James and Castellet the headliners ahead of Laax Open halfpipe
Jan 18, 2023·Snowboard Park & Pipe
After yesterday’s extended look ahead at slopestyle World Cup action set to hit the Laax Open, today we turn our attention to the halfpipe, where competition opens on Thursday, 19 January with women’s qualifications beginning at 9:25 CET and the men at noon. We then shut down snowboard action in Laax with night finals under the lights in the world’s finest halfpipe beginning at 18:00 CET on Saturday.
Night pipe finals at the Laax Open is truly one of the most special events in all of snowboarding, and with nearly every one of the world’s best on hand here again this season we expect Saturday night to be no exception.
We said “nearly every one” above there because two-time reigning Olympic champion and last year’s Laax Open women’s halfpipe winner Chloe Kim is taking a break from competition this season and won’t be looking to defend her title.However, this just means that it’s wide open at the top for the rest of the women’s halfpipe elite to step up and grab their piece of Laax Open history this weekend.
CASTELLET RIDING HIGH INTO LAAX AFTER COPPER WIN
Beijing 2022 silver medallist Queralt Castellet of Spain comes into competition as a favourite after earning an impressive win at the halfpipe World Cup season opener in Copper Mountain (USA) in December. Despite the fact that, at 33-years-old, she was more than double the age of some of her fellow finalists there in Copper, Castellet’s combination of progressive riding and smooth consistency keeps her very much in the elite tier of women’s halfpipe riders - and makes her a model for her younger competitors to follow.
And, with a Laax Open win to her credit from the 2021 competition, Castellet has proven she knows how to get it done in the season’s premier World Cup.
Castellet’s toughest challenger is likely to be the all-time leader in FIS Snowboard Park & Pipe crystal globes won - Cai Xuetong of China.
Another ageless veteran of women’s halfpipe riding, Cai last season scored the 10th World Cup crystal globe win of her career, putting her second on the all-time list for all athletes in FIS Snowboard history. With 29 podiums in 40 career starts, Cai Xuetong is as good a bet as you’ll find in the field this week to end up in the top-3
Second place behind Castellet in Copper was Canada’s Elizabeth Hosking, earning her first career World Cup podium despite some strong challenges. As well as being her first personal podium, Hosking’s top-3 was also the first for a Canadian woman on the World Cup in almost 13 years, and with the way she rode in Colorado there should be many more in the future.
Behind Hosking at Copper Mountain was Mitsuki Ono, who along with Ruki Tomita makes for a strong 1-2 Japanese punch on the women’s side. While Ruki’s sister and Beijing 2022 bronze medallist Sena won’t be on hand this week, the younger of the two Tomitas should be able to hold the fort for the family.
Keep an eye on the USA’s Maddie Mastro, one of the few women who possess a double cork trick in their arsenal. Mastro has been stuck at nine career World Cup podiums for nearly three years now, and to finally earn her tenth here in Laax should be a huge motivator for her.
As well, the U.S. team will be fielding some talented youngsters in Sonora Alba and Bea Kim, both who made finals at Copper in December - Alba in her second World Cup start and Kim in her first.
THE SCOTTY JAMES SHOW SET TO GO LIVE
For the men we could be once again be bearing witness to the Scotty James (AUS) show, as the 28-year-old rolls into Laax with his mind-blowing 99 point-scoring victory at Copper Mountain still fresh in everyone’s mind.
With Beijing 2022 gold medallist Ayumu Hirano once again focusing the majority of his time on skateboarding this season, James has reverted back to being the de facto number one in the world. However, with a performance like the one he had in Copper a few weeks ago, there are whispers around the halfpipe world that he’d be favourite heading into Laax even if Hirano were around.
Throw in the fact that James should be extra motivated after he finished in 11th place here in Laax last season, breaking his streak of four straight podium results in Laax (including two victories), and you can bet he’ll be more than motivated to keep his hot start to the season going.
Second place behind James in Copper was Switzerland’s own Jan Scherrer, as the Beijing 2022 bronze medallist continues his career resurgence. Scherrer has become one of the most creative riders in halfpipe snowboarding in the last few season, and regardless of whether or not he hits the podium, he’ll give the home crowd plenty to cheer about.
Then of course there’s the Japanese team, with the likes of Kaishu Hirano (Ayumu’s younger brother), Ruka Hirano (no relation) and Yuto Totsuka leading the way.
Out of the three, Totsuka is the one with strongest Laax pedigree, having won the event in 2021 and scoring second-place results all three season preceding that victory. However, Totsuka, like Ruka Hirano, didn’t even make finals in Copper, so expect those two to come out firing here in Laax.
As for Kaishu, he very much did make finals in Copper, going on to score his first career World Cup victory, and this may be the season we see him fully step out from behind Ayumu’s shadow.
Looking further afield, we need to talk about Australia’s Valentino Guseli, fresh off of becoming the youngest ever men’s big air crystal globe winner in Kreischberg last weekend, which he followed on Wednesday up by qualifying for the Laax Open slopestyle finals. Even if he just qualifies for the Laax Open pipe, he’ll have put together a three-event run of success across the three Park & Pipe disciplines the likes of which the FIS Snowboard World Cup has never seen. It’s truly astonishing stuff we’re seeing from the 17-year-old this season - historic even - and we’re lucky to bear witness.
As for other names to watch out for, keep an eye on Lucas Foster, Taylor Gold and Joey Okesson of the USA, Korea’s Chaeun Lee, and Andre Hoefflich of Germany.
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