Breuil-Cervinia opens the Snowboard Cross World Cup

The first snow has already fallen on the slopes of Breuil-Cervinia, a resort in the Aosta Valley which today - Thursday 13th - also opened the Pancheron chairlift to the public, awaiting the Goillet and Gran Sometta lifts which will come into operation on Friday 14th and Saturday 15th November respectively (new rates available on cervinia.it).

At over 2,000 metres in the Cervino Ski Paradise, all eyes are now on 'piste 26', which has once again been chosen by the International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS) for the opening of the Snowboard Cross World Cup.

The season will kick off at the foot of Gran Becca, a now fixed event that precedes all other stages of the international circuit by more than a month. The world's best snowboarders will gather in Valtournenche on 12 and 13 December for the first competition of the Olympic season.

This year, there will be only one race in the Aosta Valley. The first victories in the women's and men's circuits will be awarded in a month's time, at the end of the final heats scheduled for Saturday 13 December. The two qualifying runs will take place on Friday 12, while Sunday 14 is reserved as a date for any catch-up races.

In the first drafts of the calendar, the Aosta Valley stage had been included just before Christmas; the FIS then accepted the request for an earlier date made by the organising committee and confirmed the date for 12 and 13 December during the usual autumn meetings in Zurich. The staff met in recent days to take stock of the situation and begin the operational phase.

The Snowboard Cross World Cup remains an important event for Valtournenche, a valuable promotional vehicle that allows images of the resort - usually snow-covered and fully accessible - to be seen around the world. From Canada to China, two countries where snowboarding is popular, via the whole of Europe.

The latest audience figures for last year show that almost 6 million viewers watched the race in Breuil-Cervinia, which was part of a circuit that recorded a total of 59.5 million viewers between live broadcasts, highlights, news and streaming, with an average of 4.9 million per event. This is an above-average result for the Valle d'Aosta resort, which is once again preparing to kick off the World Cup season at the foot of the Matterhorn, dreaming of an Italian podium just a few months before the Italian Olympics.