Mammoth Mountain set for double FIS Freeski World Cup action
Jan 28, 2020·Freeski Park & Pipe
One of the biggest weeks of the of the 2019/20 World Cup season is set to go down in California, where the FIS Freeski World Cup Mammoth Mountain Grand Prix will see slopestyle and halfpipe action take to the resort’s famed Unbound park for action from January 29-Feb 1, 2020.
Slopestyle qualifications will open the competition action on Jan 29, followed by halfpipe qualies on Jan 30, slope finals on the 31st, and halfpipe finals to close things off on the first day of February. Nearly 130 of the world’s best freeskiers are on hand for this week’s events, with 70 names currently on the slopestyle entry list and 58 set to drop in on the halfpipe.
Fresh off the X Games in Aspen last week, the top skiers in the field should be primed to keep the good times rolling in Mammoth where, aside from some possible mid-week wind, the weather forecast is looking solid throughout the competition days.
SLOPESTYLE PREVIEW
Voisin and Gu making returns to slopestyle World Cup
Giulia Tanna (SUI) and Johanne Killi (NOR) come into Mammoth in a dead heat atop the women’s slopestyle World Cup standings, with each’s 104 points putting them just clear of Caroline Claire (USA) and Tess Ledeux (FRA).
Claire and Leduex, however, are tied for third overall with 100 points, with both taking wins in their sole slopestyle World Cups entered so far this season - Claire two weeks ago in Seiser Alm (ITA), and Ledeux at the season-opener in Font Romeu (ITA).
Fifth-place overall sees another tie, with Sarah Hoefflin (SUI) and Elena Gaskell (CAN) holding 92 points apiece, making space atop the 2019/20 women’s slopestyle World Cup leaderboard very crowded indeed.
Ledeux impressed in Aspen by taking her second X Games big air win this season, though she struggled to put down runs in the slopestyle competition. Hoefflin, meanwhile, walked away from Aspen with two medals - silver in slopestyle and bronze in the big air. Both should be riding high after their X Games experience.
Also to watch out for will be Maggie Voisin (USA) and Eileen Gu (CHN), both who will be making their 2019/20 slopestyle World Cup debuts this week. Voisin is fresh off a bronze medal slopestyle finish in Aspen, while Gu had an impressive a three-medal performance at the Youth Olympic Games in Leysin (SUI), where she claimed big air and halfpipe golds and a silver in slopestyle.
Boesch and Ruud in tight battle at top of men’s field
On the men’s side of things it gets almost too heavy to figure out where to start, but we’ll see what we can do here…
The current slopestyle World Cup standings see Fabian Boesch (SUI) sitting on top by just a single point over Birk Ruud (NOR), and each rider earned some X Games hardware last week, with Boesch taking bronze in the slopestyle and Ruud the silver in big air. At the last slopestyle World Cup in Seiser Alm two weekends ago Ruud and Boesch went 1-2, respectively, and should be counted on to continue their strong skiing this week.
The USA’s own Colby Stevenson arrives in Mammoth fresh off of claiming X Games slopestyle gold last week, and he was the one to round out the podium in third at the Seiser Alm World Cup competition. Stevenson leads a formidable host US squad that also features the likes of Alex Hall, Nick Goepper, the Fagan brothers Deven and Kiernan, and Cody Leplate, amongst others.
Canada’s Evan McEachran took X Games slopestyle silver in Aspen and he, along with Teal Harle, Max Moffat, and Mark Hendrickson - winner of the season opener in Font Romeu - represent a strong front from the north.
And then there’s the always strong Swiss team who, aside from Boesch, also have Andri Ragettli to watch out for. Currently going through something of a slump so far in 2019/20, including a 16th-place finish in Seiser Alm two weekends ago, Ragettli grabbed third-place in X Games big air last week and a fourth in the slopestyle, showing that the 21-year-old should be back on track and looking for his 18th career podium this week.
WATCH FINALS LIVE
Eurosport 2, Eurosport Player, ORF Sport+, CCTV, L'Equipe Web, RAI Web, NRK 3, Polsat Sports News, Teledeporte, SVT Play
HALFPIPE PREVIEW
Demidova holds narrow lead on halfpipe World Cup standings, Sharpe returns to the fold
After three FIS Freeski World Cup halfpipe competitions so far in 2019/20 it’s 19-year-old Russian rider Valeriya Demidova holding a narrow lead on the standings over China’s Zhang Kexin, with 205 points to the Zhang’s 200. Both Demidova and Zhang were unable to find the podium at the X Games last week, with Zhang finishing fourth and Demidova in seventh.
Zhang took the season’s first World Cup win in Cardrona (NZL), while Demidova claimed victory in the most recent halfpipe World Cup in Secret Garden (CHN) before the holiday break - her career’s first. Sandwiched in-between was Zoe Atkin’s first career victory in Copper Mountain, and all three should be in on finals action on Saturday.
Also likely to be heavy players are a pair of Canadians in Rachel Karker and Cassie Sharpe. With a third and second-place podium already this season, Karker hit the big time last week at the X Games with a victory, and the 22-year-old should be riding some momentum into Mammoth this week.
The reigning Olympic champion Sharpe, meanwhile, suffered a concussion at the season-opener in Cardrona and had been recovering up until the X Games, where she made a strong return with a bronze-medal showing. With her first competition in nearly five months a success, Sharpe appears to be on her way to back to reclaiming her spot atop the freeski halfpipe world.
A two-time winner in Mammoth, Brita Sigourney is likely to lead the US hopes on home soil in the women’s competition.
Bowman and Blunck tied atop standings
Over on the men’s side of things it’s been the Bowman and Blunck show so far in 2019/20, with Canada’s Noah Bowman and the USA’s Aaron Blunck both claiming three podiums in three events thus far - a third place, a runner-up, and win each - to sit tied atop the rankings with 240 points.
The most recent victory was Bowman’s, as he took top spot in Secret Garden for his second career win. Blunck may be the one feeling better about his skiing this week in Mammoth, however, after taking the silver medal at the X Games last week, while Bowman finished in eighth at the finals there.
Top spot in Aspen went to Blunck’s teammate Alex Ferreira, while Bowman’s teammate Brendan McKay claimed third, and the pattern of US and Canadian athletes ruling the men’s halfpipe event is not localized to the most recent X Games competition; there are currently only three non-North American skiers in the top 20 on the World Cup rankings, with only Switzerland’s Robin Briguet inside the top 10.
With two-time Olympic champion David Wise, Cardrona 2019/20 season-opener winner Birk Irving, style-master Taylor Seaton, Jaxin Hoerter, Cassidy Jarrell, Hunter Hess and a slew of others all representing the host US squad this week, the possibilities of a fourth US sweep in seven seasons of Mammoth competition is very real indeed.
WATCH FINALS LIVE
Eurosport 1 Asia, Eurosport 2, Eurosport Player, ORF Sport+, CCTV, YLE Areena, L'Equipe Web, RAI Web,
QUICK LINKS
Mammoth Mountain data page (start lists, live scoring, results)
Livestream HALFPIPE / SLOPESTYLE
)
