With it’s fair share of bluebird skies and fresh pow, the world’s best backcountry riders battled it out at Revelstoke last week on the first leg of this season’s Freeride World Tour. It was the first time boarders had taken on the Mac Daddy face in the finals, successfully rising to the challenge despite some difficult visibility for the women’s final in the afternoon.

Defending champ Ralph Backstrom kept a tight shred across the jagged face with a nice triple drop earning him a well-deserved spot at first place. If the Californian shredder keeps this up, it will be another great year for him at the FWT. Shannan Yates also came out top in the women’s final, opting for a more exposed route down the central face and tightly navigating the trees with a nice drop off at the end.

In second place for men came Ludovic Guillot-Diat with a fast, slick ascent down the face, hitting a couple of features with speed along the way. Margot Rozies had a tough time coming up against Yates but secured second place, taking it slow in the middle section but proving her skills as visibility closed in towards the finish line.

Finally, in third place came the second French competitor Aurelien Routens with an aggressive top-to-bottom run. Elodie Mouthon, another French rider, cruised in at third place with a steady pace and strong landings down at the super cloudy base.

The next stage in the competition will be at Courmayeur Mont Blanc, Italy on 19th January. We’ll be sure to keep tabs on these riders as they follow the tour to Europe.

Watch all the winning runs on FWT video here.