Today marks 50 days to go before 16 February 2023 and the opening training sessions ahead of the Bakuriani 2023 FIS Freestyle Ski, Snowboard and Freeski World Championships, where we’ll be bringing the biennial celebration of the very best in snowsports to Georgian slopes for the first time in history.
It’s an event that has been five years in the making, since Bakuriani was awarded the WSCs at the 2018 FIS Congress. Since then FIS has worked closely with the Georgian Ski Federation to develop top-tier, cutting edge infrastructure in Bakuriani and the resort slopes of Didveli and Kokhta-Mitarbi, the neighbouring peaks which will serve as venues for the 16 Freestyle/Freeski and 14 Snowboard medal event competitions set to take place over the 15 days of Bakuriani 2023 competition.
Some of that infrastructure implemented by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia includes two artificial water reservoirs with a total volume of 307,000 cube metres, six new competition courses, three ski lifts, and 29 kilometers of artificial snowmaking systems spread across the Didveli and Kokhta-Mitarbi areas.
The final inspection ahead of the Bakuriani WSCs was held back in November, lead by FIS Secretary General Michel Vion.
“There is little time left before the World Championship,” said Vion at the time, “We are very satisfied with the work done. The main work has already been done, and only some details remain before we begin a very large-scale event here Bakuriani. I hope the weather will be good and I want to wish good luck to all the participants.”
Several successful test events have taken to Bakuriani’s slopes in the seasons leading up to this one, including cross and slopestyle competitions for both ski and snowboard.
Those events proved that the biggest and most complex of the venues required for the 2023 World Championships competitions are ready for action. After November’s sign-off from the final inspection delegation, FIS and the local organising committee in Bakuriani are eagerly looking forward to showcasing the rest of the 2023 World Championships venues to the world.
Competition in Bakuriani begins on 19 February 2023 with aerials mixed team leading things off for Freestyle/Freeski, while parallel giant slalom will be getting the ball rolling on the 15 days of WSC action for Snowboard.
Individual aerials, ski cross, ski cross mixed team, moguls, dual moguls, slopestyle, halfpipe and big air events will then follow on the Freestyle/Freeski side of things.
For the snowboarders we will see parallel slalom, parallel slalom mixed team, slopestyle, halfpipe, snowboard cross, snowboard cross mixed team, and finally big air competitions taking to the Bakuriani venues, in that order, over the course of the World Championships.
The first on-venue action gets underway 50 days from now with the first day of training, and we can’t wait to see how it all goes down at a history-making Bakuriani 2023 FIS Freestyle, Snowboard and Freeski World Championships.
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