Two events will take place, weather permitting between Feb 23rd and 27th. The Big Mountain Event and the Backcountry Slopestyle Event, both events will be contested by two teams, Team Europe and Team America, comprising 18 riders in each team. Team Europe is made up of mostly French nationals, with four Swiss and two Swedes completing the line up. Team America comprises of eleven Americans and seven Canadians. The Backcountry Slopestyle Event has been confirmed to take place today, Wednesday 25th Feb and will be held over two days, with nine heats per day. The Backcountry Slopestyle venue has been designed and prepared by the head shaper Arnaud Kugener (FRA) and his team. Massive jumps have been shaped to perfection using the natural terrain for inspiration. This event traditionally draws big crowds and will take place on the Hirli Face, accessible to the public from the Stafelalp piste. The unique terrain of Zermatt provides limitless possibilities and plenty of different options for the Big Mountain Event and has been under observation by event organizers and head guide Simon Anthamatten (SUI) (brother of Team Europe rider Sam Anthamatten) since the first snowfalls of the season. Last Friday the two Team Captains inspected the various faces and the exact venue for the Big Mountain event will be announced once the guides have determined which option provides the best possible conditions.
To decide who meets whom in each heat, one of the the two team captains has his starting rider picked by draw, leaving the other captain the advantage of tactically deciding which of his riders will go head-to-head to the drawn rider. In the second heat the roles are reversed and so forth. Three international judges will work with the simplest scoring method possible judging from an overall perspective. In each heat they compare the two riders. A showing of a blue sign means a vote for best performance by a Team Europe rider, and a showing of a red sign means a vote for the Team Americas rider. The rider who has the votes from at least two judges wins the heat and is rewarded with 1 point for his team. The losing rider gets 0 points for his team. The team with the most of the 36 available points after both days of competition wins!
Local hero and international ski legend, Samuel Anthamatten (Swatch Proteam, SUI) will be stepping in for Team Europe to replace Jeremie Heitz (SUI). Sam is known from the Freeride World Tour is an avid ice climber, and experienced mountain guide. He can also be seen along with snowboarder Xavier de le Rue in the new movie Mission Steeps. There has also been a change in the judges line with Woudie Bouma (AUS) unable to attend. He is replaced by Freeride World Tour skier and the 2013 winner of Red Bull’s ‘Beyond the Line’, Nicolas Salencon (ARG). On a much sadder note, this year saw the tragic demise of JP Auclair (CAN). It has been decided to dedicate the Swatch Skiers Cup 2015 to his memory and honor. He was the victim of an avalanche in late September 2014 together with fellow freeskier Andreas Fransson.