Victor Berard [ o ] Chad Buchholz/FIS

SILVAPLANA, SUI, 6 FEB 2013 – The sun is out and things are all ready to go for the second day of training at the FIS Freestyle slopestyle World Cup Corvatsch in Silvaplana, Switzerland.

With the cancellation due to snow problems of the scheduled slopestyle event at the Sochi, Russia, Olympic test event next week, the Silvaplana showdown has taken on a new importance for the on hand newschoolers looking to grab FIS points en route to qualifying for next year's Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.

There's a huge international field on hand here in Silvaplana, with roughly 150 athletes from 23 different nations ready to get up and throw down on the picturesque World Cup course.

The course itself features a good mix of big jumps, technical jibs, and some lesser-seen obstacles such as the butter-box/lunch ramp finish feature. With a slight re-work of the course over the course last night by the build crew, everything is looking to be in perfect condition for things to really kick into high gear this morning and into the afternoon.

Despite the absence of the powerhouse American team – who were already planning on skipping Silvaplana in anticipation of the Sochi event – many of the very best freestylers in the world are on hand here in Switzerland. British phenom James Woods leads the men's field, though brother duos like Swiss locals Cyril and Jonas Hunziker and Kiwi stars Josiah and Beau-James Wells will be looking to halt Woods' World Cup slopetsyle win streak at three-in-row.

On the ladies' side, Anna Segal (AUS) stands out as an early favorite, though moguls/slopestyle crossover star Giorgia Bertoncini (ITA), Rose Battersby (NZL), and Ami Ohkubo (JPN) will all have something to say about that before the week is through.

Weather should remain fair throughout the week, though temperatures up on Corvatsch are slated to dip into the -20c range on Thursday and Friday.

Qualifications are slated for Thursday, with finals to go on Friday.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• the Slopestyle World Cup Corvatsch is the final event of the 10-day Egadinsnow festival that featured freeride and parallel freeride events for both ski and snowboard earlier in the week

• this the 11^th year of the Engadinsnow event, and the third year with the inclusion of ski slopestyle

• approximately 150 athletes from 23 nations will be competing on the Corvatsch course over the next three days

• The Silvaplana event is third World Cup slopestyle in the qualifying period for the 2014 Sochi Olympics; with the cancellation of the Sochi slopestyle, Silvaplana is now the second-to-last World Cup slopestyle of the 2012-13 season

• Keri Herman (USA; not in attendance) leads the ladies' overall slopestyle rankings; James Woods (UK) is atop on the men's side

More information, including a detailed program, can be found at www.egadinsnow.com.

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