SBA Race Director Uwe Beier hails "unmissable" Olympics

The Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games are almost upon us. Throughout the season, we have been catching up with Race and Contest Directors across the FIS disciplines to get their view on upcoming events.

Just this weekend, Rogla (SLO) hosted the final event of the Snowboard Alpine World Cup campaign before the Olympic break. The season has seen some compelling storylines, with Race Director Uwe Beier excited by recent developments in the sport.

How excited have you been by the World Cup action so far this season?

Beier: It’s really great to see such a mix of athletes – long-time heroes and the next generation on the podium. It’s difficult to stay on top, and the sport is now so competitive that you have no idea who will win in finals.

There have also been plenty of different nations from different continents represented, showing how global we are in Snowboard Alpine. There aren’t many winter sports where we have so many, not just filling up the fields but also making the podium; from Central Europe to Asia, plus the U.S. and Canada. That makes it interesting for fans all over the world, and for riders and partners globally. We are very happy with the diversity of athletes, and the depth of the level of competition.

Snowboard Alpine is close to gender-equal and there are athletes competing well into their 40s. What do those mean for the sport’s appeal and long-term sustainability?

Beier: There are a number of factors behind this. While we do have a fair amount of variety in terms of course and terrain, between steeper and more moderate but rolling slopes, strategy is vital as you’re mainly up against different opponents rather than the clock. At the same time, the sport is not really risky even if there are breathtaking moments with athletes riding next to each other, i.e. one crashes and comes close to their opponent.

But overall, we have a very low injury rate and that’s one reason why we have ‘older’ athletes including the likes of Claudia Riegler (AUT), Roland Fischnaller (ITA) and Benji Karl (AUT) still competing. However, only a few remarkable athletes have had that sort of longevity on the tour. At the same time, the slopes can be ridden equally by men and women. There is a bit of a gender differential in terms of performance, of course, but it’s pretty close and it’s good to have men and women competing in comparable conditions.

In terms of talking about sustainability, we are all there and we don’t need much. We don’t necessarily need a long course or super-challenging terrain because the challenge in Snowboard Alpine parallel competitions at all levels lies a lot in the strategic aspect given we are repeating the runs several times during the day. We also don’t need much snow. We just need a decent layer, which you need for public slopes in any case. With a little bit of forward planning and professional preparation, you're ready to race.

It’s also easy to access the sport for youngsters as you just need a hill and some snow, and a little bit of equipment. As mentioned before, it’s not too risky, so I can imagine parents could easily support youngsters in their initial forays into the sport. You can compete for a long time, and the rules are simple so it’s attractive for kids overall. It doesn’t matter if you ride on competition equipment or any kind of snowboard as riding on the edge has a fascination in itself.

We’ve seen a consistent upward trend in World Cup TV ratings for Snowboard Alpine. What do you think is driving this growth in audience interest?

Beier: As mentioned, the sport is simple to understand. It's a direct head-to-head knockout format with two athletes riding against each other. The first to the finish line advances, so there’s nothing elementary to explain to spectators. You can just watch and you immediately understand what it’s about. That's an important factor, we believe.

And, as the sport becomes more global in terms of competition locations, global viewership increases. We have more and more fans as there are also more nations winning and coming into the sport. Of course, markets, federations and organizers – especially huge ones like we have in China now - are increasing and boosting the viewership immediately to a different level as well. We are delighted that, for example, the Chinese now have World Cup organizers in several regions as well as a strong national program with thousands of youngsters entering the sport every season.

We sometimes go to ski and snowboard resorts where you see far more snowboarders than alpine skiers, further demonstrating interest among the younger generation.

Several nations have developed strong youth programs in Snowboard Alpine, with young athletes progressing through the European Cup and quickly making an impact at World Cup level. How do you view the current pipeline of talent?

Beier: It’s great that so many nations have launched programs for youngsters and that this is yielding results. As I’ve said before - coming from a coaching background - if there is a strong program in place, you may need only eight years to turn an 11-12 year old snowboard prodigy into a potential Olympic medalist.

If you have good coaches at youth level, and proper junior-level competition series to promote the fun of competitive snowboard racing and ‘discover’ talents, you might soon have Junior World Championship candidates. This also feeds into the European Cup where the level has increased significantly in recent years, and it’s the same story with the Asian Cup and North American Cup. We – that’s FIS and national federations - have established a consistent level for those races, so it’s perfectly preparing young talents for the World Cup. That’s been proven by some athletes stepping seamlessly into World Cup racing having had good results in the European Cup.

That's very good for the sport, it's very good for the young talents, and should guarantee us high level, healthy competition not only for the next years but hopefully decades.

The World Cup tour now spans Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, and North America. How significant is this global footprint for the sport’s growth and recognition?

Beier: For the last few years, we’ve had a really strong worldwide calendar. Everything is improving: the level of competition, the level of venue preparation, awareness, and the level of the World Cup as an event and as a TV and media product in general.

Everyone is trying to create special World Cup experiences, from inside the venue to the outside elements that contribute to exciting tour stops on the calendar. The organizers together with their federations have really stepped up in many ways over the last few years.

The Snowboard Alpine event at Milano Cortina 2026 will take place at the Livigno Snow Park. How satisfied are you with preparations at and around the venue?

Beier: Everything so far has turned out well. As far as the venue itself was concerned, there were some issues with planning and delays on the organizers’ side, but the people working hard on site now are really doing their best to get everything ready. We had major concerns initially in terms of the readiness overall. The entire venue build was delayed, as were the chairlift and earthwork.

Fortunately all the new installations for snowmaking have worked well, which isn’t always something you can count on, so the snow is there in part thanks to the cold temperatures we had over Christmas and New Year.

For Snowboard Alpine, the course preparations itself have still been a bit last-minute. We were compromising in advance to get the snow over and ready for the Slopestyle and other areas. Also, the team responsible for the course came later than planned and have had to rush a little. However, the latest status report was good. The course has now been levelled, the snow is produced from top to bottom, and we’re getting the course ready for racing. There are also a few more cold days coming, so we are optimistic that we will have a high-level competition course worthy of the Olympic Winter Games.

Are there any athletes or storylines you are particularly looking forward to seeing at the Games?

Beier: That’s challenging indeed… there are so many I don’t know where to start! We have some old-time heroes probably appearing at their last Olympics – like Karl, Fischnaller, and Radoslav Yankov (BUL) – who still have medal, even gold, chances. You also have the young Bulgarian men, including Tervel Zamfirov, stepping up from winning junior world titles a few years ago to competing for Olympic medals after making the podium this season, plus other youngsters.

On the women’s side, we have PyeongChang 2018 bronze medalist Ramona Hofmeister (GER) winning races immediately after her comeback from a fall injury. And there’s two-time reigning champion Ester Ledecka (CZE), who is always ready to challenge for a medal and first place, plus Miki Tsubaki (JPN), Sabine Payer (AUT)… I could mention more! I'm really curious about what we're going to end up with and I know it's going to be a great spectacular show. We have so many Italian riders on home snow with podium chances as well, so it’s going to be an amazing, unmissable event.

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