<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Including many well-known names spanning four decades of snowboarding – Host <strong><a href="https://www.boardriding.com/Riders/nicolas-muller" target="_blank">Nicolas Müller</a></strong> welcomes <strong><a href="https://www.boardriding.com/Riders/travis-rice" target="_blank">Travis Rice</a></strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Snowboarding means lifestyle, freedom, movement, culture. LAAX lives it and lets you experience it. Easy Going and the leisure side can look something like this: Letting the wind blow around your face, making wide turns on the slopes, whizzing through forests covered in deep snow, tracking through the powder in open terrain, enjoying features made of wood, snow or steel in the snowpark playground and surfing through the superpipe.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are now many different disciplines in contest riding. The most original one is the Banked Slalom. This goes back to the times when snowboards had no edges and steep turns were necessary to get around the curve outside of the deep snow. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Banked Slalom is original</strong>, which LAAX has always attached great importance to.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">From the first snowboarders of Switzerland*, early contest riders of international level to young park shredders, they come to LAAX to have fun in the course plenty of banked turns up at Crap Sogn Gion mountain.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Who is on the starting list of the popular <a href="https://www.boardriding.com/Events/sudden-rush-banked-slalom-laax-2020" target="_blank">SuddenRush Banked Slalom LAAX 2020</a>?</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For example the slalom ace of the 90s <strong>Peter Bauer</strong>, defending champion Super Masters in LAAX, and the former boardercross professional <strong><a href="https://www.boardriding.com/Riders/reto-poltera" target="_blank">Reto Poltera</a></strong>, member of the management of LAAX, the Weisse Arena Group. Or the freestylers <strong><a href="https://www.boardriding.com/Riders/ingemar-backmann" target="_blank">Ingemar Backman</a></strong>, who celebrated his first international victory in 1996 in Laax in the halfpipe, and <strong><a href="https://www.boardriding.com/Riders/christian-haller" target="_blank">Christian Hitsch Haller</a></strong>, who rocked the halfpipe at the OPEN events from 2005 to 2018. And <strong>Ueli Kestenholz</strong>, the fast multisportsman, very fast in alpine and BX snowboarding at the turn of the millennium.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the Ladies Pro and Master category, some famous names also appear: such as the Olympic champions <strong><a href="https://www.boardriding.com/Riders/nicola-thost" target="_blank">Nicola Thost</a> </strong>(Halfpipe 1998) and <strong>Tanja Frieden</strong> (Boardercross 2006); LAAX BX winner 1997 <strong><a href="https://www.boardriding.com/Riders/nici-pederzolli" target="_blank">Nici Pederzolli</a></strong>; Freeride World Tour Champion 2010 <strong>Aline Bock</strong>; Slopestyle expert <strong><a href="https://www.boardriding.com/Riders/sina-candrian" target="_blank">Sina Candrian</a></strong>, LAAX OPEN winner 2020 <strong><a href="https://www.boardriding.com/Riders/queralt-castellet" target="_blank">Queralt Castellet</a></strong>, as well as the fastest woman on board in LAAX for three years <strong>Ariane Staib-Glaus</strong>, twice the age of <strong><a href="https://www.boardriding.com/Riders/chloe-sillieres" target="_blank">Chloe Sillieres</a></strong>, who won the Pro category in 2019.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Like the hosts <strong><a href="https://www.boardriding.com/Riders/terje-haakonsen" target="_blank">Terje Haakonsen</a></strong> and <strong><a href="https://www.boardriding.com/Riders/nicolas-muller" target="_blank">Nicolas Müller</a></strong>, many of them come from the freestyle snowboard contest scene and earn their money while enchanting their fans with freeriding. Such as the “Ästhetiker” <strong><a href="https://www.boardriding.com/Riders/steve-gruber" target="_blank">Steve Gruber</a></strong> and <strong>Tom </strong><strong>Beckna Eberharter</strong>, as well as <strong><a href="https://www.boardriding.com/Riders/travis-rice" target="_blank">Travis Rice</a></strong>, currently one of the most remarkable and influential snowboarders worldwide. The fact that he will really be competing in Laax in the Banked Slalom 2020 will also be a truly unforgettable highlight for all the many <strong>riders from the</strong> <strong>OPEN, KIDS and JUNIOR categories.</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Program and information: <strong><a href="https://www.flimslaax.com/events/suddenrush" target="_blank">www.laax.com/suddenrush</a></strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>About the Banked Slalom</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The SuddenRush Banked Slalom LAAX 2020 hosted by Terje Haakonsen and Nicolas Müller will take place for the sixth time from the 5th to 8th of March 2020. Expect thrilling duels in this race laden with banked turns. With this event, LAAX brings the roots of snowboarding into the present day. Aged between four and sixty-four or more the riders’ field is made up of park shapers, pro riders, former world champions, boardercross specialists, alpine legends, leisure boarders, Olympics and, of course, host legends Terje Haakonsen and Nicolas Müller.<strong><a href="https://www.flimslaax.com/events/suddenrush" target="_blank"> https://laax.com/suddenrush</a></strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>About Welcome on Board – 40 Jahre Snowboarden in der Schweiz</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;">*Welcome on Board" is the title of the exhibition in the Museum DAS GELBE HAUS in Flims, 10 minutes by shuttle bus from Laax, which impressively shows "40 years of snowboarding in Switzerland" on four floors, including international influences and personalities. Exactly one year ago at the Banked Slalom in LAAX, portrait and word recordings of snowboarders from different generations and continents were created for the exhibition, which runs until 12 April 2020.</div>