Valle Nevado, Chile – The Swatch Skiers Cup, the first-ever continental team freeski event, will return to Valle Nevado September 1-9, 2012, and see 16 of the world’s best freeskiers competing in both Big Mountain and Backcountry Slopestyle to bring back home the treasured Swatch Skiers Cup trophy.
The two teams of eight riders each, led by captains Mark Abma (Team Americas) and Sverre Lilliequist (Team Europe), will battle in a series of man-to-man duels in the Chilean Andes. A rider winning his duel scores one point for his team and the team with the most points at the end of the two-day competition gains possession of the Swatch Skiers Cup trophy for one year.
Fifteen of the 16 freeskiers set to compete have been hand-picked by Captains Abma and Lilliequist and were announced last weekend at Xtreme Verbier, which serves as the finals of the Swatch Freeride world Tour 2012.
The 2012 Swatch Skiers Cup will feature:
| Team Americas | Team Europe |
| Mark Abma (CAN) – Captain Chris Benchetler (USA) Chopo Dias (CHL) Kye Petersen (USA) Sean Pettit (USA) Parker White (USA) Oakley White-Allen (USA) |
The eighth member of each team is still unknown and Captains have a few more weeks to release their final choices. The public can suggest names of riders they would like to see in their continental team via “Help find the 8th Rider” Facebook application available at www.facebook.com/SwatchSkiersCup.