January 10, 2005

WORLD GATHERS IN WHISTLER NEXT WEEK FOR SNOWBOARDING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Over 600 athletes and coaches from 40 countries make this competition the world's biggest and best.

WHISTLER, BC: January 10, 2005 - The Mountains of Whistler, British Columbia have long been considered the "Mecca" to the sport of snowboarding, and this week, more than 600 athletes and coaches from 40 countries around the world will gather at one of the sport's most sacred grounds to compete for the title of World Champion in five different disciplines at the FIS 2005 Snowboard World Championships presented by Nokia.

From January 15-23, Whistler will host the Snowboard World Championships, marking the first time the event will be held in North America in its 10-year history, and the significance of the event is not lost on the sport's Canadian participants.

"Next to the Olympic Winter Games, the World Championships are the biggest and most respected snowboarding event in the world," said Canadian snowboarder Crispin Lipscomb, who will compete in next week's event. "It is a major feather in our cap that they chose Canada, and Whistler in particular, to host the first World Championships outside of Europe."

The resort of Whistler/Blackcomb has been hard at work readying for the event and the thousands of athletes, coaches, VIP's, media, volunteers and fans that will be coming to participate. More than 20 snowmaking guns using 20 million gallons of water have been working overtime to produce the championship-calibre snow required, while close to $500,000 in slope improvements were made to the world-famous facility to host the 2005 World Championships, including a new permanent Halfpipe at the Base II area of the mountain that will serve as a legacy training facility for teams and athletes for years to come.


"The FIS Snowboard World Championships literally bring the world to Whistler, with thousands of fans and media coming plus millions of viewers around the world," said Mark Taylor, vice president of IMG Action Sports and president of the event's organizing committee. "It will be a great taste of the world-class performances and attention that British Columbia can expect in 2010."

The FIS 2005 Snowboard World Championships will serve as an important qualifying event for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy and is expected to attract more than 100 million viewers through 150 hours of international broadcast, which includes North American coverage on NBC, CBC, SRC, Rogers Sportsnet and the Outdoor Life Network (USA).


The FIS Snowboard World Championships, which are held every two years, have previously been held in Lienz, Austria (1996); San Candido, Italy (1997); Berchtesgaden, Germany (1999); Madonna di Campiglio, Italy (2001) and Kreischberg, Austria (2003).

The FIS 2005 Snowboard World Championships presented by Nokia will features athletes competing for the title of World Champion in all snowboard disciplines:

McDonald's Halfpipe (Olympic Discipline) - The most popular competition format for the sport's participants, judged on a combination of amplitude, rotations, technical difficulty, smoothness of landings and overall impression in an "arena" type atmosphere.

The Province Big Air (BA) - One of the most exciting events to watch, Big Air riders take to the air jumping off a massive 60-foot table top jump performing gravity-defying off-axis spins and flips over a 100-foot distance.


Nissan Snowboard Cross (SBX) - Riders race four at a time through a course of banked turns, jumps and mogul fields with the winners advancing through an elimination format. The 2005 SBX event will launch the week's competitions.

Parallel Giant Slalom (PGS) and TELUS Parallel Slalom (PSL) - Head to head racing excitement at its best - an elimination ladder format is used to pair riders down until only two are left to battle it out on a 40-second dual course. PGS is an event featuring longer drawn-out turns and a longer course. PSL is a shorter quicker-turning sprint over a shorter course.

The FIS 2005 Snowboard World Championships kick off on January 15 with a special opening ceremony featuring a lantern procession of competing international athletes and the "McDonald's Rail Session", a competition pitting Team Canada against a World Team, and wrap up on January 23 with a special concert performance from popular Canadian recording artist k-os at Whistler Village on January 22 at 9:30 p.m.


All of the world championship snowboarding action will be free to spectators at Base II at Blackcomb Mountain.

The FIS 2005 Snowboard World Championships Organization Committee is a joint venture between the Canadian Snowboard Federation, The Resort Municipality of Whistler, Tourism Whistler, Whister/Blackcomb, IMG Canada and the Provincial Government of B.C.

FIS 2005 Snowboard World Championships presented by Nokia
Event Schedule

Saturday, January 15   Opening Ceremonies featuring the McDonald's Rail Session
Sunday, January 16   Nissan Snowboard Cross
Tuesday, January 18   Parallel Giant Slalom
Wednesday, January 19   TELUS Parallel Slalom
Friday, January 21   The Province Big Air
Saturday, January 22   McDonald's Half Pipe and k-os Concert

Media are reminded to visit www.whistlerworlds.com for media credential information for the FIS 2005 Snowboard World Championships.