GoPro launches "Off the Record" mini‑series with Freeride World Tour, giving raw athlete perspectives

SAN MATEO, California, Feb 10 — GoPro unveils "Off the Record," a new mini‑series with the Freeride World Tour that gives fans raw, unfiltered access to the 2026 season and foregrounds athlete perspectives. The episodes, produced exclusively for the GoPro Snow YouTube channel, appear the week after each FWT stop and build on a decade‑long relationship in which GoPro serves as the tour’s official and exclusive camera partner. The series aims to extend GoPro’s role from hardware supplier to storytelling platform by delivering behind‑the‑scenes narratives that broadcast packages typically omit.

The production leans heavily on GoPro’s latest capture capabilities, using HERO13 Black Ultra Wide Edition and GoPro MAX2 360 cameras to blend traditional and immersive angles. Shot both from athletes’ hands and mounted vantage points, footage focuses on the tension before runs, the camaraderie and emotional support among competitors, and the travel and training that precede performance. By centring athletes in the narrative and emphasizing first‑person moments, GoPro seeks to demonstrate how its devices perform in extreme conditions while creating content that resonates with action‑sports audiences.

The series spotlights leading freeride skiers, including Justine Dufour‑Lapointe, who competes for Canada and pursues an FWT threepeat after titles in 2024 and 2025, and Marcus Goguen, the 2025 FWT champion. Nicolas Hale‑Woods, founder and CEO of the Freeride World Tour, says Off the Record “showcases the raw emotion, creativity and commitment that make the Freeride World Tour so special,” underscoring the effort to document equipment prep, psychological intensity and candid athlete interactions as integral to the competition story. The approach positions GoPro as a conduit for more intimate, athlete‑driven storylines that enhance fan engagement with the live freeride experience.

Industry observers note the mini‑series reflects a broader shift toward direct, branded content in action sports, where equipment makers act as media producers to reach niche audiences. For GoPro, producing episodic content serves dual purposes: highlighting product capabilities in authentic use and building owned media that can drive recurring viewership on its channels without relying solely on traditional broadcast partners.

Technically, the combined use of ultra‑wide and 360 capture enables flexible post‑production options — reframeable shots for multiple viewing formats and VR‑compatible segments — which support cross‑platform distribution. The long‑standing partnership with the FWT reinforces GoPro’s positioning in high‑performance sports and validates its cameras under demanding field conditions.