Corralco cranks it up for South American Cup cross action

Last weekend the Ford Chile Winter Series Visa brought together some of the world's top ski and snowboard athletes for some excellent South American Cup racing at the Ski Corralco resort, located in the heart of the Andean Araucanía region.

With plenty of the world’s top ski and snowboard cross athletes on hand, including Olympic and World Championships medalists such as Marielle Thompson (CAN) and Reece Howden (CAN) on the ski cross side, and Julia Pereira de Sousa Mabileau (FRA) and Merlin Surget (FRA) for SBX, there was no shortage of star power on the scene in Chile.

The venue for the SAC action at Corralco was a quality one, offering challenging and high-level features, with each run lasting more than a minute.

In ski cross, the Chilean, French, Swiss, and Canadian teams battled fiercely in the heats. Nicolás Raffort and Youri Duplessis of the French team dominated the men's category, while Olympic champion Marielle Thompson did the same in the women's category, always closely followed by the multiple World Cup medalist from France, Marielle Berger Sabbatel.

The Chilean ski cross World Cup athlete Steph Joffroy also had outstanding performances, winning the national championship and finishing sixth in the second race.

In snowboard cross, teams from France, Canada, USA, Japan, Spain, and other nations competed fiercely to earn points for international circuit qualifications. Japanese athlete Runa Suzuki secured first and third place finishes, earning her the South American Cup Overall title. Meanwhile, French athlete Lea Casta made waves in race #2, winning a tightly contested heat. Olympic medalists Chloe Trespeuch and Julia Pereira de Souza also reached the podium in this category.

In the men's category, North American athlete Nathan Pare and French athlete Aidan Chollet claimed victory in highly competitive heats. This category featured intense competition with Olympic and World Championship medalists, providing two days of thrilling action.

The Ford Chile Winter Series Visa included more than six events throughout the winter season, spanning five different Olympic disciplines, including alpine skiing, freeski, snowboard, ski and snowboard cross, and cross-country skiing, at the leading ski resorts in Chile. It aimed to establish itself as the most significant winter sports circuit in the southern hemisphere.

This winter sports circuit became a reality thanks to the support of the National Ski and Snowboard Sports Federation of Chile, as well as the National Sports Institute (IND), the Corralco, La Parva, El Colorado ski resorts, and the brands Mocho, Visa, Ford, Red Bull, Snickers, Stanley, Opinel, Radio Bio Bio, Flesad, Hd Sports Magazine, Kangu, Guayaki, and Chilenieve.

QUICK LINKS
- Full ski cross results
- Full snowboard cross results