First World Cup Skiing & Snowboarding of Season Takes Place

20th October 2021

Last modified on October 26th, 2021

There’s Freestyle skiing and snowboarding in Switzerland and alpine ski racing in Soelden in Austria. GB athletes are in action with one rather special result for GB’s Alex Tilley. UPDATED

This weekend sees the first alpine World Cup ski racing event of the calendar with GS races for men and women in Soelden in the Tirol in Austria.

Saisonstart! ☀️💪 YEAH! @fisalpine @soeldencom pic.twitter.com/76tT4uSehM
— SwissSkiTeam (@swissskiteam) October 23, 2021

GB female racers have been in action.

Alpine

23rd – 24th October – World Cup, Sölden (Austria):

Charlie Raposo
Alex Tilley

And just look what Alex Tilley did on Saturday:

The season got off to a flying start this weekend, with Alpine star @AlexSkiTilley equalling her career best World Cup Result in Soelden, and four British athletes picking up FIS points in Chur.🇬🇧
Read the details ⬇️https://t.co/MbHsyaJmsN
📷: @GEPApictures pic.twitter.com/Vheft9Dphc
— GB Snowsport (@GBSnowsport) October 25, 2021

The omen’s GS race was won by Mikaela Shiffrin of the USA and brings her tally of World Cup victories to 70.

Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami was second and pushed Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova into third place.

“Starting off the season strong is important so I’m super happy,” said Shiffrin after the race.

What a close fight between @MikaelaShiffrin and Lara Gut-Behrami… let’s one race at a time 😜#fisalpine pic.twitter.com/5WNaz6IPQR
— FIS Alpine (@fisalpine) October 23, 2021

Following health regulations the organisers have been able to welcome spectators back to a World Cup race after last season’s closed races.

Up to 5,000 tickets for each day were available, with tickets only purchased online.

On Sunday it was the turn on the men with the Swiss racer, Marco Odermatt, top of the podium.

The event is the first of 37 legs of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, with the next scheduled races in Lech in Austria on November 13th and 14th.

What are start to the Men’s GS World Cup!! Marco Odermatt wins the first event of the season, closely followed by Austrian Roland Leitinger! After having a rocky season last year, @zan_kranjec raced hard and came third 👏#FISAlpine pic.twitter.com/Aaval7hgVf
— FIS Alpine (@fisalpine) October 24, 2021

Also taking place is Freestyle skiing and snowboarding at Chur in Switzerland on Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd.

Some of Team GB’s best freestyle athletes were in action.

Freestyle Ski

22nd October – World Cup, Chur (SUI):

James Woods
Katie Summerhayes

Freestyle Snowboard

23rd October – World Cup, Chur (Switzerland):

Billy Cockrell
Katie Ormerod

Austria’s Matěj Švancer and the French athlete, Tess Ledeux, were victorious in the big air skiing event.

Chur is the first of two big air World Cup legs, with the second due to be held in Steamboat in the United States on December 4.

In the womens snowboarding event the Japanese prodigy Kokomo Murase produced two stunning jumps at the International Ski Federation (FIS) Snowboard Big Air World Cup in Chur to win the women’s competition by a distance.

Joan Boesiger from Switzerland took the men’s crown.

That’s a wrap from #BigAirChur where Kokomo Murase and Jonas Boesiger claimed their first World Cup wins in front of the huge Swiss crowd!
Top 3 W:
1) Kokomo Murase 🇯🇵
2) Anna Gasser 🇦🇹
3) Jasmine Baird 🇨🇦
Top 3 M:
1) Jonas Boesiger 🇨🇭
2) Rene Rinnekangas 🇫🇮
3) Sven Thorgren 🇸🇪 pic.twitter.com/GyJUeyy1BE
— fissnowboard (@fissnowboard) October 23, 2021

Ahead of her first event of the season tomorrow, the @fissnowboard Big Air in Chur, Switzerland hear from @OrmerodKatie about her hopes for the season, what she’s most looking forward to and what becoming an Olympian at #Beijing2022 would mean to her!#GBSnowsport pic.twitter.com/vz9hvSrXqN
— GB Snowsport (@GBSnowsport) October 22, 2021

Members of the squad have been training in Saas-Fee this month.

Friday fist bumps with the Freestyle team 👊#GBSnowsport
📷: @benkinnear pic.twitter.com/UgQIMgu6qY
— GB Snowsport (@GBSnowsport) October 15, 2021

Big Air Chur is where where top-tier big air action and an electric music festival atmosphere combine in what is an epic opening to the winter.

Beyond the skiing and snowboarding there’s also the music festival side of things, in which Urban Music Live has called upon the likes of Breitbild, Apache 207, Jan Delay, Sido, Nura and others.

There is the “Party Mile” entertainment avenue that will be featuring 20 DJs, a skate park and a gastro zone.

The Big Air Chur is the first FIS Freeski or Snowboard World Cup competition in over a year and half that will take place in front of an audience, after Covid-19 regulations necessitated a spectator-free winter of 2020/21.

FIS Park & Pipe Contest Director Roberto Moresi is anticipating exceptional things from the first-time World Cup venue in Chur.

“The first event of a season is always special,” says Moresi ahead of the competition.

“You get to catch up with everybody, see familiar faces and lots of friends, and it’s even more amazing when you’re at a city event with all the fun around that.

“With the Olympics coming around many are still trying to lock in their spot for Beijing, and these events leading to the Games are of the highest importance.

“Many nations select their team during these last moments and events, which is just another reason why not to miss the Big Air Chur.”

This season is an Olympic winter with the Beijing Games taking place next February.

This week the Olympic flame was lit in Greece.