A rare new half pipe - of superpipe dimensions - has opened at the Corvatsch ski area in the Swiss Engadin region, above the ski resorts of St Moritz and Silvaplana.
Located in the Corvatsch Park at the Murtèl middle station, it sits 2,700 metres above sea level, is 170 metres long, has 7-metre high walls. It's one of the largest superpipes on the planet and has opened against a trend of resorts closing halfpipes to focus on less effort intensive terrain park features.
The honour of the first test run in the pipe went to Swiss snowboarder David Hablützel, who showed just how much style the riders have who commented,
"The orientation of the halfpipe is brilliant because it faces north, which means you always have the sun from behind and there's never any glare when you are doing your tricks. That's a huge advantage, and one you won't find anywhere else. What's more, both walls are perfectly exposed to the sun and the entire pipe is bathed in sunshine at noon which makes it really cool."
Building a superpipe is an art that very few shapers in the world have mastered to perfection. Every degree of slope change and every centimetre of the walls is important and has an influence on the rider flight phase.
Carlo Rusterholz, who is responsible for the design and shape of the pipe together with Kobi Würsch from Corvatsch Park, explains:
"For me, it started in mid-January after around 20.000 m3 of snow was produced for the pipe. The technical snow is mixed with the natural snow, which is important for its quality. It took me around 250 machine hours to get the pipe looking like it does today. And from now on until the end of the season, I'll be working on it between 4-6 hours a day."
The pipe has opened ahead of the 2025 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships in the Engadin. In the meantime the pipe is now open to everyone.