Modena Skipass big air set to kick off 2018/19 World Cup season in northern hemisphere
Nov 02, 2018·Freeski Park & Pipe
The 2018/19 FIS Freeski World Cup season kicks back into gear this weekend with the first Northern Hemisphere event of the year, with the Modena Skipass big air World Cup set to take to the skies of the Italian metropolis this Sunday evening.
Sunday’s Modena competition coincides with the Italian metropolis’s Skipass winter sport and tourism festival, and expectations are high for the Modena’s inaugural turn hosting a World Cup competition. Modena Skipass has pulled out all the stops with the competition venue, putting together a man-made structure of steel and snow that will stand 46m tall and 130m long when all is said and done and it’s ready for competition, making it the largest such ramp to be built in Italy and amongst the biggest ever constructed for World Cup competition.
An impressive list of athletes have already confirmed for what is to be the first northern hemisphere World Cup competition of the 2018/19 season, with a slew of Olympic and world championships medalists and Freeski crystal globe winners set to be on hand to hit the massive Modena jump.
Leading the way on the ladies’ side of things are likely to be names like Olympic slopestyle champion and 2016/17 slopestyle World Cup crystal globe winner Sarah Hoefflin (SUI), 2016/17 big air World Cup crystal globe winner Emma Dahlstrom (SWE), 16-year-old phenom Kelly Sildaru (EST), and Italy’s own Silvia Bertagna, winner of the 2017/18 big air crystal globe.
However, all of the above listed skiers will be in tough against Canada’s Elena Gaskell, as the 17-yea-old athlete looked extremely strong in taking the first win of the 2018/19 season at the Cardrona (NZL) big air World Cup back in September.
The big names keep coming over on the men’s side of things, where a tough Norwegian team will be lead by 2017/18 big air crystal globe winner Christian Nummedal, Canada will field slopestyle Olympic bronze medalist Alex Beaulieu-Marchand, and the strong Swedish team will pin their hopes on the likes of 2013/14 slopestyle crystal globe winner Jesper Tjader and 2016/17 big air crystal globe winner Henrik Harlaut.
As with the ladies competition, though, the athletes above will be facing off against some skiers who already threw down in top-level competition back at the Cardrona World Cup, with Cardrona winner and Andri Ragettli (SUI), second-place finisher Evan McEachran (CAN), and third-place finisher Finn Bilous (NZL) all looking to be in top form already back in September.
With so many top athletes on hand in Modena, the biggest jump ramp ever built in Italy awaiting the skiers and looking to be in perfect shape for competition, 100,000CHF in prize money up for grabs, and the atmosphere of the Skipass festival’s 25th anniversary surrounding the competition, all the pieces are in place for an exciting opening to the 2018/19 FIS World Cup season in the northern hemisphere.
Qualifications in Modena will begin at 9:30, with finals happening under the lights at 17:00 CET.
LIVE TV SCHEDULE:
Europe - Eurosport player
Austria - ORF and ORF 1
Estonia - Kanal 12
Finland - Yle Areena
France - L'Equipe
Italy - Rai Sport
Norway - NRK 2
QUICK LINKS:
FIS Modena data page (event programme, start lists, live scoring, results)
Photos from Thursday training in Modena (for editorial use, with credit as noted)
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