Slopestyle World Cup finals set to go down this Saturday in Corvatsch
Aug 31, 2018·Freeski Park & Pipe
Silvaplana/Corvatsch, Switzerland - The world's best freeskiers will be once again be on hand at Silvaplan's Corvatsch Park from March 1-4 to compete in the fifth and the final stop of the FIS Freestyle slopestyle World Cup season. With the crystal globes up for grabs and competition set to go down on one of the top slopestyle course set-ups in the world, there's plenty of reasons to get excited for this week's action in Switzerland.
After months of creative planning, tons of snow have been moved in and around Snowpark Corvatsch these past weeks to get everything ready. The setup is finally finished, the park is all set, and progression is on the menu at the world-class freeski event that will take place this weekend.
With some of the top names in the game confirming their presence in Corvatsch the level of competition should be up to the ceiling. Over 130 athletes will be ready to drop in on Thursday and Friday in the best-of-two qualification runs. Finals will go down on Saturday.
In the ladies' competition watch out for Sarah Hoefflin (SUI) and Johanne Killi (NOR) who are the biggest contenders to take the 2016/17 slopestyle overall World Cup win, with the Swiss rider currently on top of the ranking with 259 points after four competitions. Killi finds herself just one spot behind with 240 points.
Sweden's Emma Dahlstrom (last year's winner at Corvatsch), Colline Ballet-Baz (FRA) and Tess Ledeux (FRA), who won the season's first World Cup event in Font Romeu back in January, should be also considered as favorites for podium spot.
Going further down the starting list keep a lookout for the USA's Devin Logan and Maggie Voisin, as well as the Canadian slopestyle team with Yuki Tsubota, Dara Howell and Kim Lamarre hoping for a good result in Switzerland.
Finally let's not forget about the rest of the Swiss Freeski Team, with Giulia Tanno and Mathilde Gremaud keeping hopes high for another podium sweep. Gremaud, Tanno and Hoefflin dominated the previous big air event in Quebec City (CAN) and there is no better place that home course in Corvatsch to keep the momentum alive.
On the men's side we're also looking for an exciting competition. Andri Ragettli (SUI) is coming off a pretty impressive performance in Canada, scoring third in big air competition in Quebec City and also winning the slopestyle finals in Stoneham. He now sits first in the slopestyle World Cup ranking so it's very likely he will also enjoy the course in Corvatsch, where he won both the competition as well as the slopestyle crystal globe last year.
Swiss Freeski Team will bring some more support from the likes of Kai Mahler, the Hunziker brothers Jonas and Cyrill, and a whole army of young guns who may be able to step it up on home soil.
However, the job won't be easy for the local guys, as more of top athletes from all leading freeski nations have confirmed their participation in Corvatsch. With Henrik Harlaut and Jesper Tjader competing for Sweden, a super strong US team with Joss Christiansen, McRae Williams, Nick Goepper, Bobby Brown and Gus Kenworthy representing, Alex Bellemare and Alex Beaulieu-Marchand of Canada, James Woods (GBR), Oystein Braaten (NOR) and Jossi Wells (NZL) all ready to step up, Saturday's competition has all the ingredients to be one of the very best of the season.
Talking of the slopestyle World Cup ranking, there is still more than couple of riders keeping high chances for the overall victory, so it's really up to this one to decide who will walk home carrying the crystal globe in his hands.
The slopestyle qualifications in Corvatsch will go down on Friday, March 3 with the finals scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 4 at 10:30 CET.
**EVENT PROGRAM (local time CET):
**
March 2 (Thursday)
12:30 - 14:45 Qualification ladies
March 3 (Friday)
9:00 - 14:30 Qualifications men
March 4 (Saturday)
10:30 - 13:00 Finals
LIVE-SCORING:
Live brackets will be available HERE:
LIVE-STREAM:
If you can not make it for the finals in St. Moritz, no problem! All the action from the qualification’s and final’s can be watched live in the webcast: www.corvatch.ch/live
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