Europe’s long-standing and number one snowboarding event, is scheduled for 19-23 January 2021*. International snowboard pro riders will take part in the Slopestyle and Halfpipe disciplines in the World Cup on Crap Sogn Gion, where they will demonstrate top-class freestyle skills.

The LAAX OPEN 2021  take place as part of the European package at the beginning of the new year. LAAX has been leading the way in freestyle for over three decades and has been voted the ‘World’s Best Freestyle Resort’ by the public and jury four years in a row. The multiple-awarded resortcontinues to step forward as a freestyle trailblazer even in extraordinary times and is taking every step necessary to ensure a safe winter season and World Cup. During the summer, LAAX confirmed to its association partners that it would make no compromises when it comes to sport and would continue to organise the competitions for women and men in both Slopestyle and Halfpipe. 
There is a huge undertaking involved in getting everything set up perfectly, but this decision is a commitment for the riders and their sport. The OPEN winners in LAAX include Olympic champions Iouri Podladtchikov, Shaun White, Sebastien Toutant, Chloe Kim, Kelly Clark and Jamie Anderson, as well as snowboarding legends Stale Sandbech, Mark McMorris, Danny Davis, Ayumu Hirano, Peetu Piiroinen, Max Parrot and Silje Norendahl.

So it’s no surprise that strong names shine from the entry list, which have already immortalised themselves with victories in the Laax Hall of Fame. All LAAX OPEN Slopestyle Men’s winners since 2015 will be attending, led by a trio from Canada: Seb Toutant (2020), Max Parrot (2017) and Mark McMorris (2016), as well as Norway’s Stale Sandbech (2015) and Chris Corning (2019) from the US. In the women’s field former LAAX OPEN winners like Enni Rukajärvi/FIN (2010, 2017), Julia Marino/USA (2020) and Jamie Anderson/USA, the quadruple OPEN Victress (2008, 2011, 2012, 2016), are expected to compete.

The Halfpipe continues blithely on with Scotty James/AUS (2019, 2020), Chase Josey/USA (2017), Arielle Gold/USA (2016), Jiayu Liu/CHN (2018) and Queralt Castellet/SPA (2020), who is currently training in LAAX.
The riders mentioned above earned quite a few Olympic medals and world championship titles in their careers. So did the riders who will challenge them once again in 2021, such as Anna Gasser/AUT and Yuto Totsuka/JPN. In the starting blocks are also the next generation vying for a place on the podium, like Katie Ormerod/UK, Annika Morgan/GER, Reira Iwabuchi/JPN and Markus Kleveland/NOR. Hosting country Switzerland sends 25 riders, including Pat Burgener, Jan Scherrer, Celia Petrig and Moritz Thönen.
 
A total of 28 nations submitted their entries. More than 200 snowboarders are expected to take part in the only FIS Snowboard World Cup in Slopestyle and Halfpipe on European soil.
What the OPEN has been offering for decades can also be seen in a current clip. Dive in for a minute to the 2020 Flashback Edit:

*This was confirmed this week during the digital FIS conference. The FIS has announced that the 2020/2021 tour will go ahead thanks to a compact concept, with the freestyle World Cup circuit taking place in the form of a safe bubble through close cooperation with the local organizers. This includes developed safety concepts with Swiss-Ski, the Inside LAAX app and also visible items such as LAAX neck warmers with integrated certified masks. Special measures for protection against COVID-19 are our number one priority.