Carezza looking forward to 11th edition of its World Cup event

With most of the stops already confirmed at this stage of the year, the 2021/22 FIS Snowboard Alpine World Cup calendar is looking indeed very promising, including seven PGS, five PSL as well as three team races.

In 2021/22 the tour will get back to Bannoye (RUS) early December to kick off the season with a pair of competitions, followed by back-to-back races in Italian Dolomites at Carezza and Cortina d’Ampezzo. Following the holiday break we kick 2022 off in Scuol (SUI) in the first week of January, and then move onto Austria for four competitions in Bad Gastein as well as at the brand new World Cup venue in Simonhoehe. Then the tour will travel to China to compete at the pinnacle event of the season at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. Following that, we return to Russia with a city event slated to take place in Moscow, then we hit Rogla (SLO), Piancavallo (ITA) and finally Berchtesgaden (GER) to wrap things up at the end of March.

2021/22 FIS Snowboard Alpine World Cup calendar

Just recently the FIS race director Uwe Beier and his assistant Peter Krogoll have visited the organising committee of the World Cup at Passo Costalunga as part of the traditional summer meetings. The organising committee led by president Andreas Obkircher has long since begun preparations for the renowned competitions, as Carezza is looking forward to hosting 11th edition of its World Cup event.

Entering its 11th season as a World Cup venue, Carezza continues to deliver the goods year in, and year out, with its perfectly-pitched course and location in the UNESCO World Heritage Site Dolomite mountains producing an ideal racing venue.

Furthermore event organisers are keen to highlight their venue's eco-conscious efficiency including a state-of-the-art snowmaking system, which is the most modern and environmental friendly in the entire region of South Tyrol. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of many sustainable practices that the local organising committee have introduced to host the “green” World Cup event in Carezza.

Part of the recent meetings in Carezza reflected on this past 2020/21 World Cup campaign with the FIS race director Uwe Beier expressing his appreciation for all the efforts made by Andreas Obkircher and his team in making the event run smoothly despite the difficult conditions. He also praised Carezza's extremely professional covid management.

“The initiatives taken here pointed the way to many other stages of the World Cup. The  accommodation, training sessions, as well as the race course were also outstanding. The meals also worked perfectly, both for the snowboarders and volunteers. Carezza once again proved to be a reliable partner, on which you can count on from all points of view ”, underlined Beier.

During the meeting, also the initial competition programme was established with the parallel giant slalom on “Pra di Tori” slope scheduled for Thursday, December 16. Carezza will host the second stage of 2021/22 World Cup season with world’s best snowboarders expected to deliver another stunning show at the foot of “Catinaccio”.

The reining champions are expected to make their way down to South Tyrol including the likes of Benjamin Karl - the most titled snowboarder in Carezza with his three victories - as well as Ramona Theresia Hofmeister. The local hero Aaron March, on the other hand, will enter the race in Carezza as the reigning overall World Cup champion.

“As for the preparations, for now we have two possible scenarios. Plan A assumes that in addition to the sporting event there are also collateral events, that spectators can also be present and that the meetings can be held in person. At the same time we are also planning a variant B with a Covid-19 plan as severe as that of December 2020, in which we focus solely and exclusively on the safe conduct of the races ”, concluded the president of the organising committee Andreas Obkircher.

Things look definitely promising this year, and with highly motivated and committed organisers and the world’s best racers on hand to compete for points in the Olympic year, it looks like it’s fair to expect that also in 2021/22 the World Cup in Carezza will be one of the highlight competitions of the season.