Halfpipe season set to start at Copper Mountain Grand Prix
Dec 06, 2018·Snowboard Park & Pipe
Copper Mountain (USA) - The 2018/19 FIS Snowboard halfpipe World Cup season is set to get underway this week in Colorado’s Copper Mountain Resort (USA), where a heavy field of riders will be dropping in on the Toyota US Grand Prix from December 6-8.
Copper Mountain’s partnership with the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association goes back a decade, and the Grand Prix at Copper has served as the northern hemisphere’s season opener for the FIS Freeski and Snowboard halfpipe World Cup for nearly that long. With the first World Cup competitions at Copper dating back to the 2012/13 season, Copper has seen some of the very best athletes in snowboarding grace its podium in the last seven seasons.
A veritable who’s-who of the halfpipe world will once again be on hand in Copper for this season’s competition, with the USA’s own Chloe Kim leading the way on the ladies’ side of things and Scotty James of Australia standing as perhaps the most formidable of the men’s field.
The PyeongChang 2018 Olympic gold medalist and the 2017/18 World Cup halfpipe crystal globe winner, Kim began her dominant season last year by leading a US sweep of the podium at Copper. And, as she was also the winner of the 2016 iteration of the event, Kim will be looking to make it three in a row with another victory at Copper this week.
However, despite Kim’s incredible 2017/18 season, a win at Copper this week isn’t a given for the 18-year-old.
Kim finished 2017/18 with two wins and runner-up result in three World Cup competitions, with the second place finish coming at Snowmass where she was beaten to the top of the podium by Spain’s Queralt Castellet. At 29 years old Castellet is the most veteran starter in the Copper field this season, yet she continues to prove herself one of the top riders in the game and should be right in the mix come time for finals on Saturday.
Also to watch out for this week is Kim’s teammate Maddie Mastro, a rider who - like Kim - has a double cork in her trick arsenal, as well as some of the best amplitude and style of any athlete on tour. Though she has five podiums in eight World Cup starts, Mastro is still looking for her first victory, and would love to do so on home soil in Copper.
And then there’s the likes of two-time reigning world champion Cai Xuetong of China, who’s looking to make a return to the top of the World Cup podium for the first time in nearly three years, as well as a strong Japanese team lead by Haruma Matsumoto.
Over on the men’s side, PyeongChang 2018 bronze medalist Scotty James comes into competition in Copper as a narrow favourite, though he’ll be in tough against a stacked Japanese squad and a lengthy entry list from the host US team.
Though James is a two-time reigning world champion with a 2017 X Games gold medal also to his credit, the 24-year-old has struggled somewhat in World Cup competitions, with just four podiums in 34 career starts. However, coming into the 2018/19 season with the PyeongChang 2018 bronze in back pocket - and with neither of the two men who finished above him in Korea on the start list - James should be in prime form to add another World Cup podium to his career totals this week.
While Shaun White (USA) and Ayumu Hirano (JPN) - the PyeongChang gold and silver medalists - won’t be competing at Copper, there’s no shortage of top competition to challenge James.
Most notable are Japanese riders Yuto Totsuka and Raibu Katayama, who finished last season ranked first and third on the final halfpipe World Cup rankings, respectively. Totsuka in particular is one to watch, as the 17-year-old is riding a streak of four podiums in all four of his career World Cup competitions.
And, finally, the US team featuring the likes of Jake Pates, Chase Josey, young gun Toby Miller, and a slew of others should be counted on to push hard for podiums in front of the home crowd in Colorado.
With exceptional snow conditions at Copper, the stacked field athletes on hand in Colorado will have every opportunity to show their best on the perfectly-shaped 22-foot high, 68-foot wide superpipe. Qualifiers at Copper Mountain begin on Thursday morning at 9:20 local time, followed by finals on Saturday at 11:00.
QUICK LINKS
Copper Mountain FIS data page (event programme, start lists, live scoring, results)
WHERE TO WATCH
NBC Sports/NBC Sports Gold
Eurosport Player
ORF Sport/tvthek.orf.at
L'Equipe
Polsat Sport Extra
