First Look at The Face For The Freeride World Tour

However, during the last few metres of the Cornu chair it became clear that we were not going to break through the clouds. So we waited patiently for the few minutes of clear skies that passed over every half hour or so...very brief windows if you're trying to pick out your line on a face that you've never skied before!

The cloudy periods gave us a chance at least to have a chat with some of the riders who had been camped out for most of the afternoon waiting for a glimpse of the Pente des Chamois.

We grabbed a few minutes with last years men's ski World Champion Loic Collomb-Patton. He was surprisingly unstressed by the situation, considering he has a title to defend and is being interview non-stop for all manner of media. He feels that the face is in good condition right now, despite the lack of snow we have had this season, and this is a face that he has never skied before so he is excited to get on it. Although Loic does not often ski in Chamonix he knows the valley fairly well and feels confident with his line choice for tomorrow. He managed to scope it out yesterday as well as earlier today when the skies were clear, and has plenty of photos that he can be studying this evening in preparation.

I also asked him about the newest addition to the FWT schedule, Alaska! He is so excited about this, he has never skied there before and thinks that they have been given a really big opportunity by the FWT. Loic reiterated what I think most skiers and snowboarders would say, that Alaska is a dream destination for everyone! But for the moment he will be focussing on Chamonix and I for one cannot wait to see what he pulls out tomorrow.

Other riders out this afternoon included American's Patrick Baskins and Conor Pelton, along with the Canadian skier Matt Francisty. I had a quick chat with Conor as he made his way down to the finish area at the bottom of the course. He had been waiting for a while for the clouds to clear so that he could get a good look at the face and when it did he snapped as many photos as he could before the clouds rolled in again. He was enjoying the spring like snow though (which seemed like really hard to me! Clearly I'm not a pro rider just yet...) and he's excited for tomorrow!

So with the bib draw now complete the line up for tomorrow morning is confirmed. The riders all took the stage to collect their bibs and be presented to the crowd. With a good atmosphere in the Place Balmat the riders seemed all in good spirits with the Swedes and the local Chamonix riders proving particularly popular with crowd. Names like Wille Lindberg, Reine Barkered and the wildcard entry Markus Eder from Italy came on stage to some of the biggest cheers of the evening. Along with the ever popular Ralph Backstrom, Sam Smoothy and Chamonix golden boy and wildcard Aurelien Ducroz.

Austrian Skier Eva Walkner has returned as a wildcard in the women's ski event after missing the past two seasons due to injury. When asked on stage if she was back to full health and ready for it she responded saying that they were lucky to get a lot of early season powder back home in Austria so so it has been good for training and she is excited to take on the new face tomorrow!

If you missed the action in person then check out the men's snowboarders and men's skiers in these event videos - Men's Skier Bib Draw and Men's Snowboarder Bib Draw.

For a round up of what's happening this weekend keep an eye on our News page and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for live and up-to-date information across the event this weekend. And see the live conditions on the mountain with our webcams!

Watch the Live Webcast here on Chamonet.com once the competition starts.