London, UK – This Saturday, the season’s third event of the 2012 LG Snowboard FIS World Cup will take place in London for the fourth year in a row. The World Cup Big Air contest, which is held next to the iconic towers of Battersea Power Station, will also mark the highlight of the three-day London Freeze winter sports and music festival.

Many top riders will travel to the British Isles to compete, but there is one snowboarder who has a very special relationship with the gigantic, 32 meter-high ramp. Slovenia’s Marko Grilc not only celebrated his first ever World Cup win in London last year, but also had to handle one of the most challenging experiences of his career three years ago when 28-year-old dislocated his hip during the event and spent some time in a London hospital. The most bitter pill to swallow was that he was able to see the event area from his hospital room window.

“London is an amazing event for me. I had one of my toughest moments of my life there but also one of my happiest,” says Grilc. “So it’s an emotional place that I love. I can’t wait to go there. I have been riding a lot in this pre-season and hope all goes well.”

On the banks of the River Thames, Grilc will face not only Norway’s Staale Sandbech and Seppe Smits of Belgium, with whom he shared the podium last season, but also 2011 Big Air-Slopestyle World Cup title winner Clemens Schattschneider of Austria, and reigning World Champion Petja Piiroinen of Finland.

Rumor has it that the London Freeze Festival will also feature other World Cup snowboarding stars including Finland’s Janne Korpi, Pat Burgener of Switzerland, Victor de le Rue from France, Norway’s Gjermund Braaten, the U.K.’s own Jamie Nicholls and Dutch rider Rocco van Straten.

More information and tickets to attend London Freeze are available at www.relentlessfreeze.com/tickets.