Following two years of reconstruction and a temporary rehome in a circus big top, Europe’s first freestyle academy in the Swiss alpine resort of LAAX is set to reopen this winter. The new Freestyle Academy, has already had a soft launch on 1 August 2024 but will officially open ahead of its winter season in December 2024.
The Freestyle Academy is designed to allow tourists and locals to practice their skills on the valley floor year-round before heading to the mountain to practice on snow, as well as encouraging winter sports enthusiasts to train in cross-discipline sports such as skateboarding, parkour, and gymnastics.
“LAAX has been a pilgrimage for freestyle sports enthusiasts in Europe since the 1980s, when we championed snowboarding while most other resorts still hadn’t come on board with the emerging sport,” said Reto Poltera, Head of Freestyle, who added, “But freestyle wouldn’t be freestyle and LAAX wouldn’t be LAAX without sustained, further development and the courage to innovate. LAAX’s new and improved Freestyle Academy reinforces our position as the top European destination for freestyle, both in winter and summer sports.”
Intended to reflect the change and progression that freestyle sport has undergone in recent years, new additions to the LAAX Freestyle Academy include a fivesquare trampoline with 360 cameras to allow for video analysis of jumps, doubling the size of the skatebowl to allow for more creative possibilities, an expanded parkour zone with jumping tower and airbag, and a new café and Vans store.
The academy’s disciplines remain the same: skateboarding, trampolining and parkour. At 2,000 square metres, the new Freestyle Academy is significantly larger than the old hall which stood at 1,300 square metres. However, more space is now being dedicated to skateboarding since the sport witnessed a major resurgence post-Covid, with visitors able to skate on a total of three levels thanks to new additions.
The skatebowl has been rebuilt on the lowest level, at the heart of the Academy. This has doubled in size compared to the previous Academy, with a deep end and different heights. This will allow for more creativity in skating tricks and possibilities for professional athletes to perfect new skills. On a second level there will be a mini-ramp and a concrete flat zone – perfect for skaters who want to learn or improve their technical skills. A playful street skate area has been built on the third level, ideal to bring new talent to the sport. And then, of course, there is the vert ramp. It was built in the old hall in 2019 and is the centrepiece of the new hall.
Four Grand Master trampolines plus a Grand Master trampoline with connection to an airbag have been installed in the trampoline zone. The zone is complemented by an airtrack for acrobatics and an additional freestyle trampoline for jumps and tricks with skateboards and BMX bikes. A fivesquare trampoline equipped with a camera system also allows for 360-degree video analysis of jumps.
The parkour zone has also been enlarged and designed more creatively. A new jumping tower and an airbag complement this zone and provide playful variety. With a spacious public zone with a café as well as a TSG and Vans store, the new Freestyle Academy also offers enough space to linger and watch the action in the hall.
“The vibe that prevails on the mountains, where kids can train next to their idols in the snowparks or halfpipe, then sit down next to them for a drink at Caffè NoName, is also felt here. After all, this is also the motto of the Freestyle Academy: Freestyle is for everyone,” Reto continues, adding,
“Simplifying the path from amateur sport to professional sport is also a central idea of the new LAAX Freestyle Academy. It will offer first-class training opportunities for professional athletes and those who wish to reach that elite level.
“LAAX has been lucky enough to attract some world class talent to train at the resort over the years, including BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2023, Mia Brookes, and ten-time World Cup title holder, Andri Ragettli. We hope this new Academy continues to attract talented athletes and newbies to the resort for years to come, and we encourage aspiring athletes of all abilities to engage in this unique community.”
Guided by the resort’s leading sustainability programme, “Greenstyle” the entire building process aimed to reduce, reuse, and recycle ensuring that everything that could be recycled from the previous Academy was reused in the new hall.
Children over six years old, families, teenagers and adults alike are all able to experience the Academy, and any ability is welcome.
The new, underground Freestyle Academy complements the urban surf wave, snake run and miniramp found aboveground during summer months at rocksresort PARK, where visitors can also enjoy a further trampoline, playground, and slacklines.
Images credit: LAAX/ Philipp Ruggli
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