Modena (ITA) announced as host for November big air World Cup
Aug 31, 2018·Snowboard Park & Pipe
FIS Snowboard and FIS Freeski are excited to announce the addition of a new event to the FIS World Cup competition 2018/19 calendar after reaching an agreement with the Italian Ski Federation (FISI) and ModenaFiere to bring FIS World Cup big air competition to the beautiful city of Modena from November 1-4, 2018 during the Skipass exhibition of winter sports and tourism.
Entering its 25th year of operation, the Skipass event has long been an early season hub of activity for all things Winter Sport, fully embracing Snowboard, Freestyle, and Freeski culture while boasting the largest attendance of any such event in Italy, and arguably the deepest pedigree. Now, with FIS World Cup Snowboard and Freeski big air competitions set to take place on the biggest jump ever constructed in Italy during the trade show’s run, Skipass will enter a new era this fall.
The Modena competition will be the second FIS World Cup big air of the 2018/19 season after the season-opener in Cardrona (NZL), and the first FIS World Cup competition of the season to be held in the northern hemisphere for both FIS Snowboard and FIS Freeski. Around 70 of the best big air athletes in winter sports are expected to be on hand to compete for 100,000CHF in prize money at the Modena competitions, including Olympic medallists, world champions, and FIS crystal globe winners across both the Snowboard and Freeski disciplines.
Roby Moresi, FIS Contest Director for Park & Pipe, expressed his pleasure with the announcement:
“Modena has been a centre for freestyle activities, ideas, and progression for years. Now, with the newly announced addition of Freeski big air to the Olympic programme for Beijing 2022, we see a great opportunity to showcase even more the spectacular and incredible performances of the top riders in the world in Italy this November. Adding the Modena event to the FIS World Cup tour will be a great moment for our sports.”
Alfonso Panzani, President of ModenaFiere echoed Moresi’s satisfaction with this big step:
“Bringing the FIS World Cup to Modena is an exciting addition to the Skipass Winter Sport and Tourism gathering in this, the 25thanniversary of the event. Hosting this competition will be a huge achievement for the leading sport and tourism trade fair in Italy for all involved. It fills us with pride knowing that we will be able to host such an important event during our exhibition in a city like Modena that has such deep ties to winter sport.”
"With the Modena event, Italy will organize eight stages of the World Cups of snowboarding and freestyle during the next season, thus becoming one of the most important nations for the movement. That makes us particularly proud and we are sure that our athletes will do their best to make important results in Italian competitions", added Flavio Roda, President of the Italian Winter Sports Federation.
After two highly successful FIS Snowboard and Freeski World Cup big air events in Milan at the site of Expo 2016, the rescheduling of the Italian big air FIS World Cup stop from Milano to Modena during the 25thanniversary edition of Skipass will give an excellent platform to open the city events portion of the big air calendar, with the competition promising to become a highlight of the FIS World Cup 2018/19 season.
Snowboard finals at the Modena big air FIS World Cup are set to take the stage on the night of Saturday, November 3, while Freeski competition will close out the weekend on Sunday, November 4.
