Press Release, Zermatt, Switzerland – January 4, 2014:

The riders of the Swatch Skiers Cup have arrived in Zermatt, Switzerland under snowy skies. After an unseasonably dry December, significant winter storms have come back to Zermatt, setting up promising conditions for the upcoming show. With snow forecast to continue for another day and clear weather supposed to show up early next week, the competition will be on hold until then with updates as the situation develops.

Zermatt “AAA” / Day 1 – Swatch Skiers Cup 2014

Zermatt’s unequaled position gives riders easy access to virtually limitless terrain and event organizers, along with head guide Samuel Anthamatten (Swatch Proteam, SUI), are keeping a close eye on possible big mountain venues around the area as the conditions develop. “After a very dry December, we had a huge storm last week which was followed by this week’s bad weather. The forecasts look better for the coming week and we’re absolutely committed to finding a safe spot for the riders to express themselves” explained Anthamatten. The backcountry slopestyle competition will take place later in the week and shaper Arnaud Kugener (FRA) is already hard at work setting up the massive jumps that make this event such a crowd-pleaser. Unlike the big mountain competition, the backcountry slopestyle event will be open to the public.

In a last minute change, Team Europe’s Kaj Zackrisson (Swatch Proteam, SWE) will unfortunately be unable to attend the event. Though Zackrisson will be missed, his replacement Fabien Maierhofer (FRA) has the solid talent to fill the spot and perform for Europe. One of the three judges, Camille Jaccoux (FRA), also had to step down at the last minute and has been replaced by Dimitry Charrière (FRA).