2025/2026 Para Snowboard World Cup season preview
Nov 25, 2025·Inside FIS)
The start of the 2025/2026 Para Snowboard World Cup season is around the corner, with five blockbuster events lined up, culminating in the Winter Paralympic Games next March.
From the slopes of Europe to North America, eventually returning to Milano Cortina, some of the world’s best will be in action where the stakes have never been higher.
Each event across the season will contribute towards qualification for the upcoming Paralympics, so fans can expect participants to be at the top of their game.
2025/2026 PARA SNOWBOARD CALENDAR
Snowboarders will first take to “the fridge” in Landgraaf, Netherlands. Home to the largest indoor ski path on the continent, SnowWorld is no stranger to welcoming some of the best snowboarders through its doors for the big moments. A long-time partner of the Para Snowboard World Cup, the Dutch NSA (National Ski Association) help to deliver excellent events year on year.
While some may question the decision to host the opening event of this competition indoors, for FIS it is a move that makes perfect sense. With such temperamental weather across the latter months of the year, hosting it in “the fridge” ensures the first races of the season go ahead as planned, boarding across man-made snow.
Two Banked Slalom events (women and men) will be contested between 27-29 November, where the Netherlands will welcome around 130 athletes from 20 nations—a projected record for the sport.
Following the turn of the new year, athletes will travel to Kühtai, Austria, for the second event of the season. Relatively new to the scene of this ever-growing discipline, Kühtai first hosted a World Cup snowboard event last season at the Alpenrosenlift. This season’s campaign will head there for a two-day outing, 16-17 January, with two more Banked Slalom podiums up for grabs.
Next up: Lenk, Switzerland. Between 21-23 January, participants will turn their attention to Snowboard Cross in both the individual and team events. Much like Kühtai, Lenk made its debut in the World Cup circuit last year with an enthralling course to challenge the very best boarders. While the weather provided its own challenges last time out, there remains a buzz about returning to the Swiss slopes for the final Europe-based races of the season prior to Milano Cortina.
After wrapping up on one continent, athletes jet off to another. This time North America marks the spot, starting with Big White in Canada from 31 January to 02 February. There will once more be a focus on Snowboard Cross, individually and in a team capacity. The venue has been a cornerstone of growing snow sports across the country as well as a constant figure in the World Cup over the last decade.
The fifth and final stop before the Winter Paralympics comes at the iconic Steamboat venue in the United States. With a two-day stopover, snowboarders will compete between 09-10 February in what will be their final chance to secure crucial qualification points for the Games. Para Snowboard returned to the States just last year for the first time since 2017—Steamboat itself has a rich history of supporting the best in the world, making it a fitting send-off ahead of arguably the biggest sporting event ever for so many Para winter sports athletes.
A finale that needs no introduction, athletes who have successfully qualified will head to Milano Cortina for the Winter Paralympic Games, held between 4-15 March 2026.
SNOWBOARDERS TO WATCH: WOMEN
Coming into the new World Cup season, few athletes have a target on their back like Irati Idiakez Lopez. The 29-year-old is, by its very definition, a triple threat when it comes to the SB-UL category. Last season she won three globes across Overall, Banked Slalom, and Snowboard Cross—making her one to watch in all events she competes in. Kicking off her season in Landgraaf, the Spanish snowboarder will be eyeing a repeat of last term when she topped the podium, setting the precedent for what would go on to be a perfect campaign. Impressively, there was only one race in which she didn’t finish first, instead crossing the line as the runner-up.
In the SB-LL category, long-time rivals Cécile Hernandez of France and Brenna Huckaby Clegg of the United States are the obvious choices when it comes to the snowboarders to keep an eye on. Hernandez ended last season with two globes, the Frenchwoman excelling in the Banked Slalom, while also coming out on top in the race for the Overall award, helped by her efforts in Cross which saw her finish third in the rankings.
Huckaby Clegg endured a slightly disappointing campaign in Banked Slalom, although was still able to secure a top ten finish. It meant a third-place finish in the Overall, but the 29-year-old more than dominated in the Cross events, winning a globe for her contributions. The Louisiana native comes into the final stretch before the Winter Paralympics as a two-time defending champion in the former discipline, while she is the reigning gold medalist in Cross from Beijing 2022.
With all the talk of the veterans still dominating at the top, let’s not forget about the new kid on the block. U.S. snowboarder Kate Delson well and truly introduced herself to the big stage last term, ending the 24/25 season ranked second in the world. She repeated that ranking in Snowboard Cross, finishing fifth overall in Banked Slalom. More importantly, the 20-year-old earned four podium finishes. Delson secured third in Pyhä (Finland) in what was a career-first top three race finish. She followed that up with the top spot in Lenk, before achieving first and second on home slopes at Steamboat. With time and form on her side, she is one to watch for now and the future.
SNOWBOARDERS TO WATCH: MEN
Switching focus to the men’s discipline, the rankings are brimming with top talent all vying for the no.1 spot on the podium. In the UL category, it was the Italian snowboarder Jacopo Luchini who clinched the overall globe last time out, adding that to his first-placed ranking in Snowboard Cross and second-place finish in Banked Slalom. It was a strong 24/25 outing for Luchini, earning a podium spot in six out of nine races.
Not too far behind the Italian is his Swiss competitor Aron Fahrni, who earned top spot in the Banked Slalom while finishing third in Cross and second overall. He will no doubt come into the new season brimming with confidence after a strong showing and also having been awarded a Bern Champion: Para Athlete of the Year award by his home region.
Elsewhere, Pengyao Wang and Lijia Ji represent a strong contingent of Chinese athletes competing in this discipline. They are two of six inside the top 20 of UL alone, with Ji coming closest to winning a globe by finishing second in the Snowboard Cross standings. At the 2025 World Championships, China is the nation that topped the standings with 10 medals total—three gold, four silver, three bronze—to prove they are a force to be reckoned with.
Moving across to LL1, there are two heavyweight names that are sure to dominate the headlines. Noah Elliott and Tyler Turner are the snowboarders in question—bar the latter’s sixth place ranking in Banked Slalom, the two have been battling it out to be crowned the best. Elliott bagged himself two globes, overall and slalom, while Turner took home the Snowboard Cross accolade for last season. Their achievements on the slopes have garnered the attention of others. Elliott’s recognition came in the form of the ESPYs, the American awarded 2025 Best Athlete with a Disability. His Canadian competitor, meanwhile, was dubbed the 2025 Best Male Athlete in Winter Sports by the International Paralympic Committee—high praise for both indeed.
In LL2, there is a similar tale of two longstanding rivals going toe-to-toe, while a rising star attempts to establish themselves among the very best in this discipline. Italy’s Emanuel Perathoner and Australia’s Ben Tudhope fit into the role, both thoroughly dominating the standings last term. The former achieved an impressive clean sweep in the 24/25 edition of the World Cup, with the latter ranking just below him in second in each event.
Hot on their heels will be Swiss hopeful Fabrice von Gruenigen. The 24-year-old ranked third overall at the conclusion of last year’s World Cup, achieving that same feat in Snowboard Cross, while finishing sixth in Banked Slalom. It marked a stark improvement from his 2024 showing, earning his first podium finish on home snow last January by coming third. In the last two races of the season, he made a considerable jump by back-to-back second places at Steamboat.
Athletes have put in the work during the offseason, now all eyes are on the home stretch with the mountains of Cortina slowly coming into view.