A winding road into the weekend: BANKED SLALOM LAAX will take place for the 10th time on the first weekend of March 2025.

The thighs are trained, the boards are waxed, and the starting lists are ready. Let the dance of steep turns and flags begin!

On March 1 and 2, 2025, starting at 10 a.m., it's time to get ready for the BANKED SLALOM LAAX – the only snowboard contest in the resort that is timed. And yet the Snowpark LAAX crew, which is responsible for all on-snow facilities in LAAX, is keen to incorporate a feature that underlines the freestyle DNA. A hip jump awaits behind the finish line. It will be exciting to see what magic is conjured up after a rapid run through dozens of turns. The best trick will of course be rewarded.

300 snowboarders are looking forward to this intergenerational community event, to riding, to seeing each other again, to chatting, and to the race itself. And amid all the fun, it's also important to see who can master the completely hand-shaped course the fastest and beam from the top of the podium.

There are 26 opportunities to compete. This is another characteristic feature of banked slalom, which offers 13 age categories for women and men, girls and boys. The most popular are the Open and Masters classes. With 80 riders competing on Junior Sunday alone, the future looks bright.

Riders from the early snowboarding generation, who swept all the titles in slalom, pipe, and cross back then—such as Peter Bauer, Reto Poltera, Ueli Kestenholz, Pascal Imhof, Therry Brunner, and Ariane Staib-Glaus—are regulars at Banked in LAAX. Reto Neiger is always fast on his own Zen boards, both forwards and backwards. Joining us for the first time are 2018 Olympic giant slalom champion Nevin Galmarini and young freestyle World Cup riders Nick Pünter and Emily Rothney.

If you want to watch, take the P60 from the Crap Sogn Gion mountain station towards Curnius and discover the colorful crowd of riders on the course and in the finish area on the left. A small selection of food and drinks and cool DJ sounds from DJ Frutti di Mare (Saturdays from 12 noon) invite you to linger. If you want to meet the community in the valley, go to the award ceremonies at the rocksresort in front of the Indy Bar and celebrate in the lobby, art space, and club of the Riders Hotel. All information can be found at laax.com/bankedslalom.