Reigning world champions return to Kreischberg for season's first slopestyle World Cup

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Two year's after having successfully hosted the first ever combined Snowboard and Freestyle Skiing World Championships Kreischberg (AUT) is back on the map to host this season's first slopestyle World Cup. From January 13 to 14, the riders will tackle a 650 metres long course with some unique features purpose-built on the world champs' slope.

The most impressive one is the Jaga Alm. Course designer Alli Zehetner and the local Kreisch Indios crew transformed the well-known bar into an urban-style feature.

The Jaga Alm became a slopestyle feature

In addition, a wallride, staircase and a highrail invite the pros to creatively play with the first section while the kicker line features 3.50 metres high jumps and some massive air time.

In total, the shape crew in cooperation with hundreds of volunteers has invested 4,000 working hours to finalise the course while the resort which has hosted a total of 22 snowboard World Cup events since 1997 produced a total of 600 m³ of artificial snow.

As a result, some of the world's finest talents have descended on Styria to kick off their slopestyle season in style. The strong and deep field of 33 women and 60 men is led by reigning world champions Miyabi Onitsuka (JPN) and Ryan Stassel (USA) who both secured her career's first world champs gold two years ago.

In addition, slopestyle silver medallist and current big air World Cup dominator Anna Gasser (AUT) is also back at it, too.

Kreischberg is the first of five slopestyle World Cup stops this season with Laax (SUI), Seiser Alm (ITA), Mammoth Mountain (USA) and Quebec City (CAN) following within the next four weeks.

Qualifications are slated to start on Friday, January 13 at 9:55 AM CET. Finals will be staged in a three-run, best one count format on Saturday, January 14 at 2 PM CET. For further information on the World Cup programme in Austria click here.

TV Times

The slopestyle World Cup will be broadcasted live on ORF eins and Eurosport 2.