Font Romeu slopestyle kicks off the freeski action in 2019

Jan 10, 2019·Freeski Park & Pipe

The slopestyle venue at Font Romeu. Photo: Pierre Mérimée

The 2018/2019 FIS Freeski slopestyle World Cup is set to get back at it this weekend in Font Romeu (FRA), with three days of competition kicking off on Thursday with ladies’ qualifiers, followed by men’s qualifications on Friday. Finals will be going down at the Eastern Pyrenees resort on Saturday, January 12, making the Font Romeu slopestyle the first World Cup competition of 2019 on the FIS Freestyle World Cup circuit.

The Font Romeu event will be the second slopestyle World Cup of the season after an excellent November opening to the campaign at Austria’s Stubai resort. Also it will be the third straight time for the French resort to host the FIS Freeski World Cup competition, since its debut on tour back in January 2017.

With only one competition in the bag so far this season it’s Kelly Sildaru (EST) and Henrik Harlaut (SWE) sitting on top of the respective ladies’ and men’s slopestyle World Cup rankings following their victories in Stubai.

However,it wont be an easy task for the World Cup leaders to extend their stay atop the standings, as the competition in Font Romeu will be a tough one, with over 20 ladies and 60 men ready to showcase their best stuff in the first competition of the new year.

On the ladies side the local favourite Tess Ledeux (FRA) seems to be a number one favourite for the win in France as the 2017 World Champion will be trying to go for a hat-trick in Font Romeu, having won both previous editions of the slopestyle competition here.

Add to the mix the 2018 Olympic Champion Sarah Hoefflin (SUI), Johanne Killi (NOR), Coline Ballet-Baz (FRA), Caroline Clair (USA), Giulia Tanno (SUI) and Maggie Voisin (USA) just to name few and it’s all shaping up as an exciting competitions with all of those athletes capable of landing on top of the podium.

Things get even more intense on the men’s side. The current World Cup leader Henrik Harlaut is leading the way here along with the last year’s World Cup winner Andri Ragettli (SUI).

Going further down the start list count on the strong USA team with Alex Hall, Nick Goepper, Colby Stevenson and McRae Williams all among the best in the world.

The Swedish team has also brought in a full roster of top gunners to compete alongside their leader Harlaut, with the likes of Oscar Wester, Olive Magnusson and Jesper Tjader on hand and ready to rip.
Staying in Scandinavia, the Norwegians will put their hopes in Ferdinand Dahl, Christian Nummedal and Birk Ruud.

Also let’s not forget about Ragettli’s teammates from the Swiss Freeski Team, as Jonas Hunziker, Colin Wili and Kim Gubser will be also looking for a good result in France.
Last, but not least, keep an eye on James Woodsy (GBR), Finn Bilous (NZL) as well as Antoine Adelisse (FRA), with the last one eager to make some noise in front of the home crowd.

With such a stacked field of athletes on the men’s side, it looks like it’s anyone’s game to take the win in Font Romeu, where making it into the finals alone seems like an extremely difficult task.

Ladies’ qualifications are slated to go down on Thursday at 13:45 CET, while the men’s qualifications will go down on Friday. Finals on Saturday are scheduled to begin at 10:30.

TV Schedule

Austria - Live on ORF Sport+ on 12/01 at 09:30

Canada - Live on CBC Sports Streaming and same-day delayed on CBC Televisoion on 12/01 at 09:00

China - Delayed on CCTV

Europe - Live on Eurosport Player

Asia/Pacific - Live on Europort 1 on 12/01 at 05:30 pm

Finland - Live on YLE Areena

France - Live on L´Equipe

Italy - Delayed on RAI Sport+ HD on 14/01 at 12:00

Poland - Live on Polsat Sport News

Spain - Live on Teledeporte

USA - Same-day delayed on NBC Sports Gold on 12/01 at 10:45 am ET