St Moritz / Engadin awarded 2025 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle & Freeski World Championships

Just a few days after the final FIS Snowboard and FIS Freeski World Cup competitions of the season wrapped up in spectacular fashion in Silvaplana, there was more good news for the Swiss region when it was announced this week that the FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships will take place in St Moritz/Engadin in 2025.

Swiss-Ski submitted their hosting application dossier to FIS one month ago, and since the St. Moritz / Engadin candidacy remained the lone application to host the 2025 World Championships by the end of the application period, FIS was able to approve the bid ahead of the scheduled voting period which would have taken place at the spring calendar conference in Portoroz (SLO).

Of course, the the Engadin bid was approved not only because it was the only application on the docket, but also because the exceptional pedigree and experience of Swiss-Ski and the hosts resorts such as St, Moritz and Silvaplana in hosting top level events at world-class venues.

Snowboard and ski freestyle have been among the most successful sectors within Swiss-Ski for years. At the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games Swiss athletes won five medals from these disciplines, while this year there were seven medals won by Swiss athletes at the various Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships competitions.

When it comes to hosts with World Cup experience, Switzerland has a plethora, as Arosa (ski cross), Laax (snowboard halfpipe and slopestyle), Scuol (snowboard alpine), Silvaplana (freeski and snowboard slopestyle) and Veysonnaz (ski cross and snowboard cross) have been integral parts of the World Cup calendar for years. The last time Switzerland hosted World Championships in Freestyle Skiing took place in Hasliberg in 1999, while in 2007 Arosa hosted the World Snowboard Championships.

“Freestyle sports are extremely popular in Asia and North America in particular. Carrying out the world title competitions in these snow sports is therefore not only a sporting highlight for our athletes, but also very important from a tourist and economic perspective,” says Swiss-Ski CEO Bernhard Aregger.

With their successful bid to host the World Championships in 2025, St. Moritz and the Upper Engadin can now position themselves even more strongly on the global sports map in the freestyle area than they are today.

Daniel Schaltegger, Head of the Candidate Project for Engadin St. Moritz 2025 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle & Freeski World Championships, adds: “A happy day for the Engadin, the canton of Graubünden and the snow sports nation of Switzerland! The Engadin St. Moritz region is once again able to prepare for a major international winter sports event - in keeping with its tourist DNA and its legacy of sports history. These World Championships and their global impact offer a great opportunity to align ourselves together for the future and a new, younger audience."

The 2025 World Championships receive broad support from the Swiss government, the canton of Graubünden, the 12 Upper Engadine municipalities, the regional tourism organization ESTM AG and the Upper Engadine mountain railways.

Press release courtesy Swiss-Ski/Christian Stahl