SNOWBOARD WORLD CUP. After the outdoor start of the FIS World Cup in Sölden last weekend, the action moves on to London (GBR) this weekend as the LG Snowboard FIS World Cup big air competition will be carried out at Battersea Power Station, followed by the half-pipe opening in Saas Fee in Switzerland from Monday, 1st November.

Snowboard Big Air, London, Kevin Baeckstroem (SWE), foto FIS

On 30th October 2010, it will be the third time that London hosts a FIS World Cup big air competition which marks the highlight of a three day music and winter sport festival called "London Freeze". The two Snowboard freestyle competitions next week represent the first chances to collect points for the newly invented overall World Cup for Snowboard Freestyle: from this season on, the most complete freestyle rider will be crowned over the half-pipe, big air and slopestyle event series. Reason enough for many top athletes to strap on the boards at Halloween as well as in the Swiss glacier paradise just a few days later.

Like in previous years, the Battersea Power Station with its iconic towers will be transformed into a huge ski resort with a 32 m high and 100 m long real snow jump at the heart of the event venue. Top riders including Switzerland's Iouri Podladtchikov and Gian-Luca Cavigelli as well as Finnish Olympic Halfpipe runner-up Peetu Piiroinen, among others, are all hoping for the largest share of the event prize purse.

Snowboard Halfpipe, Rafael Imhof (SUI), foto FIS

Saas Fee's half-pipe season opening is expected to attract some 100 of the world's best boarders to the glacier village. The early-season competitions in Saas-Fee are among those that attract the highest number of participants. New for 2010 the competition pipe in the Freestyle Park Allalin has been extended to meet Olympic standards. The side walls have grown a good meter in comparison with last year and now stand at 6.5m. The length of the pipe has also been increased by 30 to 40m. The result is a 22 foot pipe that stretches 150 m down the slope, that has been widely used for great training giving boarders optimal conditions to prepare for the LG FIS Snowboard World Cup and FIS World Championships 2011 in La Molina in Spain.

The FIS Snowboard World Cup in Saas-Fee now has its own name. From this year on, the now well-established freestyle event in Saas-Fee will be known as Allalin 360. The organizers chose the name to help establish a recognizable profile for the World Cup event in the glacier village. "A short, punchy name sticks in people's minds," explains Daniel Andenmatten, President of the Saas Fee Organizing Oommittee.

Contributed by Oliver Kraus
FIS news
Thursday 28 October 2010

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