The World Championships of Snowboarding 2016

Making history! The snowboard community gathered up north for the inaugural World Championships of snowboarding (WCS).
Yabuli Resort, China, March 9th to 16th 2016:  TTR and WSF once again welcomes the world’s top riders to a battle over World Championship titles in halfpipe, slopestyle and big air, and a total of 500k USD in price money.
TTR and WSF invite the entire snowboard community – riders, the industry and nations – to play a part in shaping the future of our sport, and further introduce it to millions of sport fans in China.

A once-in-a-lifetime experience
The remote resort of Yabuli is a 2,5 hours’ drive from the city of Harbin (population 10 million). Yabuli is the largest and most well-known winter sports destinations in China.  China is rapidly developing its reputation as an emerging winter sport powerhouse, and has presented the leading bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics. WCS 2016 will be one of the first professional elite championships in China across any snow sport. The competition venues in Yabuli will be as on every elite snowboard event in the world. Everything else – the travel, the hospitality, the food, the lodging, the people, and parties – will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The WCS will happen the week after the US Open in Vail (CO, USA), allowing time for the riders to travel and adjust to the time zones.

Yabuli Resort

Qualification criteria’s
The World Championships of Snowboarding will have 300 spots available for male and female athletes to compete across all disciplines. The estimated qualify field sizes will be 60 riders for men and 40 riders for women in Slopestyle and Halfpipe, Big Air will have 12 spots for women and 37 spots for men.

Minimum Requirements to Qualify:
In order to participate in the World Championships of Snowboarding, riders have to fulfill the following minimum requirement: Ranked in the Men´s Top 250 or in the Women´s Top 125 on the respective WSPL (World Snowboarding Points List) discipline ranking.

A rider’s position on the respective WSPL is determined by the average of his/her best three results for the WSPL Halfpipe and best four results for the WSPL Slopestyle over a rolling 52-week period. The cut-off date for qualification into the 2016 event will be Tuesday, December 15th, 2015.

Qualification criteria’s:
Riders can qualify for a spot to compete in the World Championships of Snowboarding through one of the following four criteria’s (minimum requirements have to be fulfilled):

1) World Snowboarding Points List Quota (WSPL):
Male riders ranked 50 or higher and female riders ranked 30 or higher, on the WSPL at the cut-off date in the respective discipline. The Top 50 Men and Top 30 Women on the WSPL Halfpipe or Slopestyle at the announced cut-off date (15th December 2015) will be automatically eligible to compete in the respective discipline at the event.

2) WSF Nations Quota:
Each WSF member is entitled to qualify one rider for both men and women in each discipline.  Therefore, each nation is entitled to a maximum of 4 spots and will need to use a national event, such as a national championships event, or national criteria approved by the WSF Event Committee, to qualify riders. The National Snowboard Associations must announce all national quota spots for the 2016 event no later than Tuesday, December 15th, 2015.  If one or several riders are already eligible to compete through one of the other qualification criteria’s, or if due to injuries or other circumstances an already nominated rider can not compete, the open spot falls to the best national rider not yet qualified based on the defined national qualification criteria’s (minimum criteria’s have to be fulfilled).

3) TTR World Champions and Elite Level Winners:
All TTR World Tour Champions from the last three years (2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15) are eligible to compete in all disciplines at the World Championships of Snowboarding.  All World Snowboard Tour Elite Level title winners from the last 52 weeks prior to 08.03.2016 are eligible to compete in the discipline in which they won the title.

4) Local Organizing Committee Wild Cards:
The organizing committee of the World Championships of Snowboarding is entitled to qualify two additional competitors in Halfpipe and Slopestyle for men and women and two wild cards for Men’s Big Air (ten total wild cards) who all need to be approved by TTR/WSF.

Registration Process
All qualified riders are required to confirm their event attendance no more than seven days after the qualification spots have been announced.  Riders will be notified individually via email to complete the registration process. The exact date of this deadline will be communicated at least four weeks before the cut-off date for qualification (15.12.2015).  If a rider fails to confirm his/her attendance until the deadline, the rider will lose the right to compete at the event.  Any open spots on the entry list may be given to alternates.

Event schedule (*subject to change)
March 8th: Arrival of athletes //
March 9th: Practice and event kick off / welcome //
March 10th: Qualifications halfpipe and slopestyle //
March 11th: Qualifications halfpipe and slopestyle //
March 12th: Qualifications halfpipe and slopestyle //
March 13th: Qualifications halfpipe and slopestyle //
March 14th: Semifinals halfpipe and slopestyle //
March 15th: Slopestyle finals //
March 16th: Halfpipe finals and big air finals.

Travel
The WCS 2016 will be easy accessible; fly to Harbin International Airport, either directly or via International Airport Beijing (or via other international airports in China). From Harbin, there will be a shuttle service directly to Yabuli Resort.

Save the date – more information to come shortly on lodging, travel and more:
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About the World Championships of Snowboarding
The World Championships of Snowboarding is a pinnacle event organized by snowboarders. WCS crowns the World Champions in the disciplines Halfpipe, Slopestyle and Big Air, on the biggest possible stage; it is a high caliber celebration of the sport.

Relive the action from the WCS 2012 in Oslo: