FIS Rail Events level-up in super second season

The FIS Park & Pipe Rail Event Continental Cup campaign is nearly in the books, with only one event remaining in what has been a hugely successful second season of action for the newest and fastest-growing event added to the FIS stable of competitions.

While we await May 23 and the final FIS Snowboard Rail Event of 2025/26 at Les Deux Alpes (FRA), we’re taking a look back at what has been a massive Rails season so far, with some 180 FIS competitions taking place across all levels, and nearly 1100 athletes from 40 different nations competing in those events.

Rails’ growth in 2025/26 was seen clearly on the Continental Cup level on the North American Cup, European Cup, and Asian Cup tours this past season, with the first ever Nor-Am and Asian Cup Rail Events taking place - Nor-Am events in Stoneham (CAN) and Aspen Buttermilk (USA), and Asian Cup events going down in Dubai (UAE) and Kitamido (JPN) - and with the European circuit expanding from six events in the inaugural 2024/25 season, to 10 stops in 2025/26.

The exciting progression of Rails has been on full display on the European Cup, with Elite city events attracting tens of thousands of spectators and bringing snowsports action to iconic urban locations from Antwerp (BEL) to Szczyrk (POL) to Budapest (HUN) to Den Haag (NED). 

With the excitement provided by close spectator proximity to the compact venues, and quality, easily-accessible streaming options available for fans worldwide, Rails continues to prove itself as a ‘for-the-people’ competition format with the potential for massive fan growth. 

However, it’s not just fan engagement with the format that shows the future promise of rail events; it’s also the potential for drawing new athletes into the fold. Many National Ski & Snowboard Associations are now developing specific Rails progression systems into their plans. And, with every city Rail Event this past season also including free youth clinics and entry-level, ‘junior jam’ competitions into their programmes, the youth-engagement potential and possibility for Rails is second-to-none.

FIS Rail Event competitions now take place at nearly every level of the FIS competition system, from Children all the way up to the Junior World Championships, with the pinnacle Rail Event of the 2025/26 FIS Park & Pipe season being the historic first FIS Park & Pipe JWCs Rail Event, which took place in early March at Calgary’s WinSport Canada Olympic Park.

The Calgary 2026 JWCs Rail Event was the first Rails competition to take place on a global championship level. With the completion of that successful and enthusiastically-received first Junior World Championships, and with the International Olympic Committee formally recognising Freeski and Snowboard Rail Events with the promise of including those competitions in the 2028 Youth Olympic Games in Italy, we’re seeing what are so far two of the biggest developments in Rail Event’s road to an eventual inclusion on the World Cup, World Championships and, potentially, the Olympic Winter Games.

Some other stats worth noting from the 2025/26 season of Rail Event action come on the sustainability front, where Rails proved to be one of the among the most sustainable in the FIS portfolio. 

No additional snow production was required at any of the FIS Rail Events to take place in 2025/26, with city events using alternative natural or recycled snow sources, and with mountain events using the material provided by nature. City events used no machine building assistance, while on the mountains any machine work was minimal, with less than five machine hours required. Further, with city events located within access of public transportation networks, and the areas around those events designated as car-free zones, spectator transportation to and from the venues left minimal impact.

In short, the 2025/26 season confirmed FIS Park & Pipe Rail Event as one of the fastest-growing competitions within FIS, combining global expansion, strong youth development, quantifiable sustainability, and increasing elite-level visibility. With so much positive momentum, the foundation is now in place for continued growth toward World Cup and World Championship integration.

There will be one last chance to catch FIS Rails action this season, with the 2025/26 European Cup Snowboard Rail Event season finale slated to take to take to France’s Les Deux Alpes Snowpark as part of the resort’s end-of-season celebrations. Find more information on the Les Deux Alpes website HERE and stay tuned for more information on where-to-watch the action on the FIS website and social channels closer to competition time. 

QUICK LINKS

European Cup calendar and results Freeski / Snowboard

Nor-Am Cup calendar and results Freeski / Snowboard

Asian Cup calendar and results Freeski / Snowboard