The TTR World Snowboard Tour organisers have awarded Grandvalira five stars ahead of the ninth Grandvalira Total Fight, a competition that will take place on March 28-30 this year at El Tarter Snow Park, bringing together the world Top 10 snowboard riders. The domain is the only ski resort in southern Europe to receive this seal of quality, making Andorra the fourth European country to host a competition of this level, along with Finland, Austria and Switzerland. In this way, then, the resort continues to become consolidated as a reference in freestyle, promoting a sport that is becoming more and more popular amongst young people every day.
The TTR World Snowboard Tour takes a series of criteria into account before awarding five stars to a circuit. These include the quality of the snow park and the riders’ assessment of the course, the organisation, the accommodation and the services related to the event, as well as media coverage.
When Grandvalira first staged this event in 2005, the competition was awarded three stars, receiving a fourth two years later. Subsequently, the Grandvalira team was tireless in its efforts to secure a fifth star. This year, for instance, considerable investment was made in the summer to adapt the terrain at the park, and new cannons were installed in order to guarantee the necessary amount of snow to establish a first-rate venue with possibilities of organising this top competition.
“This is great recognition for Grandvalira”, says Enric Bonvehí, the manager of El Tarter Snow Park. “To be awarded five stars is a reward for all the efforts made by the resort, the sponsors and the team that organises Grandvalira Total Fight, because it means that we now join the group that hosts international competitions of the highest level”.
World Snowboard Tour
Grandvalira Total Fight forms part of the World Snowboard Tour, the biggest and most important freestyle snowboard circuit. Established in 2002 by Terje Haakonsen, considered the best rider in history, the tour brings together the elite of international snowboarders to take part in a series of events, which are classified by stars (from one to six).
The five-star competition circuit began in New Zealand last August, and stops in Grandvalira after visiting two cities in Colorado (USA), as well as Finland, Switzerland and Austria. The final stage will take place in Mexico.
IX Grandvalira Total Fight
This ninth Grandvalira Total Fight will bring the world’s most outstanding snowboard riders to El Tarter Snow Park. Over three days, these athletes will compete in the slopestyle event on a course whose exclusive design will be unveiled for the first time, making fantastic jumps in order to obtain the highest possible points score.
The unique and characteristic final event in the competition at Grandvalira revolves around a series of “face-offs”, in which the sixteen top-classified riders take part. From these qualifiers, the four finalists emerge to take part in a supersession from which the overall winner is selected. This year, moreover, nearly 40,000 euros in prizes will be given out.
All this means, then, that winter sports lovers have the chance to enjoy a top-level event and a spectacle such of a standard never before seen at the largest ski resort in southern Europe. Moreover, a full programme of parallel activities will take place on the competition Saturday afternoon. These include the Electrosnow Festival, which will feature the top DJs of the moment, and a skate ramp, which will be opened to the public for the occasion.
The previous Grandvalira Total Fight, which took place on March 22-24 last year, featured truly high standards of riding, as well as enjoying excellent weather conditions. The winner on that occasion was the Finnish rider Nuuti Niemelä, followed in second place by his fellow Finn Ville Paumola, with Patrick Cinca of Germany coming in third.
Freestyle fans have a date at Grandvalira
This season, El Tarter Snow Park, which boasts the longest and most complete lines of modules in the Pyrenees, has been extended by 1.5 km, sweeping down the mountain from the arrival point of the Tosa chair lift.
Moreover, there are a further three snow parks at Grandvalira: Isards Park Pas de la Casa; the Xavi Snow Park in the Grau Roig sector, ideal for all those who are interested in starting out in the world of freestyle; and Sunset Park Peretol, also located in Grau Roig, where the outstanding features include Sunset Street Plaza, a zone that simulates a real city square.