With its fourth stop, the SWATCH FREERIDE WORLD TOUR 2013 BY THE NORTH FACE® (FWT) continues its season of exciting global big mountain freeride competition at Kirkwood, California, USA on February 27, 2013. The competition can be witnessed from anywhere in the world via live webcast available the day of competition on freerideworldtour.com. The first possible day of competition is schedule for February 27, with a weather window extending to March 3.

Kirkwood Mountain Resort’s big mountain venue, The Cirque, is the ideal location for the fourth stop of the 2013 FWT. The Cirque is comprised of exposed, steep and raw terrain, which is permanently closed to the general public allowing for a unique and exciting North American freeride venue.

“With unmatched inbounds terrain and some of the deepest snow in the country, Kirkwood is an appropriate choice as the only U.S. stop for the Freeride World Tour,” said Casey Blann, Kirkwood’s general manager. “This event really solidifies our position as one of the premier big mountains in the country, and I personally can’t wait to see these athletes tackle The Cirque.”

“I’m really looking forward to Kirkwood“, the top-ranked in the FWT overall ski ranking, Drew Tabke (USA), added. “I’ve been going there for freeride competitions for a lot of years, and the conditions are typically excellent. Being the leader of the tour ranking puts more pressure on my skiing because I know people will be watching closely, and that added pressure reminds me to stay focused.”

Tahoe area local and 2012 Freeskiing World Tour Champion Josh Daiek is looking forward to competing at his home mountain this season. “I’m simply stoked for the competition to be at Kirkwood!” said Daiek. “It has some of the most fun terrain and is one of the best competition venues in the world.”

On the fourth FWT stop for the season, competition amongst the deeply talented international athlete field is heating up. The tour started with a roster of 36 prequalified male skiers, 14 male snowboarders, 14 female skiers and 7 female snowboarders. The 2013 FWT features 5 stops for male skiers and snowboarders, and 4 stops for female skiers and snowboarders before a cut will be made for the SWATCH XTREME VERBIER 2013 BY THE NORTH FACE® in Switzerland. After the fifth stop in Fieberbrunn-PillerseeTal, Austria, the top 3 results out of 5 events for men and the top 3 results out of 4 events for women will be used to qualify riders for Verbier and the 2014 FWT.