South American Cup Park & Pipe season concludes in Chile
Sep 05, 2023·Freeski Park & Pipe
The South American Cup (SAC) Park & Pipe season wrapped up last week with back-to-back competitions as part of the Ford Chile Winter Series presented by Visa, with big air action first taking to El Colorado from 13-15 August, followed by the SAC season-ender slopestyle in Valle Nevado from 17-19 August. With a high level of competition from national and international athletes and excellent venues at both events, the 2023 SAC finished on a high note.
With important FIS points up for grabs and a pathway to a World Cup quota spot for the top athletes of the season, there was a lot on the line for the snowboarders and freeskiers on hand in Chile last week.
The snowboard big air competitions in El Colorado were dominated by the host Chileans, with Amanda Cardone claiming victory in both competitions on the women’s side, and Alvaro Yanez with the win in competition one on the men’s side. Yanez’ Chilean teammate Pedro Pizarro took the win in competition two for the men.
For the freeskiers, meanwhile, it was more good news for Chile, with World Cup veteran Dominique Ohaco going back-to-back with victories for the women, and Francisco Salas taking the win in competition number two for the men. The lone non-Chilean win came in the first men’s competition of the El Colorado event, where Nahuel Medrano of Argentina claimed the W.
If Cardone wasn’t already looking like the most exciting snowboard prospect to come out of South America in quite some time after her wins in Colorado, she certainly looked it after her performances in Valle Nevado, where she once again went b2b with slopestyle victories in both competitions at the SAC finale.
Alvaro Yanez also earned himself another victory in day one of slopestyle competition at Valle Nevado, while it was Argentina’s Valentin Morel with the victory in the second day of action.
On the women’s side for the freeskiers the El Colorado story repeated itself in Valle Nevado, where Ohaco again claimed victories in both slopestyle competitions. Meanwhile for the men it was Argentinian Medrano going back-to-back for his second and third victories of the week.
Also notable last week was the performance of Chilean juniors Benjamín Villegas and Leon Lorenzini, who both managed to earn podiums in El Colorado while showing a good readiness for the Cardrona 2023 Junior World Championships, which begin this weekend in New Zealand.
In the final SAC Snowboard Park & Pipe rankings of 2023 it was Cardone and Yanez ending the season atop the respective women’s and men’s leaderboards. For the freeskiers, meanwhile, Ohaco claimed top spot in dominant fashion on the women’s side, while for the men Salas earned the overall victory in a close battle with Medrano.
Last week’s competitions in Chile took place thanks to the support of the National Ski and Snowboard Sports Federation of Chile as well as the National Sports Institute (IND), the Corralco, La Parva, Valle Nevado, El Colorado ski centers and the Visa, Ford brands, Red Bull, Snickers, Stanley, Opinel, Radio Bio Bio, Flesad, Hd Sports Magazine, Citric Juices, Kangu, Guayaki and Chilenieve. Photos and video by Cold Pro Media.
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