Sacha Balicco is about to join the World's best as a professional freeride snowboarder on the Freeride World Tour.
Having been supported by SunGod since 2020, Sacha has spent the last three seasons aiming to qualify for the Freeride World Tour. After hard work in the Qualifier and Challenger Series' including a second overall finish, Sacha is ready to stand out on the world stage at the Freeride World Tour 2026.
Ahead of his rookie FWT competition series, we caught up with Sacha at our Basecamp in Verbier.
SunGod: Talk us through the progression from Qualifiers/Challenger to how you qualified for the Freeride World Tour.
Sacha: I started competing in the Freeride segment 3 years ago. Thanks to pretty nice results from the beginning, I managed to make it to the Challengers first season, because as you know, back in the day you could compete in the Qualifier and the Challenger in the same season. So it’s been a pretty nice start, and then the second season I managed to be back again on the Challengers at the end of the season, and I actually missed the qualification by just a few points so I really had to do it again and try my best. So after 3 seasons trying to get on the World Tour, I finally qualified for the Freeride World Tour.
SunGod: First year on the Freeride World Tour, what are you most looking forward to?
Sacha: I’m really looking forward to just having fun and try to do my best, try to showcase my best possible riding and of course, I really want to make it through the cut and hopefully make it to Alaska or Verbier. But I’m just really excited about all the destinations and new places I'm going to discover and probably all the new people I'm going to meet.
SunGod: How do you prepare for an event like the Freeride World Tour?
Sacha: So, I’ve been preparing as soon as last season ended and it’s been a lot of physical preparation, a lot of time in the gym, but also a lot of time on the bike or just being outside and doing some sports. It’s been a good journey I’ve got to say - all the time you have that thing in the back of your mind that you are training for something big, and you always want to give it your all.
SunGod: You’ve been on a journey with SunGod for a few years. What is it like to be a part of the team?
Sacha: It’s been a few years that I have been working with SunGod and they have been a huge help into my freeride journey. Today, joining Liam for example, on the World Tour, it’s a huge achievement for me. I’ve always looked at Liam like one of the best riders in the world and just to be able to ride a little bit with him, take some advice, I’m sure it's going to be a great help for me and I’m sure we’re going to make great things happen, either on the tour or outside of the tour with SunGod. So I’m just really excited for the upcoming season.
SunGod: What is your favourite SunGod pair?
Sacha: So I’m wearing the Vanguards, and I’m usually wearing the pink lens because I really like it, I can wear it in like 95% of the situations, and I just really like the fit, the look and this is a pair I would go for 100%.
Watch the interview here:
Catch the first stop of the Freeride World Tour in Baqueria Beret from 15th January.
Watch on the FWT YouTube Channel.
