Silvaplana delivers once again for Park & Pipe season finale
Mar 26, 2023·Snowboard Park & Pipe
The 2022/23 FIS Snowboard Park & Pipe World Cup season came to a close over the weekend at Silvaplana’s Corvatsch 3303 resort, where on Saturday Julia Marino (USA) earned her third-straight victory on her way to claiming her first career crystal globe, Taiga Hasegawa (JPN) took the men’s win on Sunday for his first career slopestyle World Cup podium and victory, Dusty Henricksen (USA) earned the men’s slopestyle crystal globe, and Valentino Guseli wrapped up a history-making season with the Park & Pipe overall crystal globe in hand.
With a mixed bag of adverse weather forecast throughout the weekend at Corvatsch, organisers and officials were forced to revamp the schedule in order to ensure a successful completion of all competitions, splitting the women’s and men’s competitions onto two different days to hit forecast weather windows. Thankfully, the calls made were the correct ones, and finals on both days went off without a hitch.
Also thankfully, the rider-favourite Corvatsch course was in prime condition on both days of competition, ensuring that even if the weather was occasionally challenging with flat light, the riders were able to go all in and do so safely.
MARINO EARNS THIRD STRAIGHT WIN ON WAY TO SLOPESTYLE GLOBE
Marino came into the final competition of the season with an unassailable lead on the slopestyle rankings, with the only rider capable of catching her - Reira Iwabuchi of Japan - sitting out the final event of the season due to injury.
On Saturday the 25-year-old Marino showed once again why she’s considered to be one of the best high-stakes riders in snowboarding, stomping an outstanding second run with the pressure on to make it victories in three out of four slopestyle World Cup starts in 2022/23.
Marino lead off her winning run on Saturday with a frontside boardslide 270 out, and then a lipslide pretzel out to finish off the top rail sections, before turning it on in the jumps with a cab double underflip 900 frontside grab, into frontside 720 double grab, and then a massive backside double cork 1080 Weddle grab on jump three, before finishing things off with an ever-stylish frontside air in the halfpipe and riding out to a score of 87.25 and the victory.
“It’s been a really fun season,” Marino smiled from the finish area, “There’s been a lot going on, but I’m super stoked to come here and finish off the season with this comp. The course here is probably the best course I’ve hit all season, just so much fun. And with the spring weather, being here with all the girls, it’s just a great way to finish off the season.”
Second place on the day for her first podium of the World Cup season went to Australia’s Tess Coady, who held the lead after run one on the strength of her 85.00-scoring first attempt, with her trademark style on full display and heavy jump line that saw her go frontside 900 tail grab, switch backside 900 Weddle, and finally a backside double cork 1080 Weddle to cap things off on the big third booter.
Rounding out the podium in third place was last season’s Silvaplana winner and top qualifier Anna Gasser of Austria, whose first run included a cab 900 tail grab, frontside 720 Weddle, and a backside double cork 1080 melon to give her a score of 82.25 and a perfect four podiums in four World Cup starts in 2022/23.
Marino would finish with a dominant win on the slopestyle World Cup standings, with her 313 points putting a full 160 ahead of second-overall finisher Miyabi Onitsuka and her 153 points. Third place one the women’s rankings would end up in a rarely seen tie, as Bakuriani 2023 slopestyle World Champion Mia Brookes (GBR) and Reira Iwabuchi (JPN) would both receive the slopestyle bronze medals with 130 points apiece.
While Marino’s final win of the season would put her as close as possible to the women’s Park & Pipe overall globe, it was a foregone conclusion before Saturday’s completion in Silvaplana that Japanese halfpipe rider Mitsuki Ono would be receiving the big trophy with 360 points. Marino would finish just back with 353, while Iwabuchi would again finish in third place, this time with 322 points.
HASEGAWA RULES THE DAY WHILE HENRICKSEN AND GUSELI CLAIM GLOBES
Whether it was from changing light conditions, nerves or exhaustion, Sunday’s men’s competition was a strange one to watch through run one, with only three riders putting down clean runs from top to bottom in their first go-around.
Thankfully, the sun coming out for run two meant that we saw some standouts, with none more spectacular than that of 17-year-old Taiga Hasegawa, who put down what might have been the run of the season on his way to a first career slopestyle victory.
Leading things off with a cab 270 on to 270 out on the first rail, Hasegawa then went frontside bluntslide to floaty 810 out on the launch rail, before going into what the riders collected at the bottom of the course were calling the best jump line of all-time.
With a cab 1440 tail grab, into a switch backside 1620 Weddle, and finally an outrageous backside 1800 Weddle on the final booter, Hasegawa simply blew the doors off the competition in run two, and when he cleanly landed his frontside 720 on the final halfpipe feature it was pretty clear who was going to own the top score.
With a 92.00 for his efforts, Hasegawa locked down the only score in the 90s seen at any point in the competition, and afterwards the young man who also claimed Bakuriani 2023 big air World Championships gold this season was suitably pleased.
“Thank you everyone,” Hasegawa said from the finish, “I’m so happy to get my first slopestyle podium and be first. Thank you so much,” before adding one of the highlight moments in flash interview history when he finished with, “I need to study English!”
Second place would go to Liam Brearley of Canada, who put together the most remarkable rail line of the day with a switch backside 270 on to pretzel out on the first rail, followed by a cab 270 on to 630 melon out on the canon rail, and finished things off in the halfpipe with a super stylish frontside 720 for a score 89.00 and his second career Silvaplana podium.
Rounding out the podium in third place was Sweden’s Sven Thorgren, who was really the only rider to put down a truly exceptional run with his first attempt. With a frontside 1440 tail grab, a backside 1620 melon and a cab 1260 tail grab through the jumps - as well as a classic alley-app 540 nose grab in the pipe - Thorgren would earn a score of 85.00 and his second third-place podium of the season.
While he ended up seventh place on the day, 20-year-old Dusty Henricksen would make it two-for-two in slopestyle crystal globes for the US squad, claiming the first globe of his career with a season that saw him earn one win and two runner-up podiums in four slopestyle starts for a total of 296 points.
“I couldn’t ask for much more,” Henricksen said following the awards, “It was definitely a big goal of mine and I know down the road, looking back this is going to be a super nice trophy to have and it’s a super special moment for myself. I’m kind of speechless. I’m fired up.
“It means a lot to win this riding the way that I want to ride. It’s nice to see judges still appreciate the style aspect of it. It can be tough (to keep it stylish) with all the spins we’ve gotta do, but it’s just the way I like to ride and stoked that the judges mess with it.”
Hasegawa would finish in second on the slopestyle rankings with 186 points, while Valentino Guseli would make some more history in a season in which he has seemed to do so nearly every week, becoming the first rider in FIS Snowboard World Cup history to land on all three of the slopestyle, halfpipe and big air overall podiums in the same season with 165 slopestyle points.
Guseli also become the first rider in FIS World Cup history to land on all podiums in all three events in the same season in 2022/23, and finished the campaign with a big air win, two second-place finishes in halfpipe, and a slopestyle runner-up as well.
The result of all that success, quite obviously, was that Guseli would walk away with the big trophy as the season’s top rider overall, earning what is likely to be his first of many Park & Pipe overall trophies with 440 points.
“I can’t really believe it yet,” the just 17-year-old Guseli said with his trophy in hand, “I think there’s still more to push for and plenty more shredding to be had, but I’m super stoked to have this trophy in my hands. It’s definitely a goal I’ve checked off, but I’m already looking forward to next year and continuing to put on a show for all the beautiful people around the world and showing off what we do.
“Slopestyle, big air, halfpipe…to me it’s just snowboarding. It’s always been a goal of mine to show that it’s possible to be competitive in all three disciplines, and I’m obviously going to try to keep pushing that case. I started doing this stuff when I was three and it’s always been just strapping in and riding down the hill on a piece of wood to me.”
Henricksen would finish behind Guseli with 332 points on the season, while Hasegawa would end up just back of Henricksen in third with 323 points, as the same riders from the slopestyle overall ranking shared the podium once again for the Park & Pipe overall - in different order.
The top team trophy of the year would go to the Japanese squad, who claimed the Park & Pipe Nations Cup for 2022/23.
And with that, the 2022/23 FIS Snowboard Park & Pipe World Cup season goes into the books as one to remember. A huge thanks to all of the athletes for putting on a show week in and week out, and to all of our organizers, course builders, staff and volunteers for making it happen.
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