After the Montafon Gala:

Will the Flexenarena make its World Cup comeback this year?

The snowboard cross World Cup in Montafon was a complete success, crowned by two home victories for local hero Alessandro "Izzi" Hämmerle. It is quite possible that the spectacle in Montafon will not be the only snowboard World Cup event in Vorarlberg in 2024 - there could be a comeback in December...

The sporting director of the ÖSV snowboarders, Christian Galler, shared the excitement with his athletes in the finish area at Grasjoch and was delighted with the premiere of the new venue, which will also be the venue for World Championship medals in 2027. "It was really cool what the organizers have put together here again," said a satisfied Galler. And so it seems entirely possible that the Snowboard World Cup will once again be hosted in Vorarlberg in 2024.

Training hotspot without World Cup events
Not in the Montafon, however, but in the Flexenarena in Zürs. Although it has become a fixed training hotspot for skiers and snowboarders in recent years, the course has been idle in terms of World Cup events since November 2021 following the discontinuation of parallel races for the alpine athletes. Galler would like to change that.

Galler spoke to Ortlieb
"The idea would be to hold snowboard parallel World Cups on the Arlberg every two years, alternating with the Simonhöhe in Carinthia," reveals Galler, who has also recently approached Patrick Ortlieb about the idea. "The conditions there would be ideal with the floodlights and the short turnaround times." A possible date would be right at the start of the season, i.e. at the beginning of December.