Street skiing and snowboarding could be headed to the biggest stage in competitive snowsports.
The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) says it is working toward introducing Street Style as a World Cup discipline beginning with the 2027-28 season, with two test events currently planned. FIS is also backing a longer-term effort to potentially bring the discipline to the Winter Olympics in 2034. FIS outlined the plans following its recent Autumn Meetings in Geneva.
The move would bring a style of skiing and snowboarding rooted heavily in urban terrain, rails, stairs and creative jib features into FIS’s top international competition circuit.
From The Streets To The World Cup
FIS previously called the format “Rail” or “Rail Event” before officially adopting the Street Style name. Unlike traditional slopestyle, where athletes navigate a larger course typically containing rails and jumps, Street Style courses are designed to mimic features found in urban skiing and snowboarding.
At a 2025 competition in Antwerp, Belgium, for example, FIS built a course across a staircase using a down rail, down-flat-down rail and waterfall rail. FIS described the format as intentionally recreating an authentic urban environment.
The format has grown quickly within FIS. The first sanctioned Rail competitions were held in 2023, and by the 2025-26 season roughly 180 FIS competitions had taken place across different levels, involving nearly 1,100 athletes from 40 countries. Street Style has already appeared on European Cup, Nor-Am Cup and Asian Cup circuits.
One reason FIS sees potential in the format is accessibility. Street Style requires considerably less snow and infrastructure than a full slopestyle course or halfpipe, making competitions possible in cities, indoor ski facilities and areas without major mountains.
FIS has also argued that those characteristics could provide a competitive pathway for athletes from countries without extensive traditional winter-sports infrastructure.
Street Style Has Already Reached The Junior World Championships
Street Style has moved beyond experimental events.
The discipline made its global championship-level debut at the 2026 FIS Junior World Championships in Calgary, with both snowboard and freeski competitions. It will return at the 2027 Junior World Championships at Secret Garden in China, where Street Style finals for freeski and snowboard are scheduled to close the Park & Pipe program on Feb. 27.
The next major step would be the World Cup. FIS Park & Pipe Contest Director Roby Moresi said earlier this year that organizers have been deliberately taking their time because they want to determine how Street Style can work as a compelling television product before moving it onto the World Cup circuit. FIS now says work is underway for two World Cup-level test events during the 2027-28 season.
Could Street Skiing And Snowboarding Eventually Become Olympic Sports?
That is clearly part of the long-term plan, although Olympic inclusion is far from guaranteed.
FIS says its Park & Pipe Sub-Committee supports the ambition of adding Street Style to the Olympic program for 2034. Before that can happen, the discipline still needs to establish itself at the World Cup and senior championship levels and ultimately go through the Olympic approval process.
Street Style is also moving farther into the Olympic pipeline through youth competition. FIS said earlier this year that the International Olympic Committee had formally recognized freeski and snowboard Rail Events with plans for them to appear at the 2028 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Italy.
For now, the World Cup is the much more immediate goal.
If FIS’s current timeline holds, a form of skiing and snowboarding that grew largely outside the traditional race-course and resort competition structure could be competing for World Cup points as soon as the winter of 2027-28.
