Wei Tien Ho and Jackson Bathgate have punched their tickets to the big show.
The two Whistler-based skiers have officially been named to the Freeride World Tour (FWT) roster after excellent overall performances on the FWT Challenger series.
Ho accumulated 4050 points over the course of this last season, making him the top Canadian and second-highest ranked overall skier in the Americas region. He has been voted Whistler's Favourite Junior Athlete two years in a row. In addition to skiing, Ho is a dedicated mountain biker with three top-10 World Cup DH results and two Norco Canadian Enduro Series podium finishes under his belt.
Bathgate is third in the standings with 3600 points, making him the second-best Canadian this time around. He won the 2016 Freeride Junior World Championships but has had to deal with a litany of injuries since then. Bathgate's twin brother, Cooper, last competed on the FWT in 2022.
Colton Shaff of the United States emerged as the top Challenger series athlete in the Americas with 4250 points. Another American, Kendall Goodman, also qualified for the FWT with 3500 points (good enough for fourth).
That left Brodie Jensen on the outside looking in. The Nelson, B.C. native barely missed the cut with 3400 points.
