Last Ride for Zogg, Karl and other Snowboard Legends

Mar 20, 2026·Snowboard Alpine

Julie Zogg is ready for one last ride. Photo: @FIS/Miha Matavz

The Visa FIS Snowboard Alpine World Cup travels back to Europe for its final weekend. The elite snowboarders will take the slope in Winterberg, Germany for the final parallel slalom race of the season. They will then join up for a mixed team event. There will be crystal globes up for grabs for the mixed team and PSL seasons.

Tsubaki Miki (JPN) and Maurizio Bormolini (ITA) already claimed their second consecutive overall and PGS crystal globes. They are both leading their respective PSL standings, but nothing is clinched.

Mattheus Pink (AUT) and Sabine Payer (AUT) won the PSL races in Winterberg last season.

On the men’s side, Aaron March (ITA), Gabriel Messner (ITA), and Dario Caviezel (SUI) have an outside chance of catching Bormolini if he cannot qualify for the finals.

On the women’s side Miki is just four points ahead of Zuzana Maderova (CZE), five ahead of Elisa Caffont (ITA), 15 ahead of Lucia Dalmasso (ITA), and 36 ahead of Michelle Dekker (NED).

Can Miki make more history?

Miki is laser focused on winning her third crystal globe. She would become the first female athlete to win all three snowboard Alpine crystal globes in consecutive seasons.

“I think the winner will be the one who is most hungry for victory, yet not overly fixated on the outcome. Winning the three Globes two years in a row would be a first in the history of alpine snowboarding, so I want to achieve that,”– Tsubaki said.

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Tsubaki Miki with the PGS globe last weekend. Photo: @FIS/Miha Matavz

The Japanese star won the previous PSL race in Spindleruv Mlyn. Miki will face a stiff test this weekend. Dalmasso has said she prefers PGS, but she won the PSL race in Bad Gastein. Her Italian teammate Caffont won the first PSL race of the season in Davos.

Another rider who will make some noise is the home country favorite Ramona Theresia Hofmeister (GER). She will not compete for the globes this season after missing the first month of the season due to injury. However, she is back to her prime form, with two straight podiums in Val St. Come last week.

She is in high spirits racing back at home.

“A World Cup victory at home is always very special. I'm really looking forward to both races this weekend. This season I'm enjoying every single race after my injury. But I'm always extremely excited for the home World Cup. I'm looking forward to Winterberg and the atmosphere there with lots of fans,”– Hofmeister said.

Ramona Theresia Hofmeister (GER) ready for a win on home snow. Photo: @FIS/Miha Matavz

Julie Zogg (SUI) is another veteran with plenty of experience in the PSL discipline to challenge for the win.

Bormolini goes for first PSL globe

Bormolini is the one to beat and he wants the globe sweep.

“It would be fantastic, three years ago I lost the psl globe by two points. This year I will try to take it. It's not easy and I will have focus until the end, I'm motivated,”– Bormolini said.

Maurizio Bormolini with the PGS globe last weekend. Photo: @FIS/Miha Matavz

He has not spoken to his teammates about the race for the final globe. However, there will be challenges from his Italian brethren. March is chief among them.

“I am super motivated to make it a good race. For the globe I would need a lot of help from Maurizio, and that’s something I can’t control. So I’m focusing on making a good race and the rest we will see. I mean he already has two globes, he could be happy about it and do an old man a favor. No, just kidding, he is riding so good at the moment, it will be really difficult,”– March said.

Aaron March will contend for the PSL and mixed team globes. Photo: @FIS/Miha Matavz

Messner can also threaten the podium. Same with Caviezel, PSL specialist Arvid Auner, and many more. There is also one other rider who has been mighty all season who is set to ride off into the sunset.

Karl headlines a legendary retirement class

Karl is a legend of the sport. The Olympic champion claimed his second straight Olympic gold earlier this season and has two World Cup wins this season including last weekend at Val St. Come.

The glorious Winterberg course. Photo: @FIS/Miha Matavz

He will be trying to win one more in what will be his final individual snowboard Alpine race. Karl announced he will pursue a career in cycling after hanging up the board. He will attempt to make a team for the new cyclocross event at the 2030 Winter Olympics, and will focus on the bike.

Karl will retire with a long list of accolades. He started 233 World Cup races since 2004 with 62 podiums to this point and 29 wins. He won the overall title three times and is a five-time world champion.

Karl is not the only one who will retire after this season.

Zogg is another legend of the game who will hang it up after Winterberg. Zogg has 12 career World Cup wins with 43 podiums. She also took home two overall globes and six PSL globes, including five in a row.

Her Swiss teammate Ladina Caviezel (SUI) will also retire after Winterberg. She finishes her career with 18 World Cup podiums. Another Swiss departure will be Jessica Keiser (SUI). She made 78 World Cup starts, before Winterberg, in her career.

Two other female athletes have announced they will not return to racing. Tomoka Takeuchi (JPN) will retire, making the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games her last race and Rogla her last World Cup race. Born in 1983, she has one World Cup win, coming in Carezza during the 2012-13 season. She took part in seven Winter Olympic Games, winning a silver medal at Sochi 2014.

Cheyenne Loch (GER) will also not return to the circuit as she is expecting a child. Loch’s last race was the 2026 Olympics as well. She made 112 World Cup starts with nine podiums.

It will be an emotional and jam-packed weekend of competition. The mixed team event will also deliver plenty of drama with the Italian, Swiss, Austrian, and German teams favored for the medals. Check out the full schedule below.