I n Front
Six snowboarders leave the gates at once, race down a perilous course of banked turns as sharp as bent elbows, over heart-dropping jumps, through obstacles like water pits or snow tunnels and crouch to the finish line. The need for speed, challenge and competi- tion is fostering a new breed of snowboard- ers. Boardercross, the twisted giant slalom of snowboarding, has answered the call.
"Traditional snow sports have had racers competing
against a clock , but with Boardercross the battle is head to head," says Erik Kalacis, President of PEAK Productions, a company that produces Boardercross events. "This adds to the drama and heightens competition. " Laax, Switzerland, where the Alps tower and each
breath is like drinking oxygen, has been the setting of the Swatch Boardercross World Fina ls each April for the past six years. The world 's best snowboard racers show up at Laax, the elite who dominated the exhausting world tour of seven stops: France , Austria, Colorado, California, Japan, Germany and Switzerland .
