The world of snowboarding is unthinkable without this event: the LAAX OPEN 2017 provide one week of snowboarding at its best. And in addition to the high-class international women’s and men’s slopestyle and halfpipe competitions sanctioned by FIS and TTR, cultural highlights and concerts at rocksresort deliver top entertainment. From January 16 to 21, 2017, the international snowboarding elite will gather at the Swiss winter-sports resort which was awarded “world’s best freestyle resort” a few weeks ago. This unique ambiance regularly pushes the snowboard stars to deliver their best performance of the year!
Laax was recognised as the “World’s Best Freestyle Resort” 2016 by the World Ski Awards, known as the “Oscars of the travel industry”. What is unique about this award is that it is both a public and jury award, with 1.5 million votes cast. For Laax, this honour is just as richly deserved as hard-earned. Since 30 years, the Grisons winter-sports paradise has consequently focussed on snowboarding and freestyle. Never resting on their laurels, they’ve steadily brought their snowpark and halfpipe at Crap Sogn Gion to perfection. Today, the world’s biggest halfpipe (200 m long, 6.9 m high) as well as a huge, innovative slopestyle course await the riders.
With the successful debut of the LAAX OPEN event in the previous year, Europe’s leading winter-sports resort ushered in a new era. First-class snowboarding competitions, powder runs, lifestyle, cultural and culinary highlights – with something for everyone, the LAAX OPEN is in a class of its own and the year’s most popular event for the snowboard pros. 200 participants from 22 countries and five continents have registered for the LAAX OPEN 2017. The female winners of the 2016 event, Jamie Anderson and Arielle Gold, 6-time BEO Laax halfpipe winner Kelly Clark, X-Games champion Chloe Kim (all USA), current world cup leader Anna Gasser (AUT), Sina Candrian (SUI), and Aimee Fuller (GBR) will ride in the women’s contest. The men’s field includes last year’s winners, Mark McMorris (CAN) and Ayumu Hirano (JPN), BEO Laax 2015 winner, Stale Sandbech (NOR), Roope Tonteri (FIN), Olympic halfpipe Champion 2014, Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI), local young gun Pat Burgener (SUI) as well as Jamie Nicholls (GBR).