KIDS LAAX OPEN: Switzerland's largest freestyle contest for young talent, March 15–17, 2024

Shred like the pros: The KIDS LAAX OPEN will take place from Friday, March 15 to Sunday, March 17, 2024. The counterpart to the FIS World Cup LAAX OPEN for kids and teens aged 5 to 18 is now in its fifth year. Getting a taste of competition, measuring yourself against your peers, and simply having fun – that's what the KIDS LAAX OPEN is all about. The contest, which was initiated by the Freestyle Academy LAAX to promote young talent, has long since established itself and is now part of the Swiss Snowboard Tour and the Swiss Freeski Tour.

In the footsteps of the freestyle world elite

On a specially prepared course in the ils Plauns Snowpark at Crap Sogn Gion, participants compete on snowboards and skis in the slopestyle discipline. In the halfpipe discipline, they then take to the skies in the superpipe. Just like the world's top freestyle athletes at the LAAX OPEN, the next generation also compete in the approximately 200-meter-long and 6.9-meter-high superpipe at the NoName Snowpark. Today's World Cup athletes such as David Hablützel and Andri Ragettli from Flims also proved themselves at the KIDS LAAX OPEN, then known as the Mini Shred Contest.

This year, participants in the U15 and U18 categories in the slopestyle discipline also have the opportunity to collect valuable FIS points. With enough points collected, athletes can then compete in higher-ranked FIS competitions, such as the European Cup.

Freestyle for everyone

However, LAAX remains true to its motto "Freestyle for everyone": even those who have no sporting ambitions and are just there for fun are welcome. After all, fun is a must this weekend. The KIDS LAAX OPEN has always made children's eyes light up and set hearts racing with excitement – whether those of the kids themselves or their parents.