Hoefflin and Hall kick off 2019 with victories in Font Romeu

The first slopestyle competition of 2019 went down on Saturday in Font Romeu (FRA) with Sarah Hoefflin (SUI) and Alex Hall (USA) taking big victories to kick off the New Year on a high note.

Following three days of waiting for the wind to calm down, mother nature finally decided to cooperate with the organisers at the Pyrenees resort, bringing sun and mild temperatures as a background for what was a fully packed and extremely exciting day at the second slopestyle World Cup event of the 2018/2019 season.

Starting things off early in the day, the men’s qualifiers went down in a double-up format with Oliwer Magnusson (SWE) and Andri Ragettli (SUI) leading the top 16 athletes into the final.

With no time left in the schedule to run the ladies’ qualification round after all the previous days’ postponements, the jury made the call to push all 20 riders straight into the finals.

And after 40 runs went down through the ladies’ finals it was the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic champion Sarah Hoefflin (SUI) who capped the day with the win in France, earning her second spot on the podium this season after her second place finish in Stubai back in November. With the win, she also took over the lead in the overall slopestyle standing.

Second place on the day went to the up-and-comer Eileen Gu (USA), who scored her career’s first podium on just her second World Cup start.

Meanwhile, it was Hoefflin’s teammate from the Swiss Freeski Team Giulia Tanno rounding out the ladies’ podium in third for her first World Cup podium since November 2017, where she also took a third place finish at the Milan big air.

Over on the men’s side of the event it was Alexander Hall (USA) claiming his career’s second World Cup victory, as well as his second podium finish this season. Qualifying on the seventh spot from his heat, Hall stepped it up in the finals, putting down a stunner run and leading both the section score as well as the overall score while leaving no doubts who was the best on the day.

"It was pretty fun. We´ve been struggling a little with the weather. It was windy a lot," said Hall. "Then today turned out amazing. I´m just hyped to land some runs and ski with all the boys and girls. I´m stoked to be on top."

With the victory in France, also Hall moved atop the slopestyle World Cup standing and leads the pack with 129 points after two competitions, with a slight five point advantage over his US teammate Mac Forehand.

The second spot on Saturday went to Philippe Langevin (CAN) who also joined the first-timer club in Font Romeu, with his very first World Cup podium placement.

Andri Ragettli (SUI) finished the competition on third, jumping on the podium with the last run of the competition.

The FIS Freeski World Cup will now move to Seiser Alm, where the third slopestyle stop of the season is slated to go down on Italian soil from January 25-27, 2019.

TRICK LIST:
Ladies

1. Sarah Hoefflin (SUI) - switch right 720 mute, switch left 720 safety, right misty 720 mute, back 270 off the up rail, pretzel 270 off.

2. Eileen Gu (USA) - switch left 540 tail, right 720 reverse tail, left flat spin 540 high safety, switch in - 450 out, right 270 in - 270 out.

3. Giulia Tanno (SUI) - left 540 safety, switch left 900 tail, right 720 opp tail, backside 450 out, switch lip 270 in to switch.

Men

1. Alexander Hall (USA) - left dub 1260 cuban, switch left dub 1440 seatbelt japan, switch right dub 900 safety, frontside 360 switch-up - 270 out, switch 270 in - frontside switch-up - pretzel 270 out.

2. Philippe Langevin (CAN) - right dub 1260 octograb, switch left dub bio 1260 bow and arrow, left dub 1080 high mute, frontside switch-up - pretzel 270 out, switch 450 in - 630 out.

3. Andri Ragettli (SUI) - switch left dub 1260 mute, left triple 1440 truckdriver, right dub 1260 reverse mute, switch-in - frontside switch-up - backside 270 out, left 270 in - frontside switch-up - 270 out.

QUICK LINKS:

•    Ladies’ results
•    Ladies’ slopestyle World Cup standing
•    Men’s results
•    Men’s slopestyle World Cup standing
•    Ladies’ top 3 runs highlight videos: FIRST / SECOND / THIRD
•    Men’s top 3 runs highlight videos: FIRST / SECOND / THIRD
•    FIS Freeski World Cup calendar
•    Photos