Freeski, Snowboard Big Air Kicks Off World Cup Season This Weekend In Switzerland

Athletes are fired up to kick off the FIS World Cup season at the Chur, Switzerland, Big Air Friday and Saturday nights.

From the 22-23 of October 2021, freeskiers and snowboarders from around the world will begin the 2021/22 World Cup and Olympic competition season together in Switzerland, where top-tier big air action and an electric music festival atmosphere will be coming together in what promises to be a truly epic opening to the winter.

The competition in Chur is the first opportunity of the season for athletes to lock down a spot on their respective national squads ahead of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, which are looming just over the horizon.

With just over 100 days to go before the start of those Games in Beijing, and just a handful of big air competitions scheduled over that period (including two World Cup big air events), the importance of the upcoming Big Air Chur weekend cannot be overstated. As you would expect with so much riding on the first event of the season, the start lists for both the freeski and snowboard are absolutely overflowing with big names.

The freeski startlist is stacked, highlighted on the.women’s side by the likes of Tess Ledeux (FRA), Ailing Eileen Gu (CHN), World Champion Anastasia Tatalina (RUS), Maggie Voisin (USA) and the standout host Swiss squad boasting Mathilde Gremaud, Guilia Tanno and Sarah Hoefflin.

The Swiss are again looking good on the men’s side with Kim Gubser (SUI) and Fabien Boesch leading the way, with Colby Stevenson (USA), Birk Ruud (NOR), World Champion Oliwer Magnusson (SWE), Edouard Therriault (CAN), Matej Svancer (AUT) and whole slew of others ready to drop in and make some noise come finals time on Friday.

Over on the snowboard side of things the heavyweights keep coming.

Reigning World Champion Laurie Blouin (CAN) leads the charge on the women’s side, though she’ll have the likes of Miyabi Onitsuka (JPN), Enni Rukijarvi (FIN), Anna Gasser (AUT), Tess Coady (AUS), Kokomo Murase (JPN) and many more on hand to push the competition to its limits.

Meanwhile, on the men’s side of things, Blouin’s compatriot and fellow World Champion Mark McMorris will headline a field that also includes everyone from Sven Thorgren (SWE) to Marcus Kleveland (NOR), Sebastien Toutant (CAN) to Takeru Otsuka (JPN), Rene Rinnekangas (FIN) to Leon Vockensperger (GER), and so many others.

Both the freeski and snowboard competitions will feature 30 women and 50 men battling it out through qualifications for a spot in finals and a piece of the CHF 100,000 prize money up for grabs.

Beyond the skiing and snowboarding there’s also the music festival side of things, in which Urban Music Live has called upon the likes of Breitbild, Apache 207, Jan Delay, Sido, Nura and others to bring the ruckus to Chur. Throw in the “Party Mile” entertainment avenue that will be featuring 20 DJs, a skate park and a gastro zone, and that perfect festival vibe will be the perfect complement to the action on the snow.

The Big Air Chur will be the first FIS Freeski or Snowboard World Cup competition in over a year and half that will take place in front of an audience, after Covid-19 regulations necessitated a spectator-free winter of 2020/21.

FIS Park & Pipe Contest Director Roberto Moresi is anticipating exceptional things from the first-time World Cup venue in Chur.

“The first event of a season is always special,” says Moresi, “You get to catch up with everybody, see familiar faces and lots of friends, and it’s even more amazing when you’re at a city event with all the fun around that. With the Olympics coming around many are still trying to lock in their spot for Beijing, and these events leading to the Games are of the highest importance. Many nations select their team during these last moments and events, which is just another reason why not to miss the Big Air Chur.”

“I am ready for this weekend,” said U.S. Snowboard Team athlete Chris Corning, who has eight career World Cup big air podiums, including three victories. “This has been the most riding I have had going into the first scaffolding big air of pretty much any season.”

Corning and a number of his U.S. Snowboard and U.S. Freeski teammates have enjoyed quality on-snow time this summer at Mount Hood, Ore., Mammoth, Calif., Copper Mountain, Colo., and Saas-Fee, Switzerland, to dial in tricks new and old. Toss in some off-snow training, including dirt-biking, and Corning is ready to lead a strong contingent of U.S. athletes into the first scaffolding big air event of the season.

“I have been working on tricks I don’t do as much and getting all my old tricks back,” the 2018 overall World Cup snowboard champion added. “I am happy with how the training has gone up to this point.”

U.S. Snowboard Team athletes joining Corning this weekend are Ty Schnorrbusch, Courtney Rummel, Brock Crouch, Kyle Mack, and Judd Henkes. Ski and Snowboard Club Vail athlete Hahna Norman will make her World Cup debut this weekend in Chur.

For the U.S. Freeski Team, six-time big air podium finisher, and two-time World Cup big air winner Alex Hall will be on the “one to watch” list this weekend. He’ll be joined by U.S. Freeski Teammates Hunter Henderson, Cody Laplante, Mac Forehand, and Marin Hamill.

Both Friday’s freeski big air finals and Saturday’s snowboard big air finals will stream live on NBC”s Peacock platform. The Olympic Channel - Home of Team USA - will also broadcast both finals live. Following this weekend’s event, the FIS snowboard and freeski World Cup season will roll into Colorado with Visa Big Air presented by Toyota, Dec. 4 in Steamboat; and the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain, Dec. 10-11.