THE O’NEILL EVOLUTION BUILDING UP TO KICK OFF 2010 IN STYLE

The O'Neill Evolution 2010 is gathering momentum under the snowy skies of Davos, Switzerland.

Ushering in the New Year, the 6 Star Swatch TTR World Tour event starts tomorrow afternoon with the women's halfpipe - promising a spectacular showing with a bigger halfpipe than ever seen before at this competition.

Current world number one ranked snowboarder Sarka Pancochova (CZE) will look to extend her lead, whilst world number three Cheryl Maas (NED) looks to use this event to edge closer to the top.

With the women's event back at the O'Neill Evolution for the first time in three years, it is a welcome addition to the proceedings with the 6 Star halfpipe competition proving a vital stop on the Swatch TTR World Tour.

Sitting at the base of Jakobshorn in Davos, it is not only the halfpipe that will catapult the riders further into the skies. The 5 Star Slopestyle course on which the men will compete is also bigger and better than last year under the guidance and shaping skills of Bjarni Thor Valdimarsson from the Mellow Crew.

Explaining the new setup of the slopestyle course Bjarni said: "There are four features - and the last feature has three options. It starts with an 8 meter downpipe, then there is a 15 meter step down followed by a 19 meter step down. At the end there's a small hip to the right, and at the end of the hip there's a down rail and then a box.”

"The two jumps are bigger than last year," he said. "But building here, the biggest challenge is the terrain - it's really steep."

Battling it out for the Swatch TTR World Tour leadership when the men's event starts on Wednesday will be current TTR leader Marko Grilc (SLO) as well as current world number three Peetu Piiroinen (FIN) - last year's quarterpipe winner here in Davos.

With current number two in the world Seb Toots injured, and with the likes of American Eric Willett, the Belgian snowboarder Seppe Smits, and German Elias Elhardt ready to put on a show here in Davos, it opens up the top of the rankings to some exciting changes.

INVITED WOMEN SNOWBOARDERS

Sarka Pancochova CZE Cheryl Maas NED Sina Candrian SUI Caroline Beliard FRA Cilka Sadar SLO Chanelle Sladics USA Kjersti Ostgaard Buaas NOR Manuela Pesko SUI