The ski and snowboard freestylers launch the World Cup winter with the Big Air Chur on Friday and Saturday evening. Here are the most important facts about the top Swiss athletes and the event.
What does the (sporting) program look like in Chur?
The freeski final takes place on Friday evening and the snowboard final on Saturday, both from 20:00 to around 22:00. The qualifications will take place in the morning of the final day (until around 2 p.m.), with the best ten men and the best eight women qualifying for the final. The sporting program will be rounded off by a cultural supporting program with live musical acts. More than 20,000 visitors are expected; in 2023 there were around 27,500.
Which top Swiss athletes will be competing?
Swiss-Ski has selected 24 athletes for the first home World Cup of the season - 17 freeskiers and 7 snowboarders. Andri Ragettli and Mathilde Gremaud lead the 24-strong Swiss squad. Ragettli celebrated his twelfth World Cup victory at the end of last season, but was beaten in the overall and discipline rankings by his American rival Alexander Hall. Mathilde Gremaud took all three crystal globes - big air, slopestyle and overall World Cup - in her almost perfect winter and now has 13 World Cup victories.
Ariane Burri is the only Swiss female snowboarder in the field, while veteran Nicolas Huber (29) leads a young team of six men. The most prominent absentee is 26-year-old Grisons freeskier Giulia Tanno, who is injured once again.
What's new with Andri Ragettli?
Andri Ragettli is consistently pursuing his long-term goal of the 2026 Olympics in northern Italy. Despite a serious knee injury in 2021, at 26 he says he feels physically better than he did at 19. The man from Flims has added a few tricks to his repertoire for the new season. The main focus is on creativity - the aspect that has repeatedly earned him deductions from the judges.
Ragettli won eleven of his twelve World Cup victories as well as World Championship gold and bronze in 2021 and 2023 in slopestyle. In Big Air, he has also recently caught up with the top again, as confirmed by second place in the discipline rankings for the previous season. Before the early start in Chur, however, he emphasizes that he is "still in the middle of preparation" and still needs more training to be at his highest level. The biggest change for Ragettli is his new clothing supplier ELHO.
What's new with Mathilde Gremaud?
Mathilde Gremaud recently made her relationship with Austrian downhill mountain biker Valentina Höll public and is considering moving to Innsbruck and out of her parents' house in La Roche in Fribourg in the near future. In Innsbruck, the 24-year-old 2022 Olympic champion would not only be closer to her girlfriend, but would also find optimal training conditions, she recently told CH Media.
She has matured, said Gremaud. She has learned to deal with the mental lows that she experiences, particularly in the off-seasons, and now also has professional psychological help. Gremaud is considering not competing in all World Cups in 2024/25 in order to be able to hone new tricks in preparation for the next Winter Games. "When I look back on the last winter, you mainly see a lot of victories. But I didn't make much progress in terms of skiing technique. I was able to stand my tricks regularly, but now I want to incorporate new, bigger tricks," she says.
What are the highlights of the 2024/25 season?
The highlight of the season is the home World Championships, which take place from March 16 to 30 in the Engadin (St. Moritz/Silvaplana) and also include the disciplines of ski cross, aerials and moguls. In mid-January, the 20th Laax Open will take place at Crap Sogn Gion (January 16-21), followed a week later by the prestigious but non-World Cup X-Games in Aspen, Colorado.
What about the financing of Big Air Chur?
City events for freestylers such as the one in Chur or, until 2014, in Zurich (freestyle.ch) are popular with the public, but are difficult to finance. The organization of Big Air Chur is secured until 2026. The budget currently amounts to around four million Swiss francs, while the city of Chur, which has set the savings hammer, is currently still contributing 300,000 Swiss francs for marketing as part of a five-year contract that has been running since 2021 with decreasing participation. "300,000 francs for 60 million media contacts and a media value of ten million francs per event, that's very good. What happens beyond 2026 is a political matter. I myself am an advocate of continuing the commitment," says Victor H. Zindel, OC President Big Air of the City of Chur.
There is also criticism from the people of Chur, mainly due to high prices, the line-up of bands and environmental aspects.
