World Championship Dates

Thursday, May 29^th, 2008 will be the day the host venue of the 2013 World Championships is revealed. The announcement will be made in Cape Town, South Africa by the FIS council.

Alongside the announcement of the 2013 World Championships host, the FIS council will also unveil the venue for the 2012 FIS Ski Flying Championships. There are four places competing to play the position of host – Beaver Creek and Vail in the United States, Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy, Schladming in Austria and St. Moritz in Switzerland.

All the four above mentioned resorts have hosted World Championships in the past. The Winter Olympics have been hosted by St. Moritz and Cortina, and Schladming has played host to the Special Olympics.

In the United States, Beaver Creek and Vail have been undergoing renovation worth 2.5 million USD. They have also agreed to construct a new downhill course for ladies, if they are selected to be the host.

The 2009 World Championships will be hosted by Val d’Isère, and the Secretary General of FIS, Sarah Lewis, has been immensely happy with the progress the venue has been making. Lewis recently said, “I was very, very impressed by the presentation which was given to us by the World Championship organizers. The progress made these last six months is palpable. The success of the men’s World Cup downhill last February has obviously given confidence to the organizers.”

However, disagreements within the committee have caused skiers such as former ski champion, Jean-Claude Killy, to resign from her position. Val d’Isère has also faced its share of bad publicity, which it has been trying to brush off with promises of free access and travel for spectators, and environmentally-friendly transport.

So let us all hope for a jam-packed 2009 in Val d’Isère, and an equally entertaining 2013.

Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour

All applications have been filled, and the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour is all set to head downunder with over $2,500,000 USD up for grabs as prize money, during a course of ten months.

Swatch TTR has already started the fun-filled snowboarding events in the mountains of Australia. This year we will see two new events being showcased- the Boost Mobile Sno Sho in Perisher Blue, Australia, and the Billabong Snow Stock in Snowpark, New Zealand, have sent their applications to be a part of the Swatch TTR Tour. If the applications are accepted, they will join the Burton New Zealand Open, Oakley Stylewars and the Burton Australian Open, making the chances of international riders traveling downunder higher.

The Southern Hemisphere Tour will begin with the Burton New Zealand Open in none other than NZ. The BNZO is known for one of the world’s best half-pipes, precise slopestyle set up and huge quarter pipe, making it a must for transition riders to take part. This serves as perfect practice for riders wanting to take part in the Northern Hemisphere Tour.

After the BNZO, the tour will stay put in NZ and get ready for the Billabong Snowstock; one of the new events this year. This event will include the Straight Jump and Quarterpipe competitions. After the Billabong Snowstock, the Oakley Stylewars will follow. This will consist of three slopestyle competition days, one night-rail event, seven judged sessions and four nights of music. All the participants will be competing for the title of Stylewars Grandmaster.

The Stylewars will come to a halt as the Boost Sno Sho starts with a huge one-night showdown. This is the world’s longest rail event. The ending of the Southern Hemipshere Tour will be marked with the Burton Australian Open.

One can expect to see top-notch riders such as Torstein Horgmo, Jonas Karlsson, Sani Alibabic etc. And we can also expect to see ten months of jam-packed entertainment!

World Heli Challenge

It has been announced that New Zealand’s legendary World Heli Challenge will return on August 9^th through August 24^th, 2008, after a gap of six years. This challenge is considered on of the most legendary freeriding and freeskiing events to have ever been started.

The World Heli Challenge will bring New Zealand’s Mt. Cook National Park the best riders and skiers in the world along with seven top-notch snowboard brands and ski brands. Each brand will consist of two elite athletes that will compete against one another through the various events.

Three days of helicopter-accessed events will take place on Mt. Cook National Park’s ‘Big Mountain’. This portion of the mountain designed for snowboarding and skiing consists of 3000 feet of terrain and a 50-degree slope average over cliffs. The Backcountry Freestyle realm will allow riders to showcase their potential and talent. And the rules are simple- first one to reach the end of the 3000-foot terrain wins!

But the high-end athletes that will be taking part in the Challenge will not be spending their entire two weeks in snow; they will be treated to jet boating, bungee jumping, golfing, surfing and various other things New Zealand is famous for!

The World Heli Challenge trophy is considered one of the most prized trophies in the world. But winning the trophy is not easy either; one must be the overall winner in all three combined events. Winners from the past include skiers Chris Davenport, Kent Kreitler, Andrea Binning, Seb Michaud and Guerlain Checerit. Among the snowboarders, Matt Godwill, Karleen Jeffery, Gilles Voirol, Steve Graham and David Pujol have bagged prizes in the past. This year, a new World Heli Challenge title for the best overall ski brand and snowboarding brand will also be awarded.

Created by Tony “Harro” Harrington, let’s see if the World Heli Challenge can restore the fire after six years!

World Rookie Fest

Swatch TTR came out with yet another successful snowboarding event; the 3-Star Völkl World Rookie Fest which once again showcased an assortment of snowboarding talent. The event took place just last weekend with Norwegian snowboarder Gjermund Braaten cruising away with first place. He received 550 TTR Ranking Points, giving him a TTR World ranking of 53 and also the title of World Rookie Champion 2008.

Braaten showcased impressive riding; awing the judges and crowd with a huge switch BS7 and a Cab 9. In addition to TTR ranking points and a world champion title, Braaten was also awarded with a ticket to the Nokia Air and Style rookie challenge in Munich, a trip to Canada for featuring in the next Pirate Movie Production, ‘Boarbegged’ and a ‘Fresh Meat’ profile in Method Snowboard Magazine.

This event was the last of the season adorned with a slopestyle set up with two kickers and several rails. The judges allotted scores to the riders based on a three-run format. The riders had to give an overall impression on both the kickers and rails.

Despite Braaten winning, the best trick was performed by Petja Piiroinen from Finland. His huge BS 7 on the 20 meter kicker was a visual treat. Italian rider Giorgio Ciancaleoni performed a series of 720s on the kickers, one of the most impressive rail tricks and a 270 on the kink, landing him in the second overall position among the male rookies.

A majority of the finalists walked home with prizes, despite not getting a winning position. They won tickets to the World Rookie Fest 2009 in Livigno. Dimi de Jong and Maria Delfina Maiocco, who were voted upon as the best male groms, received a Golden Card enabling them to join every World Rookie Fest of 2009 for free! Among the female rookies, Kari Maeland of Norway came out victorious with her TTR world ranking now being pushed up to 35.

So the World Rookie Fest 2008 finished things off with a bang!