Saas-Fee prepares for its big race day

One of the biggest events of the year at Switzerland’s Saas Fee is the famed Allalin Races which will take place in Saas-Fee on the 1st and 2nd of April this winter.

Japan’s Kazuhiro Kokubo won the men’s halfpipe at the snowboard World Cup event in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, while Australian Torah Jane won the women’s event.

Kokubo produced a superb display run to score 46.1 in his first run, and though he crashed to a 7.3 in his second run his opening score was good enough to give him victory.

France’s Mathiue Crepel was second and Finland’s Peetu Piiroinen third.

The best snowboarders from 26 countries are currently in the Swiss glacier resort of Saas Fee for the latest stage of the LG Snowboard FIS World Cup.

The racers are enjoying great conditions with 40cm (15 inches) of fresh snow fallen on the glacier in the past 24 hours, setting the area up for the main events later this week.

Around 130 riders are competing in the World Cup this week, among them leading names including Sergio Berger and Iouri Podladtchikov from Switzerland, Janne Korpi (the 2008 winner in Saas-Fee) and Antti Autti from Finland, Mathieu Crepel (FRA), Torah Bright (AUS) and Kazuhiro Kokubo (JAP).