWT13