Mia Jones swept some of the biggest competitions in snowboarding this winter — and she’s just getting started. Not only did the 20-year-old prodigy snowboarder win the FIS Freeride World Championships in February in Andorra, but she was also named “Rookie of the Year” on the FIS Freeride World Tour (FWT).
She then earned enough points to win the 2026 FWT, sealing the deal at the final competition, the Xtreme Verbier in Switzerland. It’s the same event her dad, Jeremy Jones, won in 2005.
On March 28, 2026, she was crowned the FWT Overall Champion for women’s snowboarding.
“It went pretty well,” Jones told GearJunkie. “I thought the whole experience was definitely really positive.”
Jones could be described that way, too — definitely really positive. She said she went into this competition with zero expectations. She’d never been to any of the European countries on the tour and was just stoked to get the opportunity to travel. This was also the first time she’d taken a semester off from school to fully pursue professional snowboarding. The choice clearly paid off.
Jones returned to school at Dartmouth in New Hampshire in early April, with new titles to her name and accolades for her pro snowboarding resume. We caught up with her shortly after her return to talk about the season, her triumphs, her gear, and what’s next.
Q&A With Mia Jones: Rookie of the Year, FIS Freeride World Champion, FWT Overall Champion
GearJunkie: This was a big season for you. What were some of the highlights outside of the competition?
Mia Jones: It was so fun to just travel around and see all these super incredible places. And we had some really good [snow] conditions at a lot of them. So, the whole experience of traveling around Europe was pretty sick.
What percentage of your season was taken up by this competition, from training to traveling and competing?
It took up pretty much my entire season. I think especially because most of the stops are in Europe, other than the one American stop … And then I flew immediately back to school when it was over.
So, it pretty much took over my entire season.
This was your first time on the Freeride World Tour. What did you think of the competition itself?
It was pretty sick … They literally make it so you have the best snow, the best light, and the best venues. And you’ve spent so much time studying [the run] that it’s like — every comp was pretty much the sickest run that I’ve done before.
Did you have a favorite stop?
Alaska was pretty dream conditions, dream destination, like really incredible to be there. Verbier also. Just the energy around it was pretty different from Alaska. In Alaska, you’re out there, and you’re on your own, and there’s literally no spectators. And then you go to Verbier, and it’s like the entire world feels like it’s there, and there’s so much going on. It was super fun.
So the comp met and exceeded your expectations, then?
I honestly didn’t really know what to expect. I really tried to go in with zero expectations and just see what happened. I wanted to go up and be along for the experience. It was honestly more fun and less stressful than I really thought it would be, which was kind of nice. I think it ended up working out really well for me in the end.
At Xtreme Verbier, when you got to the bottom, did you know that you’d just made a winning run?
I definitely got to the bottom, and I was very proud of the run and knew that it was sick. Obviously, I also knew the other girls had the capability to do really sick runs. But when I got to the bottom, I felt super proud of what I had just done. And that was everything that I went there to do.
Did you ever feel extra pressure as a Jones to compete harder or to always be the ‘Best Snowboarder on the Mountain’?
Honestly, no. I really didn’t think about it that much at all. I really tried to go into the season and just focus on snowboarding and focus on my ability and my confidence level and not really think about all the external factors about proving yourself because it’s your first year or because of my family name or any of that. I really just tried not to think about that. And I feel like that helped a lot, just making it a much less stressful experience.
Any tips for aspiring Freeride World Tour competitors?
I would just say, go out there, snowboard as much as you can, and have as much fun as you can. Because, at least for me, that was my mindset going into the tour. And that was my mindset training for the tour.
It was like, ‘I’m just going to go out there, and I’m going to ride every day, and I’m going to find lines that I think are the most fun and that I’m excited to ride.’ And when you do that, at the end of the day, it’s not some big competition. It’s really just snowboarding, and it’s what you love.
What’s next for you?
I’m now back at school for the spring quarter, so I will be here until June. And yeah, not much, no more competitions. I’m hoping to snowboard a little bit as long as the season lasts — for fun. But that’s it.
Mia Jones and the Gear She Used to Win the FWT
When we asked Mia about her gear strategy and how she chose what to take on the FWT, she laughed uncomfortably.
“I probably should have a better process, honestly, because it’s kind of a mess. But yeah, I would say, I just run through the checklist: Boots, pants, jacket, helmet, goggles, that whole thing,” she said. “I usually end up forgetting a lot of things.”
In fact, the reason her snowboard boots aren’t pictured in the above photo is that, well, Jones accidentally forgot them on a train in Europe.
Luckily, everything she needed made it to the competition and to all the FWT stops. Here’s a list of the gear that helped her win the tour.
- POC OBEX MIPS ski helmet
- POC OPSIN ski goggles
- Hestra Women’s Fall Line Mitt
- POC Women’s VPD Air vest ski protection
- Mammut Eiger Free 20 FWT Removable Airbag 3.0
- Mammut Barryvox
- Jones Women’s 155 Flagship
- Jones Women’s MTN Surf Pant
- Jones Women’s Shralpinist stretch 3L Jacket
- thirtytwo Women’s Lashed Snowboard boots (not pictured)
