Freeride & Big Mountain
Lou Barin
- Freeride Skiing
- Nationality
- France
- Hometown
- Val Thorens, France
- Turned pro
- 2026
- Primary discipline
- Freeride Skiing
About Lou Barin
French freeride skier from Val Thorens, a former freestyle skier who transitioned to freeride only three years ago. Finished 2nd overall in the 2025 FWT Challenger Series to earn her Pro Tour rookie season, then won the entire 2026 FWT Ski Women overall title in that rookie season, sealed with a dominant win on the Bec des Rosses at the season-closing YETI Xtreme Verbier.
Barin transitioned from freestyle skiing to freeride only three years ago, finished 2nd overall in the 2025 FWT Challenger Series to earn her Pro Tour rookie season for 2026 - and then won the whole thing. She took the 2026 FWT Ski Women overall title in her rookie season, sealed with a dominant win on the Bec des Rosses at the season-closing YETI Xtreme Verbier (95 points, including two clean 360s off cliff features on a face she'd never faced before and had admitted beforehand to feeling intimidated by). This is one of the most dramatic 'rookie wins it all' stories in FWT history and the flat 'Rookie' tag doesn't begin to capture it. Equipment: confirmed K2 team rider, specifically riding the K2 Mindbender series throughout her title-winning season (Andorra, Alaska powder, Verbier), per K2's own blog post celebrating her win.
Sponsors: K2
Setup
1 item
Skis
K2 Mindbender
- Off-piste
Ridden throughout her 2026 title-winning season.
Freeride ski series designed for high-performance freeride athletes; Barin rode this series throughout her 2026 title-winning season.
Setup verified 20 July 2026