Zhangjiakou wins bid to host 2029 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships

The future host of the 2029 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships was confirmed at today’s 55th International FIS Congress, as China’s Zhangjiakou officially won the rights to host the massive, biennial celebration of skiing and snowboarding.

If the name Zhangjiakou doesn’t ring a bell, try perhaps Genting Secret Garden Resort. 

The venue was the host for the majority of the snowboard, freestyle ski and freeski competitions at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, and also returned to the competition landscape in the 2023/24 season by hosting snowboard and freeski World Cup halfpipe events

The only Beijing 2022 Games competition under the SB/FS/FK umbrella not to happen in Zhangjiakou's Secret Garden was the big air event, which took place in Beijing proper at the Shougang Park big air jump. 

While it’s possible we see the Shougang Park venue in play for Zhangjiakou 2029, plan A for the organisers of the 2029 World Championships is to keep every competition at one venue, constructing the big air on-slope at Secret Garden. 

All of the above simple goes to say that Zhangjaikou and Secret Garden have more than proven their mettle as premier competition venues in the snow sports world, and we are more than excited to be back working with such exemplary hosts yet again in some four-and-a-half years time at the biggest non-Olympic FIS competition on the calendar. 

Part of the inspiration for Beijing’s bid for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games was to inspire 300 million new participants in ice and snow sports in the country, and with their hugely successful turn hosting the Games, along with inspirational, multi-medal winning performances from Chinese athletes such as freeskier Eileen Gu, snowboarder Su Yiming, and aerials skiers Xu Mengtao and Qi Guangpu, that dream is looking like an achievable reality - perhaps one that has been realised already.

Since the 2022 Games, the increase in numbers of skiers and snowboarders on the slopes of Secret Garden at least year’s halfpipe World Cups there was an immediately recognisable leap.

With the return of large-scale snow sports competition to the region, the Chinese Ski Association and officials throughout the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Sports and Culture Tourism Belt - and beyond - are hoping to see those new engagements continue and expand. 

While we’ll have to wait a couple of years before presenting the final programme for Zhangjiakou, as of right now you can expect to see the FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships hitting the slopes of Secret Garden from 26 January to February 8, 2029. 

FIS Snowboard, FIS Freestyle Ski and FIS Freeski would like to extend out congratulations to the Zhangjiakou 2029 Organising Committee on their successful bid. We can’t wait to bring our whole slate of competitions back to the Zhangjiakou region for World Championships action in 2029!