Organizers of an international ski and snowboard competition announced Monday that they’d be returning to Haines in March of 2026, after a nine year hiatus.
Haines is well-known for its big mountain skiing and proponents have pushed for the event as something that could boost wintertime tourism in the Chilkat Valley.
The Freeride World Tour was last held in Haines in 2017 before organizers decided to go elsewhere citing a $700,000 cost and a lack of Alaskan sponsors. This time, it’s returning with partner YETI.
In late May of 2024, organizers of the event met with the Chilkoot Indian Association, borough staff, and former assembly member Natalie Dawson. She said at the organizers seemed eager to help the borough promote the Chilkat Valley and to acknowledge Indigenous people in the area.
Chilkoot Indian Association economic development team member Zach Wentzel this month asked the borough assembly to financially support bringing the tour to Haines.
Speaking on behalf of the Chilkoot Indian Association’s economic development team, and specifically its cultural tourism enterprise Discover Deishú, Wentzel said he supported the assembly re-allocating $75,000 in support of bringing the tour to Haines.
“The Freeride World Tour represents an expression of one of the greatest assets we have here in Haines, which is one of the most spectacular mountain environments in the world,” he said.
Last year, the Haines Borough assembly voted to sponsor the event with $75,000. That vote was re-affirmed on April 8 when the assembly voted to sponsor the tour at a cost of $100,000, though tourism director Rebecca Hylton said at the time that she would try to negotiate $25,000 of in-kind donations.
Tourism Director Rebecca Hylton did not agree to an interview about the potential impact of the return of the freeriding event, but said in the official world tour press release that the borough was “absolutely thrilled” to welcome the tour back to Haines.
“Haines offers some of the most iconic big-mountain lines on the planet, and we can’t wait to see the world’s top athletes push their limits right here in our backyard,” she wrote.
Bamboo Room and Pioneer Bar owner Christy Tengs Fowler said she loved hearing that the tour was coming through the Chilkat Valley again.
“When it was here before, the energy was amazing,” she wrote in a message. “We got to break bread with the top skiers and snowboarders in the world!”
Tengs Fowler said her son Marty interned with the tour as a photographer and was hired to continue through a final race in Verbier, Switzerland.
“I accompanied him and was stunned to see the Pioneer Bar featured in a video on a 50 foot screen in the middle of town square,” she wrote. “Who knew, growing up here, that the snow on our mountains would bring us this worldwide acclaim!”