Laax, November 17, 2021. The LAAX OPEN is Europe's most important snowboarding event: since 2005, the OPEN in January in LAAX has been all about freestyle lifestyle with contests and culture. Since 2017, the LAAX OPEN has been part of the FIS Snowboard World Cup Circuit and is considered the favorite event of numerous riders and teams. It also plays a prominent role in the media, setting standards in both reporting and sporting events.
Premiere: Slopestyle and Halfpipe Finals on Saturday, January 15, 2022
The LAAX OPEN 2022 will play a decisive role: freestyle snowboarders will have their very last chance to qualify for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. They will be traveling from all over the world: some to secure their Olympic ticket with a brilliant performance at Crap Sogn Gion, others who already have their ticket to Beijing but are aiming for the podium and the largest share of the CHF 140,000 prize money.
This also results in a first: World Cup decisions in two disciplines are scheduled for the same day in LAAX, namely on Saturday, January 15, 2022: Slopestyle at lunchtime, followed by the halfpipe final in the spotlight in the evening.
What a World Cup lineup: 180 riders from 32 countries
With the end of the registration period, it is now clear that the starting places for the LAAX OPEN 2022 are fully booked. Thirty-two national associations from all five continents have registered 180 riders, both women and men, in the slopestyle and halfpipe disciplines to participate in the FIS Snowboard World Cup in LAAX.
Top names such as Olympic gold medalists Anna Gasser (AUT), Chloe Kim, Jamie Anderson, Red Gerard, and Shaun White (all USA) will be appearing alongside the new freestyle generation with Zoi Sadowski Synott (NZL), Valentino Guseli (AUS), and Leon Vockensperger (GER). Also registered for the prestigious 2022 event are OPEN Champions Yuto Totsuka (2021, JAP), Scotty James (2019 & 2020, AUS), Queralt Castellet (2020, SPA), Julia Marino (2020, USA), Jiayu Liu (2019, CHN), Max Parrot (2017, CAN), Chase Josey (2017, USA), Mark McMorris (2016, CAN) and Stale Sandbech (2015, NOR).
Like other nations, the strong teams from Japan and Switzerland are using the LAAX OPEN 2022 as an opportunity to determine their favorites for the 2022 Olympics. Already in winning form at the end of October were Big Air Chur World Cup opening winners Kokomo Murase (JAP) and Jonas Bösiger (SUI), who plan to compete in slopestyle in LAAX. Swiss crowd favorites Jan Scherrer and Pat Burgener want to make it to the final halfpipe night final and thrill the crowd in the 140-meter-long superpipe.
Live on air
The finals of the LAAX OPEN 2022 will be broadcast on SRF in Switzerland and livestreamed worldwide on eurovisionsports.tv and laax.com. Red Bull TV will show the finals on a delayed basis and as VOD.
