Your favorite Freeride World Tour competitor is back with a new film and a wildcard entry.
Ross Tester is one of our favorite skiers to watch. The Flylow athlete has this take-no-bullshit style of skiing that’s hard not to love.
Tester, of course, is a former Freeride World Tour competitor who made waves in every contest he entered. As a rookie in 2021, he took second overall on the tour. The following two years, he ended up on the podium at several stops. Last winter, he qualified for the FWT again, but he decided to step away to work on other goals in skiing and life, as he put it.
“Competition skiing has been my main focus in freeriding since I was 12 years old, so this is a bittersweet and slightly intimidating step to take,” wrote Tester at the time, who formerly competed on the IFSA junior circuit and the Freeride World Qualifiers before eventually qualifying for the FWT in 2021. “But that being said, I’m excited for the next chapter and stoked to share what I’ll be working on this winter.”
What he was working on, it turns out, is a film project, called “Here For Now”. The film is about his three years competing on the FWT and his winter off to reflect and learn more about himself away from competition. He wanted to rediscover what he loves most about skiing and it took a winter of traveling and filming just for himself to remind him of that.
Tester grew up in the Lake Tahoe area and he moved to Salt Lake City to attend the University of Utah. In the film, we see him skiing in both of those locations. No longer driven by the constant chase for podiums, Tester embraces all the beauty and imperfections of what it means to be a skier.
Photo by: Rocko Menzyck
“I want to highlight making the most of difficult situations. It sometimes feels like all I see is perfection on social media and in other ski projects,” Tester said. “I want people to find perfection in their daily lives and whatever situation they may be dealing with. You can ski beautifully in ugly snow, and that’s what I want to showcase. I also want to demonstrate those beautiful days when nearly everything goes to plan and all the factors align. My goal for this film is to show the beauty in the good, the terrible, and everything in between.”
As for this coming winter, Tester has big plans to return to competition. He scored a wild card invite from the FWT. Look for him when the FWT returns to competition in Baqueira Beret, Spain, in late January. Adds Tester, “The things I’m most looking forward to this season is crushing some lines at some of the new stops and at some of the classics.”
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