The First-Ever Freeride World Champions Have Been Crowned, but Not Without Controversy

The first-ever Allianz FIS Freeride World Championships Andorra 2026 have wrapped up, and the winners of the historic freeride event have been crowned.

40 of the best freeride skiers in the world (minus a few due to the competition being cut short) dropped into Ordino Arcalís, Andorra, to represent 17 countries and battle it out for the title of World Champion.

Many favorite Freeride World Tour (FWT) riders from both the current season and past ones were on the roster for the event, although as an FIS-sanctioned competition, the results had no impact on FWT standings.

Like the FWT, athletes in four categories: Ski Men, Ski Women, Snowboard Men, and Snowboard Women, were given one run on the face and judged on a variety of criteria. Points awarded for the run were not only allocated to the individual riders but also counted towards the Nations Ranking to determine the top overall-performing nation.

It was a tough competition day with low-hanging clouds delaying the competition start. Recent snowfall made for soft snow conditions on the face, but also hid many shallow rocks that hung up more than a few competitors. Ski Men dropped following both Snowboard categories, and Ski Women were the final category of the day to drop.

Here are all the details on the winning runs of the day. Scroll down to the Ski Women's category for the controversial ruling that ended the competition.

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Ski Men

Winning Run:

First Place: Ben Richards (NZL)
Second Place: Ugo Troubat (FRA)
Third Place: Kai Jones (USA)

To almost no one's surprise, the skier absolutely dominating the FWT this season also put down an incredible run at the Freeride World Championships. Kiwi skier Ben Richards just can't seem to stop winning. Richards dropped in tenth out of 24 riders. He skated his way down the entrance couloir with a ton of speed and a notable amount of style before perfectly landing a super floaty 360 off his first feature. Richards gapped another large cliff feature and went right into a second, perfectly executed 360. As usual, his technical and stylish run was executed without so much as a wobble and landed him on top of the podium with a 91.67.

When Richards dropped in, the first skier of the day (and the youngest), Kai Jones, was still sitting in first place with a score of 76.67. Jones, who competed in freeride as a junior but has since focused much of his already impressive career on film parts, made a return to competition at NST Ski last spring. Jones skied the top couloir beautifully, demonstrating his technical skill in the terrain before lining up a huge backflip, although he backslapped slightly in the landing as well as in the landing of the following pole-plant 360. However, his bobbles were clearly forgiven when he gapped the massive double feature, making it a single, and hit the one below it too, stomping both landings.

The only skier to give Jones a run for his money following Richards was French skier Ugo Troubat. Troubat was slotted in last-minute in place of an injured Virgile Didier and was the third to last skier to drop. Troubat aired into the venue to kick things off before executing a super technical 360. Troubat's run continued into some fresh features with another 360, where he backslapped a bit, but managed to ride out before finishing out with a third spin and a textbook backflip. Ugo's well-deserved 86.00 bumped Jones into third to round out the podium.

Ski Women

Winning Run:

Note: A lack of visibility put an early stop to the Ski Women's competition, after a call was made by the Contest Director to prioritize athlete safety. When the call was made, 11 out of 16 competitors had completed runs, which met the two-thirds of the field threshold requirement put in place by FIS.

As a result, the competition results at the time of the stoppage were validated. Some of the most anticipated female competitors of the day, Agostina Vietti, Lily Bradley, Manon Loschi, Astrid Cheylus, and Wynter McBride, were not able to put down competition runs.

First Place: Zuzanna Witych (POL)
Second Place: Justine Dufour -Lapointe (CAN)
Third Place: Molly Armanino (USA)

Polish skier Zuzanna Witych dropped in third to last of the ski women who did compete. Like Jones on the men's side, Witych showed off her technical alpine skills in the top couloir before stomping several airs without any hesitation. Witych found fresh terrain, despite being one of the last riders of the day and stomped two more cliff features, earning her an 80.33 and knocking Justine Dufour-Lapointe out of first place.

The reigning FWT queen dropped fifth and came in with a ton of speed on the right side of the venue. Dufour-Lapointe took fresh lines, varying slightly from where other competitors had gone, and stomped several large airs in the process. The Canadian skier lined up a massive backflip off the final wind lip and landed it beautifully, giving her a 76.33.

The only American female skier to drop, Molly Armanino, came into the venue all gas and no brakes. She expertly speed checked before airing into some of the face's more technical terrain. Armanino adapted well to tracks and bomb holes left by other competitors and laid down a high-speed run, and her first clean one of the competition season, landing her in third with a 74.00.