Almaty Freestyle Moguls World Cup stage canceled in 2026
The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) has announced the cancellation of the Freestyle Moguls World Cup stages that were scheduled to take place at the Shymbulak in Almaty on March 7–8, 2026, Qazinform News Agency reports.
Over the past seven years, Almaty has regularly hosted international freestyle skiing events.
The city first hosted a Freestyle Moguls World Cup stage at Shymbulak on March 2, 2019, when Kazakhstan’s Yuliya Galysheva, then the reigning world champion, claimed gold on home snow. In 2020, before pandemic-related border closures, it also staged a Freestyle Aerials World Cup event at the Oi-Qaragai resort, as well as another Freestyle Moguls World Cup stage at Shymbulak.
In 2021, the senior World Championships in moguls and aerials were held there, with Kazakhstan’s athletes winning one silver and two bronze medals.
From spring 2022, the city resumed hosting annual World Cup stages in both disciplines and, in 2025, also staged the Junior World Championships in freestyle moguls and aerials.
The Freestyle Moguls World Cup stages were set to be held for the seventh time in Almaty on March 7–8, 2026, but have now been canceled.
“The FIS Freestyle World Cup event scheduled for March 7–8, 2026, in Almaty has been canceled for organizational reasons. In recent years, Almaty and the Shymbulak ski resort have played an important role in the World Cup calendar, and all stakeholders have expressed a strong intention to return freestyle competitions to this venue in the future,” FIS said in an official statement.
The decision disappointed Kazakhstan’s national freestyle moguls team, which is in the final stages of preparation for the Winter Olympic Games at Shymbulak in Almaty.
“This difficult news reached us last night. We did a great deal to ensure the event would be held at Shymbulak, one of the most beautiful places in Central Asia. We will definitely return,” said Elena Kruglykhina, head coach of Kazakhstan’s freestyle moguls team.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Kazakhstan’s national team will take part in the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 in 10 sports, competing for 58 medal events.
