The venue, at the foot of the Stubnerkogel mountain, will stage parallel slalom when the event gets underway tomorrow.

The competition is the third-to-last chance that athletes will have to impress international selectors before the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, with the official qualifying period coming to an end on January 21.

The favourite for the women's event on Stubnerkogel will undoubtedly be Ester Ledecká of the Czech Republic, who has won three of the four parallel snowboard events so far this season.

However, it is certainly worth noting that the parallel slalom, as opposed to the giant slalom, is her weakest event.

In the only parallel slalom event so far, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, the two-time World Championship gold medallist could only finish ninth.

This increases the chances of Sabine Schöffmann, from host country Austria, and Switzerland's Patrizia Kummer, of claiming the gold medal.

Schöffmann claimed gold in this season's Cortina d’Ampezzo event whilst 2014 Olympic giant slalom champion Kummer is considered to be the most successful rider at the venue in recent years having recorded four wins and one runners-up finish in Bad Gastein since 2012.

Another medal hopeful will be Ekaterina Tudegesheva of Russia, who took the Bad Gastein title in the 2015-16 season and is currently fourth in the overall slalom rankings on 1,660 points.

The men's parallel snowboard season has seen mixed results with four different riders winning the opening four races of the season.

However, going into this race, Italy's Roland Fischnaller is arguably the favourite having won the only classic parallel slalom event of the season so far, in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Fischnaller's compatriot Christoph Mick will also fancy his chances having won gold on this course last year, whilst 2015-16 overall parallel champion Radoslav Yankov of Bulgaria will also be looking to reclaim the Bad Gastein title he won in 2016.

The event will begin tomorrow and conclude on Saturday (January 13).