Nor-Am Cup 2016/17 season recap
Aug 31, 2018·Freeski Park & Pipe
With the end of the 2016/17 competition season it’s time to take a look back at the major happenings on the northern hemisphere’s Continental Cups, where some of the next crop of World Cup competitors were making waves on the Europa and Nor-Am tours.
We finish our look-back here with the recap of the 2016/17 Nor-Am Cup happenings.
Ski Cross men
Canada’s Kevin Macdonald claimed the second Nor-Am cup title of his career 2016/17, making an impressive return to competition after missing all of the 2015/16 season due to a knee injury suffered in the final event of 2014/15.
With four wins, eight podiums, and 765 points in 11 events, the rangy Macdonald made a strong case for himself to be a given a chance on the always-powerful Canadian World Cup team next season, as he finished the season 134 points ahead of the next-best athlete, his teammate Reece Howden.
Capping off another strong season for the Canadians was Trent McCarthy’s third-overall finish.
Ski Cross ladies
The good news kept coming for the Canadians on the ladies’ side of the Nor-Am ski cross circuit, where fully eight of the top-10 athletes on the final rankings came from the Great White North.
Leading the way with 700 points was 20-year-old India Sherret, who managed four victories and seven podiums while never missing a big final in all nine of her competitions entered, while also getting three World Cup competitions and a start at the Sierra Nevada 2017 Freestyle Ski & Snowboard World Championships under her belt along the way.
Sheret’s performance was even more impressive considering that the 2015 junior world champion missed the better part of two full years of competition to deal with health issues. Now recovered and strong, she seems destined for full-time World Cup duty soon.
Behind Sheret in second and third on the final standings were her teammates Zoe Chore in second and Tiana Gairns in third.
Moguls men
The USA’s Troy Tully lead the way on the men’s Nor-Am Cup moguls rankings for the second-straight season in 2016/17, with podiums of all but one of the season’s eight events giving him 570 points on the season.
Aside from a DNF in 2015/16, Tully has not finished outside the top-10 in over three years on the Nor-Am circuit, and the 24 year old is looking more and more ready to make the jump to full-time World Cup competition soon rather than later.
Tully lead a US sweep of the top three spots on the final season standings, with his teammate Casey Andringa coming in second with 500 points, and Emerson Smith rounding things out in third with 362 points.
Moguls ladies
16-year-old Berkley Brown (CAN) took top spot and the 2016/17 moguls Nor-Am Cup on the ladies’ side but just by the barest of margins, needing a win at the final competition of the season in Apex Mountain (CAN) to finish the year with 540 points - just six more than second-overall competitor Lane Stoltzner (USA).
Brown made an incredible leap this season after finishing 16th overall in 2015/16, with two victories and six podiums in the season’s eight competitions an impressive feat for an athlete with just a single podium to her name before the season started.
Behind Brown and Stoltzner was Avital Shimko (USA) in third overall with 509 points.
Aerials men
It was another sweep of the top three spots for the USA in this past season’s Nor-Am Cup aerials standings, with Nicholas Novak leading the charge.
Novak closed out the season with five straight podiums and three straight victories - the first three victories of his Nor-Am career - to finish 2016/17 with 547 points. Just behind Novak, with 508 points, was his teammate Thomas Coe, while 19-year-old Patrick O’flynn ended the winter with 453 points for his second-straight third place finish on the final Nor-Am aerials standings.
Aerials ladies
Madison Varmette took top spot on the 2016/17 ladies’ aerials Nor-Am Cup - and, indeed, top spot on the overall Nor-Am Cup rankings across all events - with top five results in all of the season’s eight competitions - including back-to-back victories at Utah Olympic Park to finish it all off.
Varmette’s season performance grows more impressive when you consider that she missed all but one competition in 2015/16 due to injury.
Second overall went to Varmette’s teammate Tyra Izor, who finished the season with 489 points, while 17-year-old Erica Stemler rounded out the top three and the USA sweep with 467 points.
Slopestyle men
15-year-old Canadian Philippe Langevin claimed two victories and fifth-place result in the season’s four contests to become the 2016/17 Nor-Am Cup slopestyle champion, becoming one of the youngest winners in Nor-Am slopestyle history in the process. This was Langevin’s first season competing in the Nor-Am Cup.
Second overall went to Langevin’s teammate Patrick Dew after scoring back-to-back podiums to close out the season, while Ethan Swadburg, first overall back in 2013/14, would round out the season podium in third place.
Slopestyle ladies
Taking the youth movement one step - or, one year - further was Sofia Tchernetski of Canada who, at just 14 years old, claimed two victories and two more top-10 results in her four competitions of 2016/17 to top the ladies’ slopestyle rankings.
Tchernetski’s performance but her just behind US phenom Maggie Voisin as the youngest winner ever on the Nor-Am circuit, which is some impressive company indeed.
Tchernetski actually finished the season tied at 265 points with her teammate Emma Stevens. While Stevens was the more consistent skier on the season, with three podiums and a fifth-place result, Tchernetski would be awarded top spot based on the tiebreaker of having more victories.
The Canadian sweep of the ladies slopestyle top three was completed by Megan Cressey, who finished the season with 129 points.
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