Guseli earns career first while Ono and Hirano repeat halfpipe crystal globe wins
Feb 12, 2024·Snowboard Park & Pipe
The 2023/24 FIS Snowboard halfpipe World Cup season came to a close with an absolute heater on Saturday night, where Mitsuki Ono (JPN) and Valentino Guseli (AUS) walked away the Calgary Snow Rodeo winners in what was quite likely the most exciting Park & Pipe competition of the winter thus far.
Note that corrections have been made below to tricks originally attributed to Guseli and Shuichiro Shigeno.
ONO DOMINANT AGAIN TO CLAIM THREE IN A ROW AND THE WOMEN’S HALFPIPE CRYSTAL GLOBE
Coming into Calgary atop the women’s standings and looking to make it three wins in a row while locking down a repeat crystal globe, 19-year-old Ono simply stepped up and did what she’s done competition in and competition out for the past two seasons, combining big amplitude, wide-ranging trick variety, and stomped landings to get the job done once again.
Leading things off her winning second run with a massive frontside 900 tail grab, Ono then went backside 540 Weddle, frontside 720 frontside grab and finally a switch frontside 900 melon, riding out clean to a score of 90.00 and the sixth victory of her career, all on her way to becoming the first Japanese women in FIS Snowboard history to earn multiple halfpipe crystal globes.
As the top qualifier from Friday, Ono was the last to drop in the women’s competition on the night, meaning that, with her top score already locked in from her second run, she got a victory lap to close out her season. However, that final run did not go according to plan, as Ono clipped the deck hard on her third hit and ended up lying in the middle of the pipe where she was attended to by the medical staff on hand at Calgary’s WinSport Canada Olympic Park.
Fortunately, after a check out from the medical team, Ono was able to ride to the bottom of the pipe under her own power and was in good enough shape to accept her many awards on the evening.
“I’m just so happy,” Ono said following the awards, with her crystal globe in hand, “I want to thank everyone who supported me throughout this season. It feels unreal that this is my second crystal globe.”
Second place on the day - as well as the silver medal for finishing in second place on the 2023/24 women’s halfpipe World Cup rankings - went to Maddie Mastro of the USA, who ended with 260 points to Ono’s 380. Mastro laced the final run of her World Cup season, capping things off on her last hit of her third run with her signature double crippler to earn a score of 88.25 and the 15th World Cup podium of her career. Mastro finished the season with podiums in four out of five competitions.
Rounding out the evening’s Snow Rodeo podium in third was Sena Tomita of Japan, who lead off her 87.00-scoring second run with a a huge frontside 1080 and kept it clean and boosty after that to earn her second podium of 2023/24.
However, Tomita would end up fourth on the final women’s halfpipe World Cup rankings, as World Cup rookie Bea Kim (USA) would finish the campaign with 208 points and in bronze medal position. The most consistent rider of 2023/24, Kim earned four fourth-place results as well as her first World Cup podium over the course of the winter.
GUSELI CLAIMS CAREER FIRST WHILE HIRANO REPEATS AS MEN’S GLOBE WINNER
Over on the men’s side it was Valentino Guseli finally rising to the top in the cutthroat world of competitive halfpipe snowboarding, as the 18-year-old earned his first major halfpipe victory with a performance that had the huge crowd at the base of the Snow Rodeo pipe picking their jaws up off the snow.
Kicking things off on his second run of the evening with massive switch Indy, Guseli kept the exercise in amplitude rolling from top to bottom of his run, following the Indy up with a switch frontside 1080 frontside grab, into a frontside 1260 tail grab, and then a backside 900 Weddle, before capping things off with a perfect frontside 1440 tail grab for a score of 91.00 and another career milestone.
“This means a lot to me,” Guseli said after posing for photos with some fans at the bottom of the pipe, “I’m really, really hyped. It’s actually my mom’s birthday today, and I woke up this morning and though to myself, ‘Hopefully I can win a competition and make her proud.’ To have done that makes me feel super happy.
“I’m going home on Monday for a couple of weeks, and to get to catch up with the family and hang out after this is going to be even sweeter. I’m super stoked.”
With the victory on Saturday night, Guseli leapt up to second place on the men’s halfpipe final rankings for 2023/24 with 230 points, 70 points back of the 300 earned by crystal globe winner Ruka Hirano of Japan.
As with his compatriot Ono, Hirano was able to take home his second halfpipe crystal globe in a row with what was his fourth podium of the season. While he did not take the win in any of his five World Cup starts in 2023/24, with three second place results - including his 88.25-scoring effort in Calgary - and a third place finish, Hirano did more than enough to end the season as the top man once again.
Rounding out the Calgary Snow Rodeo men’s podium in third place was Hirano’s Japanese teammate Shuichiro Shigeno, who began the night facing the prospect of losing his spot on the national team for 2024/25, but finished it in triumph after stomping a third and final run that including a massive frontside 1440 to finish things off, for a score of 86.75. With the Calgary podium secured, so too is Shigeno’s spot on the elite Japanese team for next season.
Finally, the men’s 2023/24 halfpipe overall World Cup rankings top-3 was completed by Scotty James (AUS), who finished the season just one point back of Guseli with 229 points despite being forced to pull out of competition in Calgary with minor knee injury.
And with that, the 2023/24 FIS Snowboard halfpipe World Cup season went into the history books, with the Calgary Snow Rodeo serving as a fitting finale.
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