Nor-Am Cup Park & Pipe recap 2022/23
Apr 27, 2023·Freeski Park & Pipe
With the conclusion of Nor-Am Cup competitions in Copper Mountain at the end of March and European Cup competitions in Kitzsteinhorn and Stubai this past weekend, the 2022/23 FIS Snowboard and FIS Freeski Continental Cup season has finally drawn to a close.
You can check out European Cup season recap HERE, and read on for our Nor-Am season summary below…
For the freeskiers this season’s Nor-Am Cup saw four halfpipe, three slopestyle and one big air competition take to the slopes at some of our favourite venues, with Copper Mountain (USA) hosting twice, along with WinSport Canada Olympic Park (CAN), Aspen Snowmass (USA) and Stoneham (CAN).
The snowboard NAC circuit was even busier, hitting all of the stops listed above, as well as Sun Peaks (CAN) and Horseshoe Resort (CAN), with eight slopestyle, four halfpipe and two big air competitions all successfully completed over the course of three months of action.
As always, the top athletes on the halfpipe and the slopestyle & big air NAC leaderboards at the end of the season earned themselves personal spots on the World Cup tour for next winter, and below we’ll take a look at just who stepped up this past season and how they did it.
FREESKI
For women’s halfpipe it was Canada’s Emma Morozumi leading the way, as the 18-year-old earned a win, two 3rd-place finishes and a 4th in four starts for a total of 220 points to put her just ahead of World Cup regular Riley Jacobs of the USA. With just two full seasons of FIS competition to her name, Morozumi is looking like a bright addition to the always strong Canadian team.
For the men it was two-time reigning US National Champion Nick Geiser leading the way, also with 220 points. Geiser earned himself one victory and one runner-up finish in his 2022/23 Nor-Am campaign before going on to repeat as US National Champion two weeks ago at Copper Mountain, and the 18-year-old should be a welcome addition to the stacked US World Cup team next season.
Moving over to slopestyle & big air it was the USA’s Jay Riccomini atop the standings, as the 19-year-old put together a storming 2022/23 Nor-Am season that included four victories - including three in a row to finish off what was an incredible comeback campaign after suffering a ruptured ACL last season.
For the men it was Canada’s Jeremy Gagne riding a breakout 2022/23 Nor-Am season all the way to a World Cup spot for next winter. Gagne earned podiums in three of his last four starts of the season to hold off his Canadian teammate Kai Martin by the barest of margins, finishing with 220 points to Martin’s 210. While Gagne has yet to drop in on a World Cup competition at this point in his young career, that is all set to change for next winter.
SNOWBOARD
After all was said and done on the snowboard side of the Nor-Am halfpipe season, it was the USA’s Kinsley White with her name atop the halfpipe standings, as the 19-year-old racked up 280 points on the strength of two victories and a runner-up finish in her three Nor-Am starts this season. White also had a number of World Cup starts as well as a 13th-place finish at the World Championships, and finished off her season by claiming her second straight US national title a few weeks ago at Copper Mountain.
For the halfpipe men it was the USA’s Jason Wolle earning top spot on the Nor-Am circuit for the second season in a row, as the 23-year-old was just able to hold off a late charge by 14-year-old phenom Alessandro Barbieri, also of the USA. Wolle won the final Nor-Am of the season in Copper Mountain to finish with 220 points, while Barbieri ended up third at the same competition to finish the season just 10 points back of Wolle on the final standings with 210 points.
Barbieri went on to finish second at the U.S. National Championships, and while he won’t have a dedicated spot on next season’s World Cup start list in 2023/24, all signs point to him being a force on the big tour in the very near future.
The good times on the snowboard Nor-Am circuit kept rolling for the U.S. squad in 2022/23 in the slopestyle and big air rankings, with Courtney Rummel and Fynn Bullock-Womble claiming top spots on the women’s and men’s sides, respectively.
Rummel had a dominant Nor-Am season in 2022/23, as you would expect from a rider who has 16 World Cup starts to her name and competed in both slopestyle and big air at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. The 19-year-old finished in the top-10 in all ten Nor-Am starts this past season, clocking four victories and seven total podiums and finishing with 460 points based on her five best results.
For Bullock-Womble, 2022/23 marked the second-straight season he has finished atop the Nor-Am slopestyle & big air standings, and the 18-year-old has shown he’s close to breaking through on the World Cup circuit as well, as he qualified 9th and finished 14th at the Calgary Snow Rodeo in February.
With four podiums in eight starts - including top spot in both slopestyle and big air at the season-ender for those events in Stoneham - Bullock-Womble finished the season with 370 points and the golden ticket to next season’s World Cup start list.
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