Xbox Big Day Out Snowboarding Festival Celebrates Tenth Anniversary
20th – 23rd February 2006, Val d’Isère
This year the Xbox® Big Day Out - a unique freestyle ski and snowboard competition - celebrates its tenth anniversary on the slopes, with a crowd of 15,000 people planning to jump in and play together on the peaks of Val d'Isère.
What began ten years ago as a friendly snowboarding session and simple mountain barbecue, has become one of the biggest events and non-stop parties in the snowboard calendar. The top prize of 10,000 attracts international pro-riders to compete on the breathtaking course and enjoy a packed schedule spanning six days:
- Saturday 18th February Riders Arrive
- Sunday 19th February Warm Up Sessions
- Monday 20th February Qualifying Stages
- Tuesday 21st February Qualifying Stages
- Wednesday 22nd February Qualifying Stages
- Thursday 23rd February The Grand Final
Following the launch of the Xbox 360TM at the end of last year, visitors will be able to try out the latest Xbox 360 games including Perfect Dark ZeroTM (MGS-Rare Ltd.), Project Gotham Racing® 3 (MGS-Bizarre Creations) and Kameo: Elements of PowerTM (MGS-Rare Ltd.) at Xbox 360 games zones in Val D'Isère.
The event will have contestants and spectators jumping to the sounds of international chart acts Stress and Pato, with live sets from other special guests.
Neil Thompson, UK Xbox Director commented: "This amazing event has grown bigger and bigger each year. Ski and snowboard fans not only have the chance to see world-class snowboarding, but it's a great opportunity to try out the next generation of gaming with Xbox 360."
Other event highlights include:
- The Quiksilver Tour will roll into the valley bringing high profile international team riders including Mathieu Crepel, Markku Koski, Hampus Mosesson, Candide Thovex and many others
- UK and European riders will battle it out for the 10,000 prize money on a course which consists of a 20m tabletop into a massive hip-jump, and five different handrails
- The week will culminate in the main competition finals, which kicks off at 7:30pm to a crowd of 15,000 people
Please visit www.xboxbigdayout.com for further details and the chance to win an Xbox 360 and a Quicksilver limited edition snowboard.
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For further information please contact:
Marie-Claire Suter
UK PR Manager - Xbox & PC Games
Tel: +44 (0) 118 909 4599
Email: i-maries@microsoft.com
About Xbox and Xbox 360
Microsoft revolutionized the gaming industry with the November 2001 launch of Xbox (http://www.xbox.com), its first-generation video games and entertainment system, now sold in 26 countries. Microsoft introduced its next-generation system, Xbox 360, in the 2005 holiday season in Europe, Japan and North America. The system will be launched in Australia, Colombia, Hong Kong, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan in 2006. Xbox 360 (http://www.xbox.com/xbox360) is the most powerful video game and entertainment system, delivering the best games, the next generation of the premier Xbox Live online gaming service, and unique digital entertainment experiences that revolve around gamers.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software - any time, any place and on any device.
About Val d'Isère
Val d'Isère is the gateway to an unlimited world of snow. Mountain sports and leisure enthusiasts will find everything they could hope for and more in this very special place. With its authentic village and 11th century church, a warmer and cosier atmosphere would be hard to find. Renowned the world over for its skiing area with 300km of marked runs and 10,000ha of off-piste, a dream world awaits you from the end of November until the beginning of May. www.Valdisere.com
Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries