Bakuriani set for freeski and snowboard slopestyle World Championships test events
Mar 02, 2022·Snowboard Park & Pipe
The FIS Freeski and Snowboard Park & Pipe World Cup tours are back in action this week for the first competitions following the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, with slopestyle action set to take to the slopes of Georgia’s Bakuriani resort for World Championship test events from 3-6 March, 2022.
With some challenging weather forecast for Friday, the adjusted schedule for Bakuriani will now see both freeski and snowboard qualifications taking place on Thursday, with the freeskiers leading things off at 10:15 local time, followed by the snowboarders at 12:00. Freeski finals are then slated for Saturday at 11:00, with snowboard finals set to go down on Sunday, also at 11:00 local time.
Bakuriani won the right to host the 2023 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships in a unanimous vote back in 2018, and since then the Georgian Ski Federation and the Local Organising Committee, along with Bakuriani Resort, have invested a phenomenal amount of time, effort and resources in preparing the venue for what will be one of the biggest sporting events in the country’s history once the world champs roll into town next season.
The investment and commitment to hosting an exceptional World Championships - and, of course, these test event World Cup competitions, as well - are clear as soon as you arrive at the resort base of Bakuriani, with three new chairlifts climbing the various slopes set to serve as venues for the 25+ World Championships medal events slated to take place next season.
What also stands out if this week’s competition is the significant earth works undertaken to build up the features for the slopestyle course, which has been built by Germany’s Schneestern company and features an opening jib section, followed by three kickers, and then two more jib sections to close things out.
While the covid-19 pandemic seems to be receding around the world and health-related travel complications are easing, the timing for this week’s competitions in Bakuriani has proven to be difficult, as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine has resulted in many nations and athletes electing not to travel to Georgia - despite the fact that zero travel restrictions or safety warnings have been declared for the country, and an exceptional slopestyle venue has been constructed in the expectation that the full field of the world’s best would be in attendance this week.
The Georgian Ski Federation and the committed organisers in Bakuriani are all-in on their efforts to host top-caliber World Cup competitions for freeskiers and snowboarders at this week’s competitions.
These World Cup slopestyle competitions mark an important step along the road to next season’s Bakuriani 2023 Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships for all stakeholders, and we look forward to watching the riders who are on hand here in Georgia put the future world champs course to the test this week.
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