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The best extreme skiers and snowboarders arrive in Bulgaria’s Best Ski Resort - Bansko! The occasion is the international 3* Freeride World Tour Qualifier, which is a qualifying round of the Freeride World Tour Series.
The event is scheduled to take place on March 18th, 2023. March 17th and 19th are reserve race days in case the weather conditions on the 18th are not good.
The competitors will start from Todorka peak (2746 m above sea level), located above Bansko Ski Area. The vertical descent is 350-400m, the length of the track is between 800 and 1000m. The racers are divided in 4 categories: skiing and snowboarding (men and women).

This year 5 judges will evaluate the performance of the participants. The final result is formed by criteria such as the difficulty of the selected line, control during the descent, ease of execution of the individual elements, technique and complexity of the jumps. More than 80 participants are expected to sign up for the competition, around 20 of them from Bulgaria.

"The slope of Todorka is among the best on the tour and gives many options for line choice, so there is good opportunity for the competitors to stand out. One of the main goals of the competition is to provide an opportunity for riders from Bulgaria to compete at home on a slope they know very good! We hope this will give them the confidence and home advantage they need to perform well!” said Andrei Balevski, Race director of the competition.

The share of so-called back country tourism has increased in recent years and is now more than 50% of winter sports equipment sales. The mountains in Bulgaria offer very good conditions for its practice. After the huge success and great atmosphere that was created in 2022, the highest Fan Zone made in Bulgaria will be built again in Bansko, right next to the top station of the lifts "Plato" and "Bunderitsa 2" at 2550 m above sea level. From there you have a perfect view on the entire slope, on which the athletes will descend.

3* Freeride World Tour Qualifier is the path athletes must go to reach the Freeride World Tour. During the current season there are races in countries such as Austria, Japan and Canada.
In 2022 Bansko hosted the competition for the first time. It was held in excellent conditions and resulted in very positive feedback from competitors, Freeride World Tour representatives and the public.