The Escape Closing Cup has been sitting on riders’ bucket lists for a minute—but this year, it hit different. Maybe it’s Europe stacking a proper season, maybe it’s North America coming up a little short… either way, the clips were everywhere, and the FOMO was real.
If you’ve been scrolling, wondering what the hell Escape Cup actually is—and how to be part of it—we felt the same. So we went straight to the source. A little insight from the crew behind it, and… we’re sold. See you at the Closing Cup next year.
Filmed & edited by Guillaume Sturma Additional filming by Lionel Moerch & Luca Hebing
Presented by Vans. Supported by Salomon, Doodah, Red Bull, HoverAir, Laax, Method Mag, Spleen Collective, Oakley, Calanda, & Dakine.
Words by: Lou Staub (Founder, Producer/Director, and unofficial “event director” of Escape)
For anyone seeing clips online, what is the Escape Cup?
Lou: The Escape Closing Cup is the official end-of-season event at Snowpark LAAX, hosted by the Escape crew. It’s a few days of riding in an open jam format, where we build a setup and anyone can show up and ride it however they want. There’s no real contest structure — it’s about riding together.
We build new features each day to keep things fresh and give people something fun to session.
There’s also music on the mountain and down in the valley, so it ends up feeling more like a small festival than just a snowboard event.
For us, it’s also a yearly get-together with the community. A chance to catch up, talk about the season, and enjoy the last days of winter together.
Who’s behind Escape Cup? How did it start?
L: Escape Video crew is behind it — mainly Lou Staub, Gian Sutter, Elio Fumagalli, and Martin Lässer.
The idea came after filming Escape 2005. We were sitting together one summer night talking about what’s next. Everyone was busy with their own projects, sponsor films, real jobs — continuing movies the same way was getting harder.
Before the event, we had a tradition of inviting friends to Laax in spring to film park edits. Those sessions were always the best — just riding, hanging, no pressure. We kept coming back to that feeling. So we thought, why not open it up? Create a space where anyone can show up and experience that same thing.
It was also inspired by events like the old Pleasure Spring Sessions — where the whole European scene would come together. We brought the idea to LAAX, and they were immediately down.
How many years has this been running?
This was the 4th edition. It’s wild to see what it’s become. In the beginning, it was basically a homie session — mostly European friends riding together.
The first year, having riders like Louif and Seb show up gave us confidence. It made us realize people outside our circle actually cared. Now it’s something people plan their season around. Riders tell us it’s the one thing they mark in red on the calendar.
Has the idea changed over time?
Not really — it’s more that it’s grown up. Every year we try new things, see what works, and build from there.
Behind the scenes, expectations have definitely increased — from partners, the resort, riders, and ourselves. But at the core, it’s still the same crew figuring it out because we believe in it. Seeing the level of riders show up pushes us to step it up every year. And honestly, it’s still surreal. My 18-year-old self wouldn’t believe we’re hosting some of the riders we looked up to.
MVPs this year?
We don’t like putting too much weight on awards — the goal is that everyone has a good time. One of the best things is seeing a 10-year-old local riding the same setup as someone like Joe Sexton. That’s what it’s about. That said, we still want to recognize people.
Kaili Randmäe stood out on the women’s side — rode everything, cleared the long box challenge, strong all around.
For the men, we had to split it: Kristian Skjømming and Markus Rustad. Both were going off on every setup all three days.
Other standouts?
Under the radar:
Isak Andre Lindberg
Best slam:
Krugs had a few heavy ones, but one stood out — he backflipped the gap jump, and a paraglider student flew way too close over the landing mid-air. Pretty surreal.
Afterparty MVP:
Nick Pünter — getting hammered every night and still first on the course every morning.
Favorite features this year?
Day three stood out. It felt like there was something for everyone — rails, jumps, everything flowed how we hoped. The banked landings in the minipipe were new for us. That one was a mission — long days hand-digging.But seeing people ride it made it 100% worth it.
What don’t people see behind the scenes?
Pretty much everything, haha. Nothing just “comes together.” Everything is designed, built, and created by us and the crew.
We’re hands-on with everything — design, digging, shaping. We work closely with Snowpark LAAX, but it’s not like we send a sketch and it appears. It’s a lot of physical work. And for me, it starts way earlier — fall is already full of partnerships, budgeting, emails, spreadsheets… all the unglamorous stuff.
Who makes it happen?
LAAX and the Snowpark LAAX crew first — they’ve supported us since before the event even existed. Then our partners: Vans and Salomon especially. Also Red Bull, Doodah, and Hoverair. And all the homies helping on-site purely out of love for snowboarding.
How do people get involved next year?
Just show up and be ready to have a good time. It’s open to everyone — no restrictions. Snowboard, skis, sled… doesn’t matter. It’s about riding together and enjoying it.
Follow the Escape crew on IG & YouTube for more.