Stacked field of snowboarders in Copper for Halfpipe World Cup
Dec 16, 2025·Snowboard Park & Pipe)
Reigning Olympic Halfpipe champion Chloe Kim (USA) is among a stacked field of snowboarders competing in Copper Mountain this week for the second FIS Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup of the season.
Kim is beginning her 2025/26 season in Copper after she – along with the rest of the U.S. snowboard halfpipe team – did not contest the Halfpipe World Cup season opener in Secret Garden last week.
Kim, 25, has already secured her spot on the U.S. team for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games after winning gold at the 2025 World Championships in March. Last season the Beijing 2022 and PyeongChang 2018 gold medalist counted two victories from three World Cup starts. The only time she did not finish on the podium last season was here at the Copper World Cup, when she was fourth.
Maddy Schaffrick was fifth behind Kim in Copper in 2024, which was the 31-year-old’s best result in Copper after four editions. Teammate and last season’s Halfpipe Crystal Globe winner Maddie Mastro was sixth behind Schaffrick after previously claiming podium spots in Copper in 2023, 2019, 2018 and 2017. Mastro is aiming to qualify for her third Games at Milano Cortina 2026.
Last week’s Secret Garden winner Gaon Choi (KOR) will be aiming to continue that momentum in Copper after the 17-year-old claimed her first victory in two years. Her previous World Cup podium dates back to 2023 when Choi topped the field at her first-ever World Cup in Copper. Of her five World Cup starts since 2023, Choi has claimed three podiums, including second place and third place at Aspen and Laax (SUI) respectively.
Sixteen-year-old Rise Kudo (JPN) was runner-up to Choi last week in what was the teenager’s first World Cup podium. In Copper Kudo is joined by compatriots Mitsuki Ono, Sorana Ohashi, Ruki Tomita and older sister Sena Tomita. Last season Sena claimed her maiden World Cup victory by winning the Calgary season finale.
Copper marks the 48th World Cup start for China’s Cai Xuetong, who began her 2025/26 season with third place on home snow in Secret Garden last week. Cai’s performance in Secret Garden was her FIS Park & Pipe record-extending 34th podium finish, and the 32-year-old is working towards qualifying for what would be her fifth Olympic Winter Games at Milano Cortina. At the Beijing 2022 Games, Cai narrowly missed out on an Olympic medal with fourth place.
On the men’s side, two-time Olympic champion and last week’s Secret Garden winner Ayumu Hirano is not competing in Copper. Hirano led a Japanese podium sweep in Secret Garden with runner-up Yuto Totsuka and last year’s Crystal Globe winner Ruka Hirano in third place, and both Totsuka and Ruka Hirano will be dropping in this week.
The last time a men’s Halfpipe World Cup podium did not feature a Japanese rider dates back to the 2018 edition of the Copper World Cup when Australia’s Scotty James topped the field ahead of U.S. riders Toby Miller and Chase Josey in second and third place respectively.
James is not competing in Copper after the four-time World Champion uncharacteristically finished 10th in Secret Garden as many finalists struggled with snowy conditions.
Last week’s runner-up result put Totsuka on top of the men’s all-time halfpipe World Cup podium list with 22. Last year Totsuka was also second in Copper last year as part of a Japanese podium sweep which again featured Ayumu Hirano in first place and Ruka Hirano in third. Totsuka was also third in 2023 behind Chaeun Lee (KOR), marking the second time he finished third in Copper after 2021. The 24-year-old was also runner-up here in 2019 behind James.
Three time reigning halfpipe Crystal Globe winner Ruka Hirano, meanwhile, has three previous Copper Mountain podiums to his credit, including a victory in 2021. With 21 World Cup podiums in his career, Hirano sits just one back of his friend and countryman Totsuka on the all-time list.
Without Scotty James in Copper, Japan’s main challengers this week will be the 16-man U.S. contingent featuring his 2018 runner-up Josey, as well as up-and-comer Alessandro Barbieri. Last season the 17-year-old claimed his first podium with third place at the 2024/25 season finale in Calgary behind Totsuka and Ruka Hirano.
The USA’s Josey is competing in his 38th World Cup in Copper. The 30-year-old has never won a World Cup on home soil but counts two third-place finishes in Copper from 2016 and 2018 and runner-up honours in Mammoth in 2016 among his four career World Cup podiums. Josey’s only victory on the World Cup circuit came in 2017 at Laax (SUI).
Brazil’s Patrick Burgener returns to Copper after previously winning the World Cup here in 2016 while representing Switzerland. The 31-year-old changed nationalities in June 2025 and last week in Secret Garden he was the only non-Japanese rider to finish within the top five. Burgener’s last World Cup podium dates back to 2020 when he was third in Calgary.
With half of the men’s final in Secret Garden made up of Japanese snowboarders, other Japanese names to watch this week in Copper are Ryusei Yamada, Konosuke Murakami, Kaishu Hirano and Shuichiro Shigeno. Yamada rounded out last week’s top five, while the remaining three Japanese men finished seventh, 12th and 13th respectively.
Competition in Copper will begin on Wednesday 17 December with women’s qualifications from 9:30 Mountain Standard Time (MST), followed by men’s qualifications at 11:55 MST.
The top eight women and top 10 men from Wednesday’s qualifications will compete in the finals on Friday 19 December beginning at 12:00 MST.
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