WSF and TTR announce the World Snowboarding Championships Venue

Oslo, Norway – 7th September, 2010: A final “yes” was heard yesterday in the capital of Norway finalizing the plan to host the inaugural World Snowboarding Championships (WSC) in Oslo in the winter of 2012. The Norwegian Government approved the expansion of the Tryvann Vinterpark resort arena, with no changes, which will guarantee the venue to host the event. The WSC will be held every four years featuring men’s and women’s slopestyle and halfpipe competitions, and will crown a world champion for each gender and discipline.

“The World Snowboarding Championships was developed with the athlete’s best interests in mind and we are confident the event will become a cornerstone of competitive snowboarding,” states Reto Lamm, president of the TTR. “Since riders will qualify through the Swatch TTR World Rankings and the WSF National championships, the event will attract the best, most progressive riders in the world.”

The decision to launch the event was made at the 2010 TTR General Assembly held last May, where the TTR, together with the WSF accepted the application from Norway to host the World Snowboarding Championships in Oslo. At that time, the finances were guaranteed by the Municipality of Oslo, but the Norwegian Government had not approved the arena expansion plans. The final approval came as a result of a persistent three years of campaigning and was achieved by a unique partnership between athletes, federations, sports clubs, organizers, the resort and the Municipality of Oslo.

“This event will offer great motivation to National Snowboard Associations sports development programs at a local level as every nation will be involved in the qualifying system“, commented Marco Sampaoli, WSF Vice-President.

At yesterday’s press conference the TTR founder and legendary snowboarder Terje Haakonsen and the Minister of Environment congratulated each other on Skype in front of the many athletes who showed their support including Mikkel Bang, Fredrik Austbø and Helene Olafsen. During the press conference, it was also announced that the Oslo Municipality’s 20-million Euro investment is still subject to public regulation before construction of the new arena can begin at Tryvann Vinterpark, but the outlook is positive given the warm approval when news of the new venue was made public.

Updated news and information about qualification criteria, event details and scheduling will be available on www.ttrworldtour.com and www.worldsnowboardfederation.org