I think that the WCT and qualifying tour setup like surfing has is a good start. But the top level tour doesn't have to be exclusively invitation only. Look at something like the PGA Tour. You've got your normal events every weekend, but also invite-only events like the Masters and Mercedes Championships. And at the other end of the spectrum, Open events like the US Open and British Open. Theoretically anyone has a chance to win those competetions. Skiing should try and adopt a similar setup for a World Freeride Tour. Have a point system to rank the top 50 guys or whatever compete in most events, but still have major open events like the US Open an European Open that remain, where say the top 20 spots are taken, then every other spot is qual-only. And at the other end of the spectrum, have invite only events that showcase the world's best like say the X Games and JOI. With a couple open events combined with a smaller secondary tour, there would remain the opportunity to join the pro tour in the future.
Now, the problem with defining who really is best in skiing is not as easy as this. Skiing stands relatively alone with Surfing and Snowboarding, where competitions by themselves don't define the best. There are many pro is all of these disiplines that do participate in the comp scene and that is fine. As mentioned above, there will always be a market for this and movie parts/photoshoots and perhaps creative events like the k2 back 9 (I'd love to see this again by the way) to showcase these athletes. There is also the problem of park skiing vs. backcountry vs. big mountain, and beyond that, pipe vs. big air vs. slopestyle. Backcountry events are likely too difficult to successfully pull off consistently, so niche events or movie parts/photoshoots will probably have to remain the only way to do this. Big Mountain skiing is waaay too different as will always remain its own thing. The Big Mountain guys already have a decent format with the IFSA World Tour and somewhat junior circuits throughout North America, and will continue to do so. If skiers want to compete in both, they will have to make a choice, like some PGA Tour golfers player select events on the European Tour. As for pipe vs. big air vs. slopestyle, the only way to do these is to do them at each event and award equal points for each. If you want to be definied as the best park skier in the world, you're going to have to be good at all of them. In motorracing, some guys are better at ovals and some at street circuits, but the best can do both. To a lesser extent with golf; some guys are great links players, some are better at the longer more american type courses. But the best can win at both.
Jon is right that something like this is probably a couple years off, but we should be moving towards it. Starting with just organizing events to not overlap, then trying to figure out scheduling so that european or asian events fall together and north american events fall together to make it easier (and cheaper) for athletes to make all of these stops. Once something like that has begun to happen, then start talking about a points system and world tour. Not that we need to be taken seriously be the rest of the world or that we really want to sell out to big corporations, but I'm sure more pros would like to be able to make more money doing what they do, not just the top 5 guys or so. And unfortunately if we want to make it to the Olympics, more money and exposure is neccessary for this to happen. Whether or not you think the Olympics are the pinnacle of this sport, I'd like to see you try and find one person would wouldn't want to win a gold medal for their country in front of a billion people.
