<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Big Air Chur freestyle festival will be opening the <strong>FIS World Cup season</strong> for the fourth time in a row. On <strong>18-19 October 2024</strong>, international freeski and snowboard pros will wow the crowds with their tricks as they jump the ramp, while popular bands move you to bust your own moves on the live stage before, between and after the sporting performances. It's the combination that’s so electric and eclectic! Freestyle sport AND music is Big Air Chur. There’s nothing else like it. Tickets are available exclusively at <a href="https://www.ticketmaster.ch/artist/big-air-chur-tickets/1089963" target="_blank">ticketmaster.ch</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Olympic champions, world champions, X-Games winners, overall World Cup winners—the crème de la crème of freeskiing and snowboarding loop the entry list for the first Big Air World Cup, which kicks off the winter in Chur, the capital of Graubünden. With a total of 5 competitions in the season, everyone wants to shine right at the start edition. It goes without saying that women and men receive the same prize money and jump the same kicker at Big Air Chur.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For insiders—and the Swiss audience proves itself as such time and again—the exciting question is: Will the riders bring new tricks with them? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What will the freeskiers show on Friday, 18 October? First and foremost, the high-flyer and Big Air Chur title defender <strong>Mathilde Gremaud</strong>, who was the first woman ever to win 3 freeski crystal globes in March 2024. Or serial winner <strong>Andri Ragettli</strong>. Will he achieve his first podium finish in his home town in front of headliner Bonez MC? Both Swiss-Ski riders will face a tough challenge from competitors travelling from all over the world: Frenchwoman <strong>Tess Ledeux</strong>—Big Air Chur Champion 2021 and 2022—is always a force to be reckoned with, as are Olympic champion<strong> Birk Ruud</strong> from Norway, and 2023-24 discipline winner <strong>Alex Hall</strong>, Alaskan with Swiss roots, and Chur premiere winner, <strong>Matej Svancer </strong>from neighbouring Austria. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Snowboarder<strong> Anna Gasser</strong> also hails from Austria. She is a two-time Olympic champion in Big Air, has twice stood on the podium in Chur and is considered the favourite for Saturday 19 October alongside UK teenager <strong>Mia Brookes</strong> and the lively Japanese riders <strong>Kokomo Murase</strong> and <strong>Reira Iwabuchi</strong>. She is sure to get a boost from the Viennese rock band Wanda, who will be performing on the snowboard evening, as will electropop icon Paul Kalkbrenner. If Swiss snowboard rider <strong>Nicolas Huber</strong>, who owns 2 World Championship bronze medals in Big Air and performs hip social media gigs as Hubercop, makes it to the final in the men's competition, anything is possible. Even against the strong Japanese like <strong>Taiga Hasegawa</strong> or <strong>Hiroto Ogiwara</strong>, contest winner in 2023. But there is another local determined to go all the way: <strong>Valentino Guseli</strong>, Australian curly-haired snowboarder from Laax and Chur, FIS overall winner of the Park and Pipe ranking in the 2022-23 season. Can the most complete freestyler of the FIS World Cup circuit shine from the top podium?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">All must descend from the top, the 160 freestyle athletes from over 25 countries. The view from the 40-metre-high starting tower is gigantic—and when the speaker announces the next rider, when the crowd in the festival area below cheers, it's a singular adrenaline rush spurring the riders on to give their best performance: via the inrun, over the kicker, through the air and into the landing. APPLAUSE!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">**</div><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: justify;">Socials:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">@bigairchur </div><div style="text-align: justify;">#bigairchur</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Instagram: @fissnowboard @fisfreestyle @swissfreeski @swisssnowboard </div><div style="text-align: justify;">@graubuenden @churtourism @stadt.chur</div>