The glacier at Les 2 Alpes in France has got the go ahead to stage the opening stage of the FIS Ski and Snowboard Cross 22-23 World Cup Tour on their glacier this October.
SATA, the Les 2 Alpes ski lift operator, created a permanent cross park in Les 2 Alpes last April 2022, working with with the Fédération Française de Ski (FFS), providing a training facility for international athletes.
“Through the maintenance of the glacier and thanks to the technical skills and know-how of all the teams, we have built a specific course on the glacier, which will be maintained all year round and which has allowed the French and international teams to train this summer,” explained Fabrice Boutet, director of the SATA group.
Prior to this, in February 2022, Les 2 Alpes applied to host World Cup stages for four years with the resort, SATA, the Ski Club and the mayor all working together to secure the event, now confirmed by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS).
The Snowboard Cross World Cup including test event, training, qualification and finale will take place between 26–29 October then from 2–5 November the Ski Cross World Cup, also including test, training, qualification and finale will be staged.
“Ski Cross is a recent discipline in ski racing. It’s a timed race event on a course which includes big-air jumps and high-banked. There are two highlights in the race. The first round in which each skier’s ride downhill is timed. Only the 32 fastest men or the 16 fastest women qualify for the finals. Then, the finals, where four skiers compete in each race, of which the first two qualify for the next race,” explained Sylvain Miaillier, coach of the French team and former racer.
Les 2 Alpes usually opens for a nine day period each autumn, corresponding with the start and end of the period over which the World Cup competitions are due to be staged, for a pre-season period of skiing and boarding with a festival atmosphere, new gear testing and more.
(Images credit: Pyrène Duffau)
