Maiden World Cup slopestyle victories for Gremaud and Forehand in Mammoth
Mar 11, 2019·Freeski Park & Pipe
Mammoth Mountain (USA) - The final competition of a rollercoaster week of action at went down on Sunday afternoon at the Mammoth Mountain (USA) FIS Freeski slopestyle World Cup, where Mathilde Gremaud (SUI) and Mac Forehand (USA) both claimed the first World Cup victories of their careers.
Weather wreaked havoc with the programme in Mammoth all week, with a series of storms bringing heavy winds and snowfall and forcing several rounds of rescheduling. However, once Sunday arrived it was blue skies and primed course that greeted the athletes for a full day of qualifications and finals.
The PyeongChang 2018 Olympic slopestyle silver medallist, Gremaud had three prior slopestyle World Cup podiums to her name before competition in Mammoth, but no victories. That all changed on Sunday, however, as she was able to overcome a huge crash in training to qualify in the top spot before putting down a first run score of 86.65 in the finals that would stand up for her maiden slopestyle win.
Gremaud’s winning run began with a clean rail section that was highlighted by a 270 in to switch-up on the second rail feature, a corked 540 off the quarter pipe/tabletop hybrid kicker, a right side 540 safety on the second-to-last jump, and was capped off by a switch left corked 720 high mute on the final jump.
“Today was full of surprises,” Gremaud said from the finish area, “I crashed pretty hard before qualies and I think I broke my thumb…it’s all blue. So I wasn’t too sure about even competing today, but my coach was like, ‘Just go ski, chill and see what happens,’ and I really wanted to ski so I just went for it, and I’m super stoked I did. The course here had really good flow and I really liked it”
Second place on the day went to Norway’s Johanne Killi, who was able to up her game in her second run, stomping a switch left 720 safety into a switch rodeo 540 japan over the final two jumps on her way to earning a score of 79.15 for her first World Cup podium of the season and the eighth of her career.
Rounding out Sunday’s podium in third place was Canada’s Megan Oldham, as the 17-year-old put down an extremely solid rail section and then went large over the jumps on her way to making it two slopestyle podiums in a row to cap off a hugely-successful inaugural World Cup season.
Men’s competition saw the USA’s own Mac Forehand walk away with the first victory of his career, as the 17-year-old earned a score of 90.95 for a first run that included an uber technical top rail section, a stylish double cork 720 on the quarter kicker, and all capped off by a right side double 1260 safety into a switch double 1440 safety over the final two kickers.
“When I got second in Stubai to start the season it was a big wake-up call,” a clearly stoked Forehand said after the awards, “It was like, ‘Man, this is crazy, maybe I can battle for the crystal globe this year.’ I got fifth in France and Font Romeu which was another good experience, and then I was just off the podium at the (Utah 2019) world champs in fourth just after coming off a hairline shoulder fracture. Then to come out here and get first place today is insane. Now it’s off to Silvaplana (SUI) for the last World Cup of the season and we’ll see who gets the globe.”
Second place in Sunday’s men’s competition went to Norway’s Ferdinand Dahl, whose first run of the finals included a alley-oop right bio 900 off the quarter kicker, a left bio 900 off the tricky whale tale jump, and a pair of switch double corks to finish off through the kickers.
Finally, third place on the day for the men went to 17-year-old Kiernan Fagan, also of the USA, who made it two podiums in three World Cup events in his rookie season with a first finals run that showcased some super stylish riding, including a left double cork 1080 high mute on the quarter kicker and a right side double cork 1260 mute on the second-to-last kicker.
From Mammoth, the slopestyle World Cup is off to Silvaplana (SUI) for the final FIS Freeski slopestyle World Cup competition of the season in three week’s time, with qualifications on Friday, March 30, and finals on Saturday, March 31.
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