Banked Slalom LAAX: The Zeitgeist Snowboard Contest Who was the fastest in 2024? Siria Poltera and Harry Kearney

The 9th Banked Slalom LAAX is now history. This snowboard contest reflects the spirit of the times: sustainably designed, with fun on the board for everyone, no matter where they come from, how good they are, or how young they are. Nearly 300 riders aged 6 to 60 mastered the steep curve course, which was shoveled entirely by hand. The fastest were 18-year-old local Siria Poltera and US pro rider Harry Kearney. Reto Poltera from the management team in Laax, who also took part in the race, said: "I'm absolutely delighted! I can feel the happiness and satisfaction of the riders here. There's a real family feeling among snowboarders that you only find with snowboarders. It's really cool."

The course

While Darius Heristchian praised the new course as "super surfy," Ariane Staib-Glaus found it "super technical, challenging, and in certain sections you had to react very quickly, which I thought was cool," and came in second place. Peter Bauer, also a connoisseur of the scene, multiple winner in Laax and third this time, sums up the uniqueness of the courses: "You come to Laax and don't know where the banked will take place this year. It's somewhere different every year. Surprise, surprise. The terrain is always different, and the shapers really adapt the course to the terrain. The natural topography has a huge influence on the line, which also makes it super interesting. This year's course is built in a really smart way. Because it's quite steep, small tricks are built in that naturally regulate the speed. So you can always ride aggressively and don't have to check your speed. That's great. And a big shout out to the shapers, because the course is organic."

In keeping with Greenstyle LAAX, the snowpark LAAX team built the 19 steep turns with up to 12 shapers. Poltera is thrilled with his team: "The entire course is hand-shaped. That's fantastic. Not a single machine hour was invested in the construction." Not a single drop of diesel was used to transport materials; rescue sleds were used instead. A generator charged with renewable energy was used to power the timing system.

The fastest

The Banked Slalom LAAX titles were won by Thomas Scherrer as the new Grand Master in the adult category, Ueli Kestenholz, also with a maiden victory in the Masters (40-49 years), and Fabienne Dirksen-Reuteler in the women's category. The two come from different snowboarding backgrounds – Kestenholz was an alpine and BX specialist, Reuteler was successful in the halfpipe – but both put their board skills to good use in banked slalom, the most original snowboarding discipline. Thomas Wolf, snowpark LAAX shaper and winner of the Open Men category 2024, can also do this. One day after her 18th birthday, Siria Poltera – multiple winner in the Kids category – raced to the top of the podium in the Open Women category: "I didn't expect that at all. But of course I'm totally thrilled!" What's more, she achieved the best time of all the female participants, which earned her a place on the beaming event photo with the winner of the Pro Men category, Harry Kearney. Although this is his first time in the Alps, he has already won the world's most famous banked slalom in Mount Baker. "This one is great too! I love the course. It was perfect because it was both challenging and fun. It reminds me of Mount Baker. I also met Reto there in Washington."

Valentino Guseli won the Fakie Race. He was only 2 seconds slower backwards than forwards, which underlines his class as an all-round snowboarder. The current Park'n'Pipe overall World Cup winner was delighted to finally be at Banked in Laax, which he calls his "happy place." Together with second-place finisher LAAX rider Dave Hablützel, he presented the hand-carved medals to the kids at the award ceremony.

The Juniors

The 80 starting places for kids and juniors were booked up in no time. With a mixture of relaxedness, ambition, excitement, and coolness, they set off on the course below the Affenfelsen. Divided into three age groups for boys and girls, they achieved some amazing times! Snowboarding has a bright future. Teenagers Leni, Theresa, and Paula are proof of that. "The podium is always cool. But mainly we come to have fun." The Bavarian trio will certainly be back for the 10th Banked Slalom LAAX in 2025. The kids from the Freestyle Academy LAAX are also back. Bright yellow like a little ray of sunshine, "Young Girl" Olivia slows down after the finish line, laughs as she frees herself from a load of snow in her race number, and throws herself happily into the snow: "Ah! I've done it!"

@LAAX @snowparkLAAX #BankedSlalomLAAX

Event website with all results: www.flimslaax.com/events/banked-slalom

Highlight edit to watch and share: https://youtu.be/iyQ5I4FcIoE