From the moment big mountain snowboarders Michael Mawn and Warren Doyle began competing in big mountain snowboarding competitions the two best friends and teammates have had a dream of competing alongside one another on the sport’s biggest stage: the Freeride World Tour.

Mawn, 23, and Doyle, 22, will finally achieve that dream next season when they compete on the 2024 Freeride World Tour. 

Mawn and Doyle both used to call Breckenridge home, using Summit’s ski areas to develop their skills throughout their teens and move up in the sport of freeride snowboarding. The duo now resides as roommates in Montana.

Despite being some of the best freeride snowboarders in the world, Mawn and Doyle did not begin their respective snowboarding careers in the big mountain discipline. Mawn started out as a halfpipe snowboarder and Doyle competed in the park and boardercross races. 

Eventually they both joined Method Freeride coach Brennan Metzler and began seriously training for extreme big mountain snowboarding competitions. While Mawn had to pivot to big mountain snowboarding after sustaining a brain injury from the halfpipe, both agree that freeride snowboarding provides a competitive outlet that is pure to the original art of snowboarding.

“Freeride is kind of the root of all snowboarding,” Mawn said. “It is something that most snowboarders can connect to because it is just freeriding on natural terrain. I love it way more than even halfpipe.”

Throughout the years, Mawn and Doyle have steadily worked their way up the freeride snowboarding ranks. Mawn had a huge career breakthrough during the 2020 season when he was able to elevate from the Freeride World Qualifier competition series to the prestigious Freeride World Tour.

According to the Freeride World Tour website, athletes usually begin their careers on the Freeride World Junior circuit before further showcasing and developing their skills in the qualifier series. The Freeride World Tour is reserved for the best big mountain riders and skiers in the world, with only a handful of athletes qualifying each year to compete on the most gnarly and challenging Alpine faces in the world.

For the 2023 Freeride World Tour season, there were a total of 43 athletes, with only nine of those athletes — including Mawn — being male snowboarders. 

Since emerging on the Freeride World Tour in 2021, Mawn has consistently recorded high finishes. During this past season, he recorded a total of 20,495 points from events, finishing fourth overall on the tour.

“It was honestly an incredible season,” Mawn said. “One of my most enjoyable years on the world tour so far. It was a difficult one with conditions. Our last competition got canceled due to avalanche conditions and we had some trouble with some other ones. I really pushed myself a lot more this year to take my riding to the next level. I fell on a few runs, but it was a result of me trying to elevate my riding level.” 

Mawn arguably had his best performance of the season at the Baqueira Beret Pro competition in the Pyrenees Mountains in Catalonia, Spain, from Jan. 28 to Feb. 2. He put together  a dreamy final run , piecing together powdery turns and awe-inspiring drops off rock faces. 

The run was enough for Mawn to place first overall in the competition and earn 10,000 points towards his season points total. As a result of Mawn’s fantastic third season on the Freeride World Tour he has been invited back on the circuit for the 2024 season where he will at last be joined by his housemate, Doyle. 

Doyle has been competing in Freeride World Qualifier competitions and had his own groundbreaking season in 2023. 

He had four first-place finishes and finished the competition season with 7,500 points, finishing first overall in the competition series and earning a spot on the Freeride World Tour in 2024.

The world tour invite is something Mawn and Doyle have been dreaming of since they were young athletes looking to drop into The Six Senses on Peak 6 at Breckenridge Ski Resort.

“I am beyond stoked,” Doyle said. “Everyone in the qualifiers their dream is to make it to the world tour. Me and Michael have been riding together for forever and we always joked about us riding together on the tour.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Michael Mawn (@michael_mawn)

“That dream (to be on the tour) started the moment we learned what freeride was pretty much,” Mawn said. “We have had the same coach, been teammates since high school and then we lived with each other through college and we are still roommates and best friends. To be on the tour with him means the world and is a dream come true.”

Mawn said he sent Doyle an old picture of them fist bumping each other at one of their first freeride competitions after Doyle officially qualified for the 2024 world tour. The photo shows how far the best friend snowboard duo have come as both athletes and friends over just a handful of years. 

Outside of competing with Mawn on the world tour, Doyle says he is also looking forward to being in elite company with the other riders qualified to the world tour.

“It is one of those things that you always dream about,” Doyle said. “When you qualify for the world tour you are at the top of the game and you are competing on some of the world’s craziest faces. There is an intimidation factor but it is also an honor to compete on these gnarly faces. It is a gift to say the least.”

Ultimately, Mawn and Doyle hope to continue to progress their careers in big mountain snowboarding and rely on each other as friends and teammates while competing on the world tour.

“More than ever Warren and I are a team so for this season my goals are shifting a bit kind of to that team mindset,” Mawn said. “I want to succeed with Warren and I want him to succeed too. It is going to be a teaming up situation and I am excited to see how it goes. I know we are going to be scouting lines together and we train together.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Warren Doyle (@warren_doyle)