Big air World Cup season to conclude with final stop of Super Series

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Quebec City has been a host to many big events already.

This time, the tradition-rich Jamboree presented by Vidéotron Mobile will feature not only the season's fifth slopestyle World Cup competition but also the final stop of the new invented Super Series, a tour within the tour, with the big air World Cup title winners also being determined in Canada from February 9 to 12, 2017.

As a result, a stacked field has descended on Quebec to compete in the twelfth edition of the snowboard festival which features freestyle skiing for the first time, to battle for the big air Crystal Globe and the top spot of the Super Series ranking.

The men's field is led by Canada's finest Mark McMorris, Sebastien Toutant and Max Parrot who currently sits in second position of the World Cup ranking with 1,800 points.

The top spot, however, is taken by a rider from the flatlands of Belgium. Seppe Smits (1,930) is fresh off a slopestyle World Cup win at Seiser Alm (ITA) end of January and is a competitive rider who is able to set the focus right to defend his lead of only 130 points on Parrot.

But there are still some more riders who can take home the Crystal Globe. One of them is Roope Tonteri (FIN; 1,768,80), who claimed the 2013 world championships title on the ramp built between the highways at Îlot Fleurie.

And it's the finish ripper who is leading the three-stop Super Series ranking with 1,220 points gained in this season's Milan (ITA) and Moenchengladbach (GER) big air events with Seppe Smits (1,200) and Jonas Boesiger (SUI, 1,060) being right at his back.

Anna Gasser has been the dominating big air rider of the women's series so far

Gasser close to triumph

While the battle is a tight one in the men's field, things seem to be set for an Austrian Saturday night as Anna Gasser is not only comfortably leading the Super Series ranking with 940 points over Katie Ormerod (GBR) but also only needs an eighth rank finish to defend her 690 points lead in the big air World Cup ranking over her British rival to take home her career's first Crystal Globe.

And Gasser, who didn't had the results she was going for at X Games or the Air + Style in Innsbruck last weekend, is down for the win.

“That it didn't work out as I was hoping for lately has already been taken care of. I'm now fully concentrating on both events in Canada,” said Gasser who is also in the position to already seal the deal in the race for the snowboard freestyle overall World Cup title.

While the big air action takes place right downtown Quebec City, Stoneham Mountain Resort is back to business playing host to the slopestyle competition which also features some of the world's best including Olympic champion Jamie Anderson and Julia Marino from the USA, local favourite Laurie Blouin (CAN), 2015 world champion Miyabi Onitsuka (JPN) or Norway's Silje Norendal.

In the men's event, some of the riders to watch out for – besides the ones already named – are Marcus Kleveland, Staale Sandbech and Mons Roisland from Norway, Swedish riders Niklas Mattsson and Mans Hedberg as well as Jamie Nicholls (GBR), Tiarn Collins (NZL) and US athletes Chris Corning and Brandon Davis.

Time Schedule

The preliminary time schedules for both events are online: