Calgary Snow Rodeo ready for halfpipe World Cup season finale
Feb 13, 2020·Snowboard Park & Pipe
A massive weekend of action is set to go down beginning on Thursday just east of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, as both the FIS Snowboard halfpipe and slopestyle World Cup tours have descended on Calgary for the 2020 Snow Rodeo, which has taken over the prime Canada Olympic Park venue for what is promising to be an epic few days of riding
The perfectly-cut Calgary pipe has been garnering rave reviews from athletes all throughout training, and with the weather forecast looking generally friendlier than one might typically expect from this region of the world in mid-February, a deep field of riders on hand, and some dramatic storylines set to play out, all the pieces are in place for what’s shaping up to be an epic end to the 2019/20 season.
Cai and Liu in dead heat atop standings with one to go
The women’s competition promises to be must-watch viewing on Saturday, as Chinese compatriots Cai Xuetong and Liu Jiayu come into action in Calgary tied atop the 2019/20 World Cup rankings at 3000 points apiece with only this weekend’s competition left to decide the winner of this season’s halfpipe crystal globe.
Two of the most experienced riders on tour, both Cai and Liu have reigned at the upper echelons of halfpipe riding for well over a decade apiece, and each has the stats to prove it:
- 27-year-old Liu has 11 career World Cup victories, 22 World Cup podiums, Gangwon 2009 world championships gold, La Molina 2011 world champs bronze, and PyeonChang 2018 Olympic silver to her name.
-26-year-old Cai, meanwhile, also has 11 World Cup victories, while holding the halfpipe World Cup record with 26 podiums, as well as world champs gold from both the Kreischberg 2015 and Sierra Nevada 2017 competitions, and Utah 2019 world champs silver in her trophy case.
While the two riders career stats are remarkably similar, a huge difference emerges when you look to their crystal globes wins; where Liu has but one, from the 2008/09 season, Cai has FIVE - the most of any halfpipe rider in World Cup history.
Two have two such decorated athletes tied atop the leaderboard with only one competition remaining in the season is true
All of that being said, it’s still possible that neither Cai nor Liu walks away from Calgary with the globe in hand, as Spain’s Queralt Castellet and Maddie Mastro of the USA are both still in the hunt - with Castellet especially within striking distance with her 2690 points. While it would take huge stumbles from both of the Chinese riders to open the door for Castellet to take what would be the first globe of her 15 year World Cup career, stranger things have indeed happened.
Mastro, meanwhile, holds 2220 points, and with the globe a highly unlikely possibility, the 19-year-old will instead by looking for her first World Cup victory to cap off what has been, with three podiums, the best season of her World Cup career.
Totsuka’s absence gives James clear path to third career globe
In men’s competition we were looking forward to a clash of the titans, as current yellow bib holder Yuto Totsuka (JPN) should have been looking to hold off Scotty James (AUS) and take what would be his third-straight halfpipe in crystal globe in his third season of World Cup competition.
Despite his unbelievable record over the past three season of World Cup competition, Totsuka has remained stuck in James’ shadow, as just this season alone the 18-year-old Japanese rider has finished runner-up to the 25-year-old Australian in three out of four World Cup competitions, the X Games, and the Dew Tour.
With a win two weekends ago in Mammoth, Totsuka moved up to 3400 points, above James’ 3000, meaning that Totsuka only needed to finish second to James here in Calgary to become the first men’s rider ever to win three straight halfpipe crystal.
However, all of the above is moot, as Totsuka is not here competing in Calgary, meaning that James’ needs only to finish fifth or better to leapfrog Totsuka and take the third crystal globe of his career. And, with 11-straight wins in international competition leading up to this weekend in Calgary, you would be hard-pressed to imagine a scenario where James does stomp at least one of his impeccable runs in qualies and then finals to take the trophy.
It’s not just James looking to close the season out with aplomb here at the Snow Rodeo, however, as a stacked international field is also on hand and keen to put their best on display in the perfect Calgary pipe.
Totsuka’s Japanese teammate Ruka Hirano has three third-place finishes in 2019/20 to sit third on the standings, and the 18-year-old inches close to Totsuka and James’ level of proficiency with every competition.
The USA’s Taylor Gold is fresh off a second-place finish in Mammoth which followed a third at the Laax Open in mid-January - the 26-year-old’s first World Cup podiums in nearly five years after several agonizing seasons of injuries and setbacks. Gold currently sits fourth on the 2019/20 World Cup standings.
Andre Hoefflich of Germany continues to impress this season and sits in fifth overall, while the likes of Pat Burgener and Jan Scherrer of Switzerland, Chase Blackwell and Ryan Wachendorfer of the USA, Rakai Tait of New Zealand, and Canada’s own Derek Livingston should also be riders of note this weekend.
WATCH LIVE:
Eurosport 1, Eurosport Player, CCTV5+, L'Equipe Web, RAI Web, Polsat Sport Extra, SRF Zwei, Teledeporte 1t, NBC Olympic Channel
QUICK LINKS:
Calgary data page (start lists, live scoring, results)
