Boardercross Booter

We are heading into a new season and nobody knows how it is going to be. All we know is where they want us to be, and what the spectators want to see. In case you can't make it to the events (bad weather, 10,000 miles away, sick, better things to do) we'll try to get this season organized. And we start off with a preview of several things which are now confirmed:

World Boardercross Tour Opener - Sölden, Austria
November 18-21
For the first time, the Sölden event in Austria will take place in association with the YOZ-Wintergames. Additional features are the disciplines of halfpipe and big air, as well as the boardercross. Soon we are going to see what else the organizer has to offer.

"Let the crazy kids out. CREED and ICE T are just waiting to represent on the stage in front of 40,000 crazy kids..."

This means that, for the first time, freestylers and boardercross dudes will hang out in the same town at the same time here in Europe. We had that before in 1997 World Championships and in Kirkwood in 1998. And since the vibrations back in those days were good, we hope this year is just the same. Now, a day before the event, the houses are all covered white and the old ladies in the town are already slipping on the ice.

Let the sketchy times start, and hope we make it through without any injuries. Riders who're confirmed: Daniel Franck, Xaver Hoffmann, Nicola Thost...

UBS Snowboard World Series Take Off – Laax, Switzerland
November 25-28
Only two hours south of Zurich is a little, little, little town with a lot of hotels, but which still has a nice vibration. It is called Laax and it even has a glacier. Back in the days, when there was not enough snow, we always had to hold our comps on the glacier. At the end of November that means -15°C and 50 km/hr winds. But this year they are already working on the shape of the pipe. So the whole of Switzerland knows that it is snowboarding season again, mostly through all the media talking them up by reporting on Laax.

Reto Gurtner, the owner of several hotels, and also the mountain, will manage to bring some cash into the hotel's pockets as well as in those of the salesmen all around the town. Don't forget, these guys do it two times a year. Once in November and once in April. Respect to the organization and the hosting, which is an example to all resorts out there.

	German rock stars Nicola & Xaver

7th Air and Style – Innsbruck, Austria
December 4
Let the crazy kids out. Creed and Ice T are just waiting to represent on the stage in front of 40,000 crazy kids. There has been so much said about this event that there is nothing left to say. New is that Kevin Jones (CAN) and Darius Heristchian (SUI), as well as Steve Gruber (AUT) will compete this year for the first time. Winner this, winner that, also Beckna, Michi Albin and Daniel Franck promised to come. And Ingemar Backman is ready to defend his title for the second time.

Fabien Rohrer, the 1996 winner, is at the moment hurt and will not be able to go shredding before February. He takes care of business in the meantime by working in the shop he opened in September.

Grindelwald, Switzerland
December 16-19, 1999
Back to Switzerland we will be just before Christmas. Pascal Imhof, local rider, will take care of the pipe and welcome all the boarders of the world to his hometown. The Jungfrau will smile at us again and the hotel directors will swear at us again. The food will be great, but expensive and the Japanese tourists will wait for the train, taking them up to the Jungfrau Glacier.

After trying really hard last year, they got it together and will stick with the ISF and their - you don't have to drug test - events for longer. Well talking about this peeing: Imagine you just do what you always do, like climbing a rock, or running down a mountain, and then at the end of the track somebody is standing there saying "hey, you have to pee in my cup, and I'll check if you eat or smoke things I don't like." In fact, you'd probably tell this guy to p*#! off. Well that's what the ISF riders tell them, another reason to check the shops in Thun considering your personal condition.

	Lisa Kosglow kicks

Swatch Soul City – Vienna, Austria
December 29-31
Vienna calling. Probably for the last time, the alpine riders will meet the freestylers in an in-city event. Just before New Year's the final contest of the '90s will take place. Besides Moto-Cross, there'll be a quarterpipe contest, dual and a straight jump. For the third time, in front of the Giant-Wheel, one of Vienna's well-known buildings, the riders will go off. Greg Wilson, a hard rocking East Coast kid, has confirmed he'll come over and along with some seasoned pros, we'll also see the hottest newcomers of all time. Invited and confirmed are Stefan Gimpl, David Benedekt, Romain de Marchie, Jonas Emery, Xaver Hoffmann, Nicola Thost, Martina Tscharner, Mike Basich, Sani Alibabic; and alpine riders, Sigi Grabner, Martin Freinademetz, Ueli Kestenholz,, Heidi Jaufenthaler and Maria Pfurtscheller.

The hotel everybody is going to stay in is a little bit outside of Vienna, and actually we need some groupies to come, since we have, by far, more guys than girls invited.

Nescafe World Series – Leysin, Switzerland
January 20-23
In Leysin we'll again be in the Swiss Alps. The French speaking town of Leysin is built on a hill and used to be an airy, relaxing place. We will surely enjoy the air, and hopefully some airtime, going off the nice cliffs in this resort. It's pure freeriding!! The weather has been good there for the past 12 years we are definitely going there to check out the scene.

If you want to go, have a car fully ready for heavy snow. The end of January was, and hopefully always will be, the month to dump. Especially near the Lake of Geneve, which can be seen from the peak of the resort. Even Mont Blanc can be seen, and, as we know, this is the highest peak in the Alps. Jean Baptiste Charlet, a Chamonix local, will be back for good, we hope. He broke his leg in the end of last season, but he won't miss his "Frenchy-local-comp" in Leysin.

Lord of the Boards – Fieberbrunn, Austria
January 27-30
Classic, stylish, true and loyal is Fieberbrunn, a resort in Austria which has stuck to snowboarding for 11 years already. The whole town has something to do with the event and everybody in the town is busy during these days. For the alpine riders Fieberbrunn is one of the season highlights since the slope is always in the best condition. And the freestylers hope the pipe is not as icy as it was last year. But it's all about URL, the guy with the snow.

Globe trotting – Japan to Canada
February-March
In February we will have comps in the US, the ESPN Winter X Games at Mount Snow, VT, February 3-6, and we'll work together with the ISF to get the right riders there. Then Garmisch Partenkirchen will have a boardercross on the 2nd to 6th of February. Then, on the 19th of February, it's off to Saporro (JAP) and the Toyota Big Air contest between 16 invited riders. The next comp will take place on the 2nd to 5th of March in Aorsa. It is on the ISF calendar for the first time and since Gian Simmen comes from over there, it will surely rip.

Then we're over to America, into Stoneham (CAN) for the Kokanee-Beer Festival Snowboard contest, on the 7th to the 12th of March. This event, which is organized in association with the Snowboard Canada Magazine, was one of the sweetest in 1999. So the pressure is on them, but at the same time: easy going, it won't be bad.

UBS MWC Jakobshorn – Davos Switzerland Tour Finals
April 4-8
Davos will call us again. The final comp for the halfpipe elite who don't want to go to the Whistler Classic. Just wait for the report, it could be interesting. Davos is a town in the Graubunden, a certain part of Switzerland, which is well known for its cold spring and loads of snow during this time. That's the place where the season champ will be crowned when he is taking the season title. Last year's winners were Daniel Franck, Nicola Thost, Minna Hesso, Sigi Grabner and Steffi von Siebenthal.

And after we spend some time in Laax, for the second time on the 13th to 15th of April, the season will end as always with the Boardercross Super Finals. So let's see what happens during the '99-2000 Season.

Live to ride.

— Nils, MountainZone.com European Correspondent