As the New Year settles upon us, there are plenty of snowboarding events for you to sink your edges into this season. Here is a list of events broken down by resort to help you fill your own personal calendar.
Solitude Mountain Resort
Jan. 19-22 - US Grand Prix / FIS World Cup Snowboard Cross Finals
This is the Marquee snowboard event in Utah this season. In a non-Olympic year, the FIS US Grand Prix is the arguably the biggest and most important boarder cross event of the season. For the first time, Solitude will be hosting this prestigious event and the fastest snowboarders on the planet will be dueling it out all weekend. Snowboard cross for those of you who are unfamiliar is an event in a group of 3-6 riders simultaneously descend a luge-like course of berms, jumps and gates and whoever crosses the finish line first is your winner. The group format makes for heat-stopping excitement and spectacular crashes. I truly is one hell of a spectacle.
Telluride, Colorado native and current Park City resident Hagan Kearney is fresh off his first World Cup victory in Montafon, Austria earlier this season and he will certainly be bringing his A-game to possibly win again on home soil. It isn't very often that an event of this caliber graces our slopes, especially in the central Wasatch, so this is one that cannot be missed.
Check out the course!
As a side-note, please try to utilize the UTA ski bus to get to the event venue, seeing that parking is very limited.
Visit http://ussnowboarding.com/events/grand-prix-solitude-ut for more information.
Feb. 16 - Backcountry + Avalanche safety clinic hosted by Prival USA
Local backcountry gear manufacturer Prival USA will be hosting two courses on this day at 9 AM and again at 12:30 PM, providing vital avalanche and backcountry safety techniques at the Moonbeam chairlift. The cost is $50. Knowledge is power and safety is key in the mountains. Take advantage of the great opportunity.
https://skisolitude.com/additional-activities/event-calendar
Brighton
Jan. 12 - Brighton backcountry 101
Learn the basics on how to travel safely in the Brighton backcountry.
http://www.brightonresort.com/contact/events/
Feb. 11 - SLUG Games
Utah's longest-running local snowboard contest is back for 2017. Hoisted by SLUG magazine, the SLUG games invites snowboarders to Brighton resort to throw down in their famous terrain park and make their mark on the local scene.
Feb. 25-26 - Progression Sessions
This freestyle focused camp is organized by women rders for women riders who are looking to improve their skills in a fun environment. With guest pros as the coaches, progression really is the ultimate goal. All lift tickets, private park, food and gear goodies are included in this killer package.
Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1807562472830956/ for more information.
Mar. 2 - ThirtyTwo Day hosted by ThirtyTwo Snowboard Footwear.
This is the springtime event to be at if you are a snowboarder. With a banked slalom race in the morning and a rail jam in the afternoon, there is something for everyone. PLus, you will have guest pros as judges and the opportunity to win an unbelievable amount of gear. Not to mention that the atmosphere is all time!
Brian Head Ski Resort
Triple Crown Freestyle Series :
Jan. 14 - Part 1) Rail Jam
Feb. 4 - Part 2) Slopestyle
Mar. 26 - Part 3) Big Air
The kings of southern Utah are hosting a triple crown even that spans the remainder of the 2017 season. Come down to test your mettle in soutntern Utah's only snowboard event series.
Visithttp://www.brianhead.com/Resort-Eventsfor more information.
Snowbird
Jan. 13-16 - IFSA Junior Nationals
The future generation of young freeriders will descend upon Snowbird's legendary terrain to show the world their skills.
Feb. 24-26 - SheRide Snowboard Camp
This is another women's specific snowboard camp, this time with more of a freeride focus. Let SheRide's certified coaches show you how to confidently improve your freeriding skills on one of the world's best freeride mountains.
Visit http://www.snowbird.com/events/ for more information.
Park City Mountain
Mar. 2-5 -King of the Wasatch slopestyle + Halfpipe USASA Big Mountain West Events
Utah's famous amateur freestyle snowboard contest is back. The King of the Wasatch has been giving shredders from across the region an opportunity to prove themselves in PC's famous park and pipe for the better part of two decades. Come watch the next best riders in the intermountain west at this great event.
Visit http://www.parkcitymountain.com/events/event-detail.aspx?year=2017&month=3&eventview=calendarview&ev... for more information.
Snowbasin Resort
Jan. 20 - USASA Alpine + Slopestyle events USASA Big Mountain West Events
Watch as riders from across the west compete in reestyle and big mountain disciplines on Snowbasin's amazing terrain.
Vist https://www.snowbasin.com/events/detail/usasa-slopestyle-events for more information.
Powder Mountain
Jan. 21 - Derby banked Slalom race hosted by Salomon Snowboards
Powder Mountain is renowned for their creative outlook on snowboarding. For this season they are planning to build a custom banked derby course for riders to race each other on. Knowing these guys, this will definitely be a fun time.
OTHER
Jan. 9 - Premier of "The Fourth Phase" at Brewvies Cinema/Pub hosted by the Utah Avalanhe Center
The Utah Avalanche Center is hosting a screening of Travis Rice's latest opus "The Fourth Phase" at Brewvies cinema/pub on monday January 9th. Come grab a cold one and watch some amazing snowboarding.
visit https://utahavalanchecenter.org/event/fourth-phase for more information.Jan. 13 - Ski Utah "POW" day hosted by Protect our Winters
Join Ski Utah and Protect our Winters on Utah's historically snowiest day of the year in an effort to raise climate awareness and to promote carpooling and using UTA's transit system to get to the hill.
Visit https://www.skiutah.com/media-room/pow-day for more information.
As the season progresses, more events will be likely to materialize. Check back to this calendar throughout the season to find any snowboard events that might catch your fancy. See you out on the hill.
