Nine athletes secure their spot on the 2026 Freeride World Tour after competing at Arapahoe Basin

It is not every day that Summit County gets the opportunity to serve as the host of one of the Freeride World Tour’s Challenger series competitions, but from Tuesday, April 15, through Wednesday, April 16, two competitions were hosted at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area. 

Taking place on the ski area’s legendary East Wall, some of the best freeride athletes in the world navigated the venue in hopes of qualifying to next year’s Freeride World Tour.

The first day of competition on Tuesday served as a replacement for the third stop on the tour, which was set to take place at Whitewater Ski Resort in Nelson, British Columbia, but was subsequently canceled due to weather. 

Seventy-two men and women took to the venue, linking together challenging lines that featured drops over rock zones and steep terrain.

Glenwood Springs’ Kelly Hilleke led the results in the men’s ski division on Tuesday. The 19-year-old skier put together a strong run in order to rank first overall among the field with a score of 43.30.

Support Local Journalism

Donate

Hilleke was followed by Canada’s Leif Gascoigne (43.13) in second and Vail’s Gavin Goike (42.77) in third. 

The women’s ski division was led by Ogden, Utah’s Wynter McBride. McBride, 24, was awarded the top spot in the competition with a score of 38.77 while Jenna Meyers of Utah took second (35.13) and Lydia Nelsen of Idaho finished in third (34.97). 

In the snowboard divisions, a former Summit County local secured a podium finish. Now residing in Bozeman, Montana, Warren Doyle, 24, had one of his best competitions of the season in the Americas Challenger series. 

After taking second at the Kirkwood competition, Doyle managed to match his finish at A-Basin on Tuesday, recording a score of (38.37). Doyle was preceded in the results on Tuesday by Shayne Blue Sandblom of California (41.17) while Tilden Wooley also of California took third (38.20). 

The women’s snowboard division was won by Audrey Herbert, 36, of Canada (34.87). Natalie Allport of Canada took second (34.73) and Mia Jones (34.53) of California finished in third. 

The very next day, skiers and riders returned to Arapahoe Basin in order to compete at the fourth and final stop of the Challenger series. 

Hilleke was victorious again on day 2, earning a score of 44.83. Lochlan Harvey of Revelstoke, British Columbia took second overall (44.77) while Aspen’s Canyon Cherney finished in third (43.40). In total four skiers earned spots to the 2026 Freeride World Tour Pro series. 

The list includes Hilleke, Harvey, Edward’s Joey Leonardo and Jack Kolesch of Lake Louise, Canada.

McBride once again spearheaded the women’s ski results. Earning a score of 39.77, McBride was crowned the champion of the fourth stop of the tour. Agostina Vietti of Argentina finished in second (38.60) and Lydia Nelsen rounded out the podium in third (37.53).

Due to their placements throughout the season, McBride and Vietti earned qualification spots to the 2026 Freeride World Tour Pro series. 

Max Baker of Washington won the fourth stop of the Challenger series in the snowboard men’s division. Baker earned a score of 37.47, which was just enough to beat out Charles Somerville of Canada (34.53) in second. Tomas Castelli of Argentina took third (34.17).

Despite not being able to make the podium on Wednesday, the second-place finish from the day before was enough for Doyle to secure his spot on the 2026 Freeride World Tour. Doyle took second overall in the Americas Challenger series rankings with Sandblom taking first and Baker taking third. 

Coming down to a handful of points, Doyle and Sandblom will be the riders from Region 2 to newly join the Freeride World Tour in 2026. After being part of the tour during the 2024 competition season, the return is special for Doyle.

“When I was on the tour in 2024, that was a total dream fulfilled,” Doyle said. “I ended up doing pretty well, but just quite not making the cut. I was totally devastated and came back to the Challenger series and was one spot short of qualifying. That was a tough way to end last season. With that being the main goal of the season, and for it to work out feels totally amazing.”

Doyle will rejoin fellow former Summit County resident Michael Mawn, who he is best friends and teammates with, on the tour.

“I am so excited to be joining him again,” Doyle said. “After a year apart, to be able to go back and do it with him again adds to the excitement for sure.”

Allport managed to jump up a spot on the second day of competition at A-Basin. Earning a score of 35.37, Allport took first overall while Erin Sauve of Canada took second (34.60) and Megan Gard of California finished in third (32).

Allport will be the sole snowboard women athlete to newly qualify for the Freeride World Tour. For replays from the A-Basin competition, visit FreerideWorldTour.com.

This story is from SummitDaily.com.