Mammoth Mountain set for another freeski World Cup competition

Aug 31, 2018·Freeski Park & Pipe

Second training session at the halfpipe World Cup at Mammoth Mountain. Photo: Mateusz Kielpinski (FIS)

Mammoth Mountain (USA) - The World's best freeskiers have traveled to California's primer resort Mammoth Mountain to compete in 2016-17 season's last stop of the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix tour which will once again serve as freestyle skiing World Cup event.

Recently recording the snowiest January in history, Mammoth Mountain is prepped and ready to host the world’s elite skiers and snowboarders. No stranger to top-level winter sports athletes, Mammoth has long served as a training ground for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association's top athletes, providing a world-class halfpipe, slopestyle and big air training ground for America’s best snowboarders and skiers.

From February 1 till 4, the World Cup tour's second halfpipe and third slopestyle contests are set to be staged in Mammoth Mountain, CA.

This week's competitions will also sound the bell for the US Olympic qualifier series for both, slopestyle and halfpipe. As a result, Mammoth Mountain is attracting a stacked field of riders.

In the halfpipe competition watch out for Aaron Blunck (USA), the last's year World Cup runner up who has just won the X Games last week in Aspen. As always Blunck and the rest of the US team including the likes of Gus Kenworthy, Torrin Yater-Wallace and David Wise will have to battle against the French team represented by Benoit Valentin and the current World Cup leader Kevin Rolland.

Also on the ladies' side team USA with Devin Logan, Maddie Bowman and Annalise Drew in squad will have to face French favorite Marie Martinod. 32 old freeskier from Bourg-Saint-Maurice is on fire this season. Not only did she take the victory at the first World Cup stop in Cooper (USA), but similarly to Blunck she went for X Games halfpipe gold medal in Aspen.

The level of competition will be up to the ceiling in the slopestyle competition too. Henrik Harlaut (SWE), Oystein Braaten (NOR), Kai Mahler (SUI), Alex Beaulieu-Marchand (CAN), as well as representing host nation and sitting on top of the slopestyle World Cup ranking Mcrae Williams and Colby Stevenson, they're all here ready to drop in for precious World Cup points bringing them closer to 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

As we move to the ladies' competition keep an eye on slopestyle and big air specialists Lisa Zimmerman (GER) and Emma Dahlstrom (SWE). Among the favorite for the podium spot also take into account Maggie Voisin (USA), Giulia Tanno (SUI) and Colline Ballet-Baz (FRA).

The halfpipe qualifications as well as ladies' slopestyle qualification will take place on Wednesday with men's slopestyle qualifcation scheduled for Thursday. The halfpipe finals will then take place on Friday (9:30 am PST) with slopestyle finals going down on Saturday (1:00 pm PST).

**EVENT PROGRAM (local time PST):

February 1 (Wednesday)

9:20am - 12:30pm - halfpipe qualifications

2:20am - 4:10pm - ladies' slopestyle qualifications

February 2 (Thursday)

8:30am - 3:45pm - men's slopestyle qualifications

February 3 (Friday)

9:30am - 11:00am - halfpipe finals

February 4 (Saturday)

**1:00pm - 2:30pm - slopestyle finals
**

LIVE SCORING:

Live brackets for Wednesday's qualifications will be available here: