Edwards skier Joey Leonardo has qualified for the 2026 Freeride World Tour (FWT). The 22-year-old placed fourth at the final stop of FWT Challenger series at Arapahoe Basin on Wednesday to wind up second in the overall season rankings. He’ll join Glenwood Springs skier Kelly Hilleke — who won the second event at the two-day competition at A-Basin and was the overall season champion as well — and nine other athletes from Region 2 on next year’s FWT.

“Boy am I excited about it,” Leonardo said. “It’s a childhood dream come true.” 

The FWT Challenger series is the penultimate step to the FWT, which is the highest level of freeride skiing and snowboarding on the planet. Nine Region 1 (Europe, Oceania and Asia) and nine Region 2 (North and South America) athletes are awarded slots on the FWT based upon their season rankings on the FWT Challenger circuit, which included four scheduled stops this year.

Leonardo won the FWT World Junior championship in 2020 and placed eighth in 2021. Never a member of an official ski team, Leonardo was coached by his dad, Jeff, who grew up in New Jersey and didn’t start to ski until his late teens.

“I couldn’t have done it without him, and my mom as well,” Leonardo said. “I’m eternally grateful for everything they’ve done for me. I definitely wouldn’t be here without them.”

The 2021 Battle Mountain graduate has spent the last four years pursuing a degree at Montana State University, honing his freeride skills at nearby Bridger Bowl. His results database is a little sparse — he only competed in one competition each year from 2022-2024 — as he leaned into his studies more than the slopes. It’s been worth it though: Leonardo graduates in a couple weeks with a major in environmental science with a land and rehabilitation focus and a minor in Spanish.

“I know skiing is not entirely a reliable career and getting an education is a good thing, so I’ve definitely prioritized that,” he said.

This past winter, however, Leonardo took advantage of having just a three-credit course load. He competed at four FWT Qualifier events — which included a pair of victories at Copper Mountain and a bronze at Crested Butte — and three FWT Challenger competitions. His original goal was to accumulate enough points to make it into the four-star competitions for next year.

The first Challenger stop at Whitewater in Canada was canceled due to unsafe conditions. Without the guarantee of an eventual makeup competition in A-Basin, Leonardo knew he couldn’t fall at stop No. 2 at Kirkwood Mountain Resort on March 29-31, as final rankings are determined by an athlete’s two best results.

“I just tried to play it smart,” he said of his mindset going into Kirkwood. “I didn’t try to do anything too crazy, just linked up a bunch of features, threw a left 3, right 3 in. I just wanted to stay on my feet, have a good run.”

He was rewarded with a victory.

“Honestly, if it wasn’t for that comp, I wouldn’t be on the tour next year,” Leonardo admitted before adding that he came into the Whitewater makeup event on April 15 at A-Basin with a similarly conservative approach. “I knew I was ahead and I figured if I just landed a good run, not doing anything too crazy again — like it worked in Kirkwood — that it would be good enough.”

He didn’t hold back too much, however, on the icy east wall of “The Legend,” turning two 360s in addition to a front and backflip off various features.

“I just didn’t do enough at the top,” Leonardo said of his 10th-place showing, which left his FWT dreams on life support going into the next day.

“It turned the pressure on for sure,” he continued. “I knew for the second day I would have to step my run up if I wanted to make it.”

The Edwards product, who grew up skiing mostly at Vail and Beaver Creek, did exactly that. He charged into “Tom and Jerry” with zero hesitation and popped a massive backflip into “narrow North Pole.” Then he stomped a left 360 into a front flip off the Hollywood wind lip midway through. He continued to rack up points on the lower section of the course, dropping another left 360 and a second back flip. At the bottom of “land of the giants,” he tweaked a safety grab through the hallway air cliff.

“The venue was awesome,” Leonardo said of A-Basin, which he only skied at once or twice growing up and not at all in the last seven years. “It could have used a bit more snow. It definitely added a scariness factor to the runs — there was a lot of no-fall zones.”

Hilleke took the win while Canadian Lochlan Harvey placed second and Aspen’s Canyon Cherney picked up the bronze. Even with a wooden medal, Leonardo left satisfied.

“It was just a great week and (I’m) thrilled with the outcome,” he said.

FWT coming to the Olympics in 2030?

It’s an exciting time in the world of freeriding. The International Olympic Committee is expected to announce this year whether or not the sport should be included in the 2030 Olympic program.

“I just think that would be so cool — even if I didn’t get to participate — just for the growth of the sport,” Leonardo said. “But that’s in the future and I’m just looking forward to this next winter more than anything.”

Good news: there will be a global championship in 2026, too. The inaugural FIS Freeride World Championships are set for Feb. 1-6 in Andorra. Freeride is also coming back to the U.S. It was announced April 14 that the FWT will return to the country for the first time since 2017 as the YETI Alaska Pro brings athletes to the technical spines of Haines.

“Bringing the Tour back to Alaska has been a dream in the making for years,” stated Nicolas Hale-Woods, CEO and founder of FWT, in a press release. “Haines offers some of the most dramatic and respected terrain in the world—it’s the ultimate freeride venue.”

Alaska also hosted FWT events in 2015, 2016 and 2017. U.S. resorts have hosted more than 100 FWT Junior, Qualifier and Challenger events.

Next year, Leonardo plans to base himself out of Tacoma, Washington, but will spend a couple months in Europe over the winter since he’s guaranteed the first four FWT stops. If he can be in the top-13 at the finals qualification cut, he’d get to go to Alaska and earn FWT starting rights for next year as well.

“For awhile I’ve been saying that even just to get one winter on the tour, even if I wasn’t able to re-qualify, that would be sufficient. But I know as soon as I get a comp in or two, I’m definitely going to want to do this for another year,” he said. “Competing with the best of the best, I’m going to have to step my game up. But it’s just something I’ve really wanted for a really long time, so I’m excited to give it my best shot.”