NZsnowboard.com

3rd November 2006

Stockholm, Sweden - After the alpine snowboarders opened the 2006/2007 season of the NOKIA Snowboard FIS World Cup with the first Parallel competitions, the freestylers are kicking off their World Cup winter in less than two weeks.

In November, three contests will be organized. At first, the kings of the air are soaring through the night and showing their incredible tricks at the Big Air in Stockholm on November 11th. The jump aces are not only competing for the first time ever in the Swedish capital, but also battling for victory in a new format of the night finals. The top 16 qualifiers will crown their champion through a knock-out system in the Olympic arena Stockholm stadium.

After this freestyle opener the boarders are struggling for World Cup points in the halfpipe of Saas-Fee, Switzerland, on November 24th and 25th ? the only two halfpipe contests prior the 2007 FIS Snowboard World Championships.

With the WCS in Swiss Arosa in January 2007 in mind, December is very important for the all-rounders because Austria's Bad Gastein is hosting the only Snowboard Cross World Cup prior to the World Championships on December 14th and 15th as well as one Parallel Slalom on December 16th.

In addition, two Parallel Giant Slaloms will be held in December. On December 3rd, S. Vigilio di Marebbe in Italy is organizing one of them. On December 21st, Slovenia's Kranjska Gora is celebrating its debut as a World Cup host with a PGS.

The last month of the year is also offering another highlight: Paris will be in charge of a World Cup contest for the first time ever on December 8th, hosting the season?s second Big Air in Disneyland Paris.

An overview of the 2006 schedule:

November 11th: Stockholm (SWE) Big Air
November 24th-25th: Saas-Fee (SUI) Halfpipe
December 3rd: S. Vigilio di Marebbe (ITA) Parallel Giant Slalom
December 8th: Paris (FRA) Big Air
December 14th-16th: Bad Gastein (AUT) Parallel Slalom + Snowboard Cross
December 21st: Kranjska Gora (SLO) Parallel Giant Slalom