Big Air Chur: Top things to know about the 2021/22 snowboard World Cup season opener

The 2021/22 International Ski Federation (FIS) Snowboard season will get underway on 23 October with the Big Air World Cup in Chur, Switzerland.

Some of the top names in snowboarding are scheduled to take part in the competition, which will also serve as the first opportunity of the season for athletes to secure a spot on their respective national teams for Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

Here are the top things to know about Big Air Chur.

What exactly is snowboard big air?

For those of you who are new to snowboarding and/or perhaps unaware of its various disciplines, the big air event involves snowboarders sliding down a huge ramp (the ramp used for the big air event at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games is 49-metres tall - the biggest in the world) and launching themselves into the air to perform an epic trick.

The ramp and the singular trick is the distinctive feature of big air, in contrast to something like slopestyle, where athletes slide down a course and have multiple opportunities to execute jumps and tricks.

Snowboarders get three jumps, with each jump judged by officials on five criteria: amplitude, execution, difficulty, and progression and landing. The two best scores are combined to create a final result.

The event made its Olympic debut in PyeongChang, but has been contested at the world championships and X Games since 2003.

When and where is Big Air Chur taking place?

The event is taking place on Saturday, 23 October, in Chur, Switzerland. Qualification events are scheduled to run from 09:00 to 15:00 (local), with the finals kicking off at 18:00.

Key athletes to watch

Big Air Chur is a major competition for a number of reasons.

For starters, it's the first-ever FIS Freeski big air World Cup in Switzerland, and only the second such competition for FIS Snowboard. It's also the first time in over a year and a half that an FIS Freeski or Snowboard World Cup competition will have an audience, due to COVID-19 restrictions throughout the 2020/21 season.

Additionally, the competition comes with just over 100 days to go before the Winter Olympics get underway in Beijing, meaning it's a great opportunity for athletes to prove their worth and secure a spot on their national teams for the Games.

As such, the starting field for the event is packed with international talents across the board.

Anna Gasser (AUT) is the headline star for the women's competition; the 30-year-old is the reigning Olympic champion in the event, and also picked up gold medals in Big Air at the 2017 World Championships and 2018 Winter X Games.

If Gasser wants to pick up another gold in Switzerland, however, she's going to have to fend off a deep pool of competitors, including:

• Defending world champion and PyeongChang silver medallist Laurie Blouin (CAN)
• Triple Olympic medallist and eight-time X Games gold medallist Jamie Anderson (USA)
• PyeongChang bronze medallist and 2021 world silver medallist Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (NZL)
• 16-year-old sensation Kokomo Murase (JPN), the first woman to land a 1260 double cork in competition and the youngest Winter X Games athlete ever to win a gold medal (achieving the feat when she was just 13).

The men's field is equally competitive, with Olympic gold medallist and 2021 world silver medallist Sebastien Toutant (CAN) and double Olympic bronze medallist and reigning world champion Mark McMorris (CAN) two of the standout names of the draw.

PyeongChang slopestyle gold medallist Red Gerard (USA) and four-time X Games gold medallist Marcus Kleveland (NOR) will also be wowing the crowd with their exceptional skills.

Keep an eye out for Staale Sandbech (NOR) too; the 28-year-old is a three-time Olympian (silver in the slopestyle at Sochi 2014) and won Big Air gold at the 2017 World Championships in Sierra Nevada.

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,” FIS Park & Pipe Contest Director Roberto Moresi Moresi told FIS.com.

“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.”