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THE BUZZ | TRAVEL NEWS<br />
X Hits the Spot<br />
GENEVA<br />
After a hugely successful debut last<br />
year, the Winter X Games Europe returns<br />
to Tignes from 16–18 March. Ski and<br />
snowboarding contests don’t get much<br />
bigger than this multimillion-dollar<br />
ESPN TV spectacular, and the three-day<br />
festival will bring the world’s best snow<br />
athletes to the French Alps. Battling it<br />
out on custom-built courses in front<br />
of more than 60,000 spectators (plus<br />
a TV audience spanning 160 countries),<br />
the competitors will be going all out to<br />
make their mark.<br />
“When I fi rst started snowboarding,<br />
it was all about the X Games,” explains<br />
British snowboarder and three-time<br />
Winter X Games gold medallist Jenny<br />
Jones. “This was the competition<br />
that people aspired to, and to get<br />
a medal was something I had wanted<br />
to achieve for years.”<br />
Jones is just one of the 150 specially<br />
selected riders who will be competing<br />
on the superpipe (a halfpipe that’s<br />
18 | TRAVELLER | MARCH 11<br />
240m long, 19m wide and 7m high)<br />
and slopestyle course (an 800m-long<br />
piste featuring a combination of rails<br />
and giant kickers) built in a spectatorfriendly<br />
location right in the heart of Val<br />
Claret. “The atmosphere is brilliant as<br />
loads of people come out to support,”<br />
she continues. “The height some of the<br />
skiers get in the superpipe is awesome<br />
and the double-cork tricks in the<br />
slopestyle are incredible to watch.”<br />
But the competition is just a small<br />
part of the many activities on off er to<br />
visitors. The X Fest Village at the base<br />
of the courses will play host to a wide<br />
variety of free entertainment, including<br />
fi lm screenings, autograph-signing<br />
sessions, skateboard displays, bars, live<br />
music and after-show parties all hosted<br />
by the likes of Quiksilver, Oakley and<br />
Sony Ericsson. And, of course, freestyle<br />
snowmobiling displays in the evenings<br />
– your chance to experience the unlikely<br />
sight of a snowmobile doing a back fl ip.<br />
winterxgameseurope.com Ed Andrews<br />
CALENDAR<br />
THIS MONTH<br />
10–12 MAR<br />
Milan Clown Festival<br />
MILAN<br />
It might be better known as one of<br />
Europe’s most stylish cities, but this<br />
month Milan is the place to be if you want<br />
to clown around. With free performances<br />
in churches, theatres and on street<br />
corners, not to mention a chapiteau<br />
(“big top”), visitors can expect belly<br />
laughs aplenty. milanoclownfestival.tk<br />
18–27 MAR<br />
MaerzMusik<br />
BERLIN<br />
This festival of contemporary music is<br />
renowned for its eclectic, experimental<br />
approach. This year the theme is<br />
sound and image, with a wide range<br />
of fi lms, light shows and cutting-edge<br />
visuals accompanying the tunes.<br />
berlinerfestspiele.de<br />
26 MAR<br />
Oxford & Cambridge<br />
Boat Race<br />
LONDON<br />
Starting life in 1829 as a simple bet<br />
between school friends, the boat race<br />
is now an English sporting institution.<br />
Thousands line the banks of the Thames<br />
to catch a glimpse of the rowers – get<br />
there early and stake out a spot on<br />
Putney Bridge. theboatrace.org<br />
PHOTOS © STEF CANDE/SHAZAMM/ESPN IMAGES, ALAMY | WORDS AMY BAKER
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