“After the great success of the first World Championships of Snowboarding (WCS) 2012 in Oslo, the next edition will take place in China’s most renowned winter sport resort Yabuli, in the Northeast of the country, between February 21 and March 13 2016, in the disciplines Slopestyle (F/M), Halfpipe (F/M) and for the first time, Big Air for men. TTR Pro Snowboarding and the World Snowboard Federation (WSF) announced this in conjunction with the 6Star event The Arctic Challenge in Oslo today. In a 12-month bidding process,

Yabuli resort was able to convince TTR and WSF of its capability and commitment to realize the event in 2016. TTR and WSF are both the event's organizer and rights owners. Yabuli resort received a unanimous positive vote from the board members of TTR/WSF. The currently existing sportive, touristic and technical infrastructure in combination with the unsurpassed know-how of the World Snowboard Tour’s execution of Slopestyle, Halfpipe and Big Air events, will ensure optimal conditions for athletes, media and spectators on-site and worldwide.”

Yabuli is China’s major winter sports resort. It is located in the north-eastern province of Heilongjiang, a two hour train ride away from the province capital of Harbin, a city of 3.5 million inhabitants, world famous for its annual ice sculpture festival. Thanks to its high snow reliability, Yabuli is blessed with a rich tradition in winter sports, especially considering that China is a country rather new to winter sports. Yabuli has all necessary facilities lined up for hosting the World Championships of Snowboarding, a vivid snowboarding community and substantial experience in hosting major international sport contests, such as Winter Universiade or World Cup events.

Reto Lamm, President of TTR Pro Snowboarding commented:
„The decision in favour of Yabuli in China represents a major step forward in our ambition to establish the World Championships of Snowboarding as the world´s most respected snowboarding contest and bring back full control over snowboarding to snowboarders. To have our next World Championships in China is a great chance for snowboarding and a great opportunity to develop one of the most promising growing winter sports markets. As WCS company, and in the name of TTR and WSF, it is important for us to spread the authentic spirit of snowboarding globally – to Yabuli and the Heilongjiang province, and beyond. I am very excited to see snowboarding’s youth lifestyle blend with Chinese culture and I am sure that the WCS 2016 will become a great showcase event for our sport.

Snowboarding has changed winter sports and the youth’s lifestyle around the globe massively and in a positive way over the years. We are aiming to continue that journey in China and other countries still new to the sport. We feel that Yabuli is the best spot in China to start this venture. “
 
Marco Sampaoli, President of World Snowboard Federation commented:
„The second edition of the World Championships of Snowboarding will showcase the full spectrum of contemporary freestyle snowboarding at the highest competitive level, also by adding the Big Air discipline. It will be amazing to watch the best riders of our times pushing the limits even further in Slopestyle, Halfpipe and Big Air. Every rider coming from all around the world to China’s northeast will undoubtedly have a memorable experience. We expect riders from at least 20 countries to make their way to the World Championships. Yabuli winter sports resort’s topography, as well as the enthusiasm and commitment of the responsible people at Yabuli and in the government of Heilongjiang province will make for an awesome Snowboarding Championship environment.“

Mr Zhou Yi Yun, General Manager of Yabuli Resort:

‘’We have full confidence that our skill and enthusiasm, combined with the guidance and assistance of TTR and WSF will result in a splendid event in 2016. We would like to say welcome to all the riders, snowboarding fans and everyone present today, to come to Yabuli and witness this great event.’’

Chas Guldemond, World Champion Slopestyle 2012 and Member of the TTR Pro Snowboarding Board, commented:

„I am very excited to go to the WCS in Yabuli! Not only do I get to defend my Slopestyle title, but I can help push the sport of snowboarding in China in a major way. Snowboarding is growing really fast in China. I was able to witness that myself, when I visited for the 3^rd edition of Oakley Air & Style in Beijing. With that experience in mind, I don’t see any better place to have the WCS than Yabuli. They have the terrain, support, and are very eager to show this awesome sport to Chinese youth and the rest of the world! “
 
About TTR Pro Snowboarding & World Snowboard Tour

TTR Pro Snowboarding is a non-profit organization that oversees a professional network of events and athletes. Our objective is to develop and showcase the sport of snowboarding while facilitating a fair and open competition environment that includes innovative judging and ranking systems. We encourage riders to develop from rookies into world-class athletes through our Star rating system. TTR Pro Snowboarding owns the World Snowboard Tour, the TTR World Ranking System and together with WSF, the World Championships of Snowboarding. The World Snowboard Tour includes Halfpipe, Slopestyle and Big Air events, and awards Championship titles in each discipline.
This season’s World Snowboard Tour includes: 7 6Star, 8 5Star, and 18 4Star events. Another 146 events are presented on the rookie level, making the collaboration’s product of TTR Pro Snowboarding and the World Snowboard Federation to the biggest and best Snowboard Tour on the planet. Adding up the contests’ prize money of this season, there is a combined prize purse amounting to more than $ 2.5 million.

About World Snowboard Federation

World Snowboard Federation is an international non-profit organization, exclusively working to develop and taking care for the sport of snowboard at all levels including, competitions and education, disable and adaptive snowboarding, snowboard activities for riders of any age. Delegates from 14 nations founded the WSF on August 10th 2002 in Munich. The initiative was taken by Japan and Norway – with support from most of the nations worldwide. The Federation became operational late November 2002. 

About the World Championships of Snowboarding

The World Championships of Snowboarding (WCS) are the first championship events run by snowboarders since 1999. The format is developed and owned by TTR Pro Snowboarding and World Snowboard Federation (WSF). The first edition was held in Oslo Vinterpark in 2012. WCS serves as the pinnacle event in freestyle snowboarding and will be held every four years on great locations around the world. It is a freestyle event only with Halfpipe, Slopestyle and Big Air as main formats.