Meet "The Bowl" debuting at the Corvatsch Freeski World Cup slopestyle next week.

Luca Schuler and the Swiss Freeski Team will be hungry for a victory on their home turf. Photo: Allesandro Belluscio

The Freeski World Cup in Corvatsch, Switzerland is around the corner, and judging by the press release we just received, it looks like this event will continue to grow its reputation as one of the best slopestyle courses on the FIS World Cup circuit.

You can read the release below to get all the juicy details, but beyond the big names and the livestream schedule, the take-away news from this is the innovative “Bowl” feature that’s the centerpiece of this otherwise fairly standard course—yet another curveball tossed into the World Cup slope scene, which was just rocked with the highly creative Olympic test course in South Korea last week.

Looking at this drawing, it’s hard to imagine how this feature will actually work out. But we’re sure that given the reputation of the Corvatsch event, this thing will ride. So the only question that remains is—is slopestyle now skiercross?

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Corvatsch/Silvaplana, February, 23rd, 2016
FREESKI WORLD CUP CORVATSCH
with a new setup and top athletes confirmed

The world´s best freeskiers will be gathering at the Corvatsch Park in St. Moritz from March 2nd until 5th, 2016. Beside the title of the FREESKI WORLD CUP CORVATSCH, the overall victory of the FIS Worldcup, coming along with a massive prize purse of 50.000 Swiss Franks ,will be up for grabs in St. Moritz. This upcoming top-class competition is furthermore classified as a PLATINUM event of the AFP World Tour.

Top athletes of all leading freeski nations have confirmed their participation at the FREESKI WORLD CUP CORVATSCH. While previous year´s winner Felix Stridsberg-Usterud and X-Games medalist Oystein Braaten will be representing Norway, Olympic Champion Joss Christensen and third-place Olympic finisher Nick Goepper are coming all the way from the United States. Further big names on the startlist will be the Canadien high flyer Alex Bellemare, who just claimed the title at the Olympic test event in Pyeong Chang and lively Jesper Tiader from Sweden, also former vanquisher at the Corvatsch.

Swiss team determined to claim their first title at Corvatsch
Last but not least, the Swiss team stands strong and determined to claim a title at their „home“ World Cup. World Champion and X-Games Champion Fabian Boesch, Andri Ragettli and Luca Schuler, they have all been on the podium at Corvatsch before, but not brought home the gold medal, yet! In the women´s competition, spectators can look forward to an all-Scandinavian head-to-head battle between previous year´s winner Tiril Sjaastad Christiansen (Nor) and runner-up Emma Dahlstrom (Swe). Also Lisa Zimmermann from Germany and Corvatsch winner 2014, will be joining the battle for the top spots.

Extended course with seven obstacles including “The Bowl”
Not just a high-class starting field, but also the brand-new and extended slopestyle course are the indicators of a massive spectacle. The new setup has even more obstacles (seven in total) to offer, more flow and scope for creativity than the past year´s setups. Riders will finally be juming out of a steep wall in the exceptional bowl.

Live webcast and daily webisodes
For the very first time, the 2016 FREESKI WORLD CUP CORVATSCH will be endowed as a PLATINUM event, the highest possible category of the AFP World tour. The prize purse counts a total of 50.000 Swiss Franks. On the final day, Saturday, 5th of March, riders will be clinching their stakes. Around 120 male and female riders out of twenty-three nations will be competing on Friday, 4th of March in the qualifications. Ten men and six women will eventually make it to Saturday´s Finals, starting off at 11.00 a.m. The FREESKI WORLD CUP CORVATSCH will be broadcasted live on TV and on the webcast. Daily webisodes will be released from February, 28th on, delivering background stories, rider statements and action shots from the Corvatsch Park.