Garmin Winter Sports Festival 2025

The Garmin Winter Sports Festival has been an important event in the European freestyle competition calendar for 22 years. In 2025, for the 10th time in a row, it took place at the Kotelnica Białczańska Ski Resort. More than 60 athletes from 15 countries took part n teh FIS Europa Cup Big Air freeski & snowboard competitions held druing the Festival

“Each year, the level keeps rising. At the same time, we see younger and younger athletes competing. Fifteen-year-olds are now standing on the podium, performing tricks at the highest level. Frank Wahlstroem’s switch double cork 1800 must be the maximum that this type of jump, built according to FIS Europa Cup specifications, allows. The next step is the FIS World Cup, where athletes have access to slightly bigger jumps and can add even more rotations,” summarized Andrzej Lesiewski, the organizer of the Garmin Winter Sports Festival.

That young athletes competing in Białka Tatrzańska have their sights set on the biggest sporting stages was confirmed by Wahlstroem himself – “This season, I want to earn as many points as possible in the Europa Cup to qualify for the World Cup, and in the future, win Olympic gold in slopestyle and Big Air.”

The Norwegian dominated the freeski competition, winning by more than 16 points over Austria’s Jakob Buchmeier. For comparison, the gap between Buchmeier and his fellow Austrian, Florian Pale, was only 2 points.

“Everything went according to plan in Białka Tatrzańska. I managed to land the tricks I wanted in the qualifications, so there was no stress before the finals. During the competition, I did a double cork 16 blunt, a switch double cork 16, and added a switch double cork 1800 safety grab, finishing with a double backflip as my victory lap,” Wahlström recounted.

In the women’s skiing competition, Kateryna Kotsar from Ukraine claimed victory with her switch rodeo 720 and cork 900 with a tail grab. Her compatriot Mariia Aniichyn took second place, while Norwegian Lilian Buszko, finished third.

“The qualifiers were absolutely perfect. I landed everything I wanted in my first two jumps, so for my third, I just sent a backside air for the crowd. In the final, my first jump didn’t go as planned, which was a bit stressful. But I managed to land the next two—switch backside 1260 and backside 1260. This was a wonderfully organized event, and I love Poland! The food is amazing, and I just love being here.” – said the winner in the snowboard category Elias Lehner. His Swiss teammates Nicolas Schutz and Patrick Hofmann completed the podium. The best result among Polish athletes was achieved by Krzysztof Owczarek, who finished in fourth place.

In the women’s snowboarding competition, Belgium’s Sky Remans took the top spot with a frontside 720 with a tail grab and a backside 900 with a mute grab.
“The level of riding today was really high, and all the girls did great. Now I need to rest for a week, and then I’m off to Switzerland for another FIS Europa Cup. My goal is to reach the FIS World Cup as soon as possible and hopefully compete at the 2026 Olympic Games,” she said after the awards ceremony. Second and third place went to Swiss riders Andrina Salis and Yuna Scheidegger, respectively.

For more information, photo galleries, and video materials, visit: www.wintersportsfestival.pl