Slopestyle set to hit the stage in Mammoth Mountain
Jan 30, 2020·Snowboard Park & Pipe
The FIS Snowboard World Cup heads into the back half of the 2019/20 season with four jam-packed days of action this week in California, where the Mammoth Mountain Land Rover US Grand Prix will see slopestyle and halfpipe competitions take to the resort’s famed Unbound park and pipe from January 29-Feb 1, 2020.
Halfpipe qualifications opened the action on Tuesday, and on Wednesday it’s the slopestyle riders’ turn for qualifications. Pipe finals, meanwhile, are slated for Friday the 31st, while slopestyle finals will close things out on February 1. Over 100 of the world’s best snowboarders are on hand for this week’s events, with 66 names currently on the slopestyle entry list and 51 set to drop in on the halfpipe.
With some excellent weather in the forecast in Mammoth for the coming days, hopes are high for some of the best competition seen yet at the venue, now in it’s fourth season as a World Cup host.
Anderson looking for repeat of 2017 Mammoth win
All eyes will be on the host US women’s team in the coming days of slopestyle competition at Mammoth Mountain, with the inimitable Jamie Anderson leading the way and her teammate Hailey Langland close behind.
Fresh off her sixth career X Games slopestyle gold medal, Anderson once again asserted herself as the best slopestyle rider in the game last week in Aspen. The winner here in Mammoth the last time women’s slopestyle was held in 2017 (the 2019 women’s competition was cancelled due to weather), Anderson will be tough to match this week.
Langland, meanwhile, continues to impress as one of the most stylish riders in the game, and finished just behind Anderson in second at the 2017 Mammoth Mountain World Cup.
Tops of the women’s slopestyle World Cup belongs to Katie Ormerod of Great Britain, as the 22-year-old continued an outstanding 2019/20 campaign with a second-place finish in Seiser Alm last week to go along with a third in Laax the week before that. Along with Canada’s Laurie Blouin - who finished second behind Anderson at the X Games - and Loranne Smans of Belgium, the international field will push Anderson and Langland hard in the women’s event.
Khadarin carries World Cup lead in Mammoth
After taking his first career slopestyle World Cup win last week in Seiser Alm, Russia’s Vlad Khadarin comes into Mammoth hot as the World Cup leader after two competitions thus far, with 1070 points.
Khadarin was followed up in Seiser Alm by the Japanese duo of Ruki Tobita and Hiroaki Kunitake, who took second and third respectively. Those two - along with their teammate Ryoma Kimata, who’s looked exceptional in training despite the fact he’s entering his first World Cup slopestyle competition - all have the chops to pull off a victory on Saturday.
Incredibly, Tobita is the only international rider to earn a men’s slopestyle podium in Mammoth over the course of the three previous competitions here, as the US squad has absolutely dominated by taking eight out of a possible nine spots in the top three - including two podium sweeps.
And, when you look down the host squad’s roster for this week, there’s a very real possibility the pull the feat off again.
Sean Fitzsimons and Judd Henkes currently sit sixth and seventh on the slopestyle World Cup rankings, respectively, with Henkes earning a third-place finish at Laax (SUI) two weeks ago and Fitzsimons just missing out on the podium in Seiser Alm (ITA) last week. Along with veteran Ryan Stassel, super-smooth Lyon Farrell, and young gun Dusty Hendrickson (who qualified in top spot in Laax in his first-ever World Cup), the US team is formidable.
Norway’s Fritdjof Tischendorf will be one to keep an eye on this week, as the enigmatic rider comes into Mammoth competition fresh off a incredible performance that went viral at the X Games, while his teammates Stian Kleivdal and Torgeir Bergrem remain a couple of the most stylish riders in the world.
Canada’s young squad of Nic Laframboise, Jack MacDougal, and Frank Jobin have all been ripping in training in Mammoth this week, while Kalle Jarvilehto (FIN), Emiliano Lauzi (ITA) and Noah Viktor have all shown moments of brilliance this season. There’s a strong collection of riders from around the world on hand and looking to make some noise in the coming days.
Qualification action in Mammoth gets underway at 9:40 local time with the men’s heat one and two in double-up format, while the women are slated to hit the course at 13:00. Finals, meanwhile, are slated to get underway at 9:30 on Saturday morning.
WATCH FINALS LIVE:
Eurosport 1 Asia, Eurosport 2 and Eursport player, ORF Sport+, CBC Sport Streaming, CCTV, YLE Areena, L'Equipe Web, Polsat Sports News, SVT Play
QUICK LINKS:
Mammoth Mountain data page (start lists, live scoring, results)
Mammoth Mountain slopestyle programme (subject to change)
Livestream (with geo restrictions)
