Snowboard Alpine is ready to shine under the lights in Bad Gastein

Jan 13, 2025·Snowboard Alpine

The 2024-25 VISA FIS Snowboard Alpine World Cup takes no time to get back to action after a thrilling day in Scuol on Saturday. Now the world’s best turn to Austria for the classic parallel slalom race in Bad Gastein. This will be the 25th annual World Cup event at Bad Gastein, the venue has gone consecutive years without a cancellation including 24 in Snowboard Alpine. The venue has hosted 78 World Cup races across all disciplines in that span.

The men and women will compete under the lights in a parallel slalom event on January 14. Qualifying will occur earlier in the day and the knockout round finals will commence in the evening at 18:30 local time. The public bib draw for the event will be Monday 19:00 in Felsentherme.

The following day the men and women’s tours will join together to represent their countries in the first mixed team event of the season. The mixed parallel slalom team event will have a slight adjustment to the rules this season on how teams will qualify.

All teams must go through qualification no matter their ranking. Each team will race at the same time. For example, the male participant will race down the red course alongside the female participant on the blue course at the same time. Their times will be combined after the finish. The men and women will switch sides in the next qualifying run to ensure fairness. There will be 24 teams in the event, they will be seeded based on qualification status. Three teams are allowed per nation and Austria will have four as the hosting nation.

Austria and Italy will be the heavy favorites in the event and will likely battle for the podium spots. Last season Andreas Prommegger and Sabine Payer teamed up to top the podium in front of the home crowd. The Italian team of Daniele Bagozza (ITA) and Lucia Dalmasso (ITA) were the runner ups.

The individual race is the main event. On the men’s side Arvid Auner (AUT) won the most recent PSL race on the tour in Davos back in December. He is hoping to repeat that success in front of the Austrian fans. It will take a keen mindset.

“To repeat Davos, I already thought about what happened there, how I prepared, how the setup was, and the feelings. Things which felt good, I will repeat to get a similar feeling in Bad Gastein. Mentally and physically. I am working on mental strength as well and it’s a big part of our sport,”– Auner said.

Auner came second in Bad Gastein last season. He also won the first of his three career World Cup wins at the legendary Austrian locale. It is a special place for Auner.

“Bad Gastein is one of my favorites, not only because I had my first World Cup race here, I won my first World Cup here, or I started snowboard in Gasteinertal. It’s because of the slope and the crowd from home, which makes it special. When I am thinking about Bad Gastein, it gives me goosebumps and makes my heartbeat go faster, I want to race!”– Auner said.

Auner will hope for plenty of Austrian support and lots of red-and-white flags waving at the bottom of the hill. Auner and his teammates know plenty about the course. He knows the ins and outs of the slope all too well as he described the keys to finding speed on the track

“You have to get the nose down! I mean the front part of the board, you have to go fast and everything has to be under control. Right out from the start there is a steep part, which I think is one of the steepest parts of the World Cup season. There is a roller, which gives you extra speed by taking the right line into the flat section into the finish. Boom, you are in the middle of the Bad Gastein finish area,”– Auner said.

Auner will have plenty of competition from a deep field that also know their way around the mountain. Maurizio Bormolini (ITA) won this race last season and is in contention for the overall title this year. Auner will have to hold off his Austrian teammates like Benjamin Karl (AUT) and Andreas Prommegger (AUT) as well.

On the women’s side Tsubaki Miki (JPN) continues to lead the young generation’s push towards the top of the sport. Miki has made the podium in every event except one this season. She will be the name to beat in Bad Gastein.

She will need to fight off last year’s winner Ramona Theresia Hofmeister (GER) and Austrian powerhouses like Sabine Payer (AUT). There are other rising young snowboarders who could challenge Miki.

Zuzana Maderova (CZE) is amongst the young crop of talent that could make some noise.

“After my spring hip surgery, I’m really happy to be back in the competitions and enjoying it to the fullest. Of course, I’ll fight and ride as fast as I can because I want a medal, who wouldn’t? That’s why we’re all here,”– Maderova said.

Maderova and the field will be ready to race on Tuesday. The race schedule is as follows: