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> News > Mammoth Mountain World Cup at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix preview

snowboarding News

Mammoth Mountain World Cup at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix preview

Training at the Mammoth Mountain slopestyle World Cup at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix, at Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort, California, USA, January 2022. Image credit: / Buchholz / FIS Snowboard

Thursday, January 6, 2022

Due to some fairly obvious reasons, last season was just the second time in six years that we didn’t get to visit California for our annual bonanza of FIS Snowboard Park & Pipe World Cup action at the Mammoth Mountain Toyota U.S. Grand Prix.

However, despite the many challenges faced by organisers in the lead-up to this week’s competitions, we are back at Mammoth and hugely excited for a big week of action leading up to a heavy day of both slopestyle and halfpipe finals on Saturday, January 8.

There’s some weather forecast to be rolling into Mammoth on Friday afternoon, so qualification schedules have been shaken up. As it stands now, slopestyle qualies at Mammoth will being with the women at 9:45 on Thursday morning, followed by the men at 13:15. Women’s halfpipe qualifications will begin at 19:00 Thursday evening, while men’s halfpipe qualifications are slated for Friday morning.

Slopestyle finals are then slated to hit Mammoth’s Unbound Terrain Park at 9:30 Saturday morning, followed later on by halfpipe finals at 18:55 in a huge day of action that will also see freeski slopestyle finals taking place in the middle of the day.

SLOPESTYLE PREVIEW:

SADOWSKI-SYNNOTT & ANDERSON SET FOR FIRST WORLD CUP ACTION OF 2021/22

Hot on the heels of last weekend’s Calgary Snow Rodeo competition, Saturday’s Mammoth event will be the second of six slopestyle World Cups slated to go down in the 2021/22 season. And, with their wins in Calgary, it’s Japan’s Kokomo Murase and Sebastien Toutant of Canada currently sitting atop the World Cup standings.

While most of the big names from the Calgary competition made the trip down to California, a significant number of additional riders on the start list here in Mammoth means that this is shaping up to be one of the most star-studded events of the season thus far.

Two of the biggest names set to drop in on Mammoth for their first World Cups of the season come in at the top of the women’s list, as Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (NZL) and Jamie Anderson (USA) are on the scene and ready to make their presences felt.

After taking gold at the Aspen 2021 World Championships to finish off her 2020/21 slopestyle season, Sadowski-Synnott picked up right where she left off to begin her 2021/22 campaign, putting down a dominant winning performance at Dew Tour just before Christmas. In the past 12 months Sadowski-Synnott has truly established herself as the one to beat in the women’s field, and could be tough to match by anybody this week.

If there’s one rider who can do it, however, it’s Anderson, and though she ended up finishing in seventh at the Dew Tour to begin her season, she was the most recent women’s slopestyle winner here in Mammoth two years ago, as well as the winner back in the 2016/17 season. With just over a month to go before she looks for an Olympic gold medal three-peat, expect Anderson to up the ante here in Mammoth as she looks to peak in Beijing.

Along with Anderson, US will also see Hailey Langland and Julia Marino dropping in on their first slopestyle World Cups of this season, and all should be looking strong come finals time.

The host squad will, however, be in tough against the Japanese team, with Calgary winner Murase backed up by Calgary runner-up Miyabi Onitsuka, as well as Reira Iwabuchi, who qualified fourth in Calgary but ended up finishing in seventh.

Up-and-coming teenagers Melissa Pepperkamp (NED) and Evy Poppe (BEL) both had their best-ever World Cup results in Calgary last week, as did Finland’s Carola Niemelae, so keep an eye on those three as well, along with the likes of Klaudia Medlova (SVK), Katie Ormerod (GBR) and Jasmine Baird (CAN).

DEFENDING OLYMPIC CHAMP GERARD LOOKING FOR THIRD MAMMOTH WIN

On the men’s side of things the US squad is adding some serious fire power for what is an important Olympic qualification event for their squad, with Red Gerard, Dusty Henricksen, Brock Crouch and Judd Henkes all on the scene after sitting out the Calgary comp.

Gerard in particular is one to keep an eye on, as he’s fresh off his second-straight Dew Tour win, and comes into this season’s Mammoth competition matching his teammate Anderson with two previous victories here.

Henkes also has two previous podiums here, while Henricksen grabbed his first career World Cup win here two years ago. And with Luke Winkelmann coming into Mammoth fresh off his first career World Cup podium in Calgary last weekend, you can expect the US snowboard team to be very much in the podium mix on Saturday.

Also bringing out the big guns once again is the Canadian team, with four of their top six riders locked in an epic battle for two spots on their Olympic team.

While Max Parrot and Mark McMorris have already locked down their Olympic spots, Sebastien Toutant, Darcy Sharpe, Liam Brearley and Frank Jobin are still fighting it out for the remaining two places. While Toutant’s win at Calgary last weekend has likely bumped him into the number three spot, nothing is set in stone yet for the Canadians.

Others to keep an eye on in men’s slope include Sebbe de Buck (BEL), who finished top in his heat in Calgary qualifying, the strong Japanese contingent featuring the likes of Takeru Otsuka, Ruki Tobita, Ryoma Kimata and explosive young gun Taiga Hasegawa, China’s Su Yiming, Rene Rinnekangas of Finland, and Markus Olimstad and Fridtjof Tischendorf of Norway.

While the persistent winds that often target Mammoth Mountain forced the cancellation of training on Tuesday, perfect weather greeted riders for Wednesday’s training sessions, and we’re hopeful that will carry forward for the qualification and finals competition phases.

HALFPIPE PREVIEW:

CAI LOOKING FOR MAMMOTH THREE-PEAT

This week’s competition in Mammoth will be the second of three halfpipe World Cups on the calendar for this season - meaning that the battle for the first halfpipe crystal globe to be awarded in two years will reach a critical junction this weekend.

Currently sitting atop the women’s standings after her win in Copper Mountain (USA) at the start of December is the most successful rider in the history of FIS Snowboard Park & Pipe World Cup competition - Cai Xuetong of China.

The winner of the past two Mammoth Mountain halfpipe World Cups, Cai already has nine World Cup titles to her name (six in halfpipe, and three overall), along with 13 victories and 28 total podiums in 38 career World Cup starts. And, as her performance a few weeks ago at Copper illustrated, the 28-year-old still has plenty of gas left in the tank. Don’t bet against her making it a three-peat this week in Mammoth.

If Cai is able to win the halfpipe crystal globe this season she will move into sole possession of second on the all-time FIS Snowboard globes list behind only the late, great Karine Ruby (FRA). And, if Cai is able to win the next two World Cup competitions and sweep the 2021/22 season, she’ll move into a tie with Tricia Byrnes (USA) atop the all-time Park & Pipe victories rankings.

As the start list for women’s pipe competition this weekend will tell you, Cai is looking like a clear favourite for the victory on Saturday.

Neither of the U.S. team favourites Chloe Kim or Maddie Mastro are currently slated to drop in this weekend, leaving the host squad’s hopes in the hands of the likes of Zoe Kalapos and Tessa Maud. Queralt Castellet (ESP) is also out, as is Cai’s countrywomen Liu Jaiyu.

However, the Japanese team is on hand, with the likes of Copper runner-up Sena Tomita, Mitsuki Ono and Haruna Matsumoto all more than capable of grabbing a podium spot and challenging Cai’s reign at the top.

Elizabeth Hosking and Brooke d’Hondt of Canada, Berenice Wicki of Switzerland, and Emily Arthur of Australia are a few of the other names to watch out for on the women’s halfpipe side this week.

JAPAN’S BIG THREE WILL BE TOUGH TO BEAT

Over on the men’s side it’s the Japanese team rolling in at the absolute peak of their powers, with a big three that are arguably interchangeable atop the “Best in the World” list depending on the day.

The World Cup season opener was won by Ruka Hirano, who then went on to finish third at the Dew Tour just before Christmas. Third place at the Copper World Cup was reigning World Champion Yuto Totsuka, who then went on to win the Dew Tour.

First place in qualification for both those events was two-time Olympic silver medallist Ayumu Hirano, who would end up in fourth place at Copper Mountain and fifth at Dew Tour. However, his Dew Tour result comes with a big ol’ star beside it, as the 23-year-old there became the first snowboarder ever to land a triple cork in halfpipe competition when he stomped a frontside trip 1440 truck driver.

Needless to say, the Japanese team is firing on all cylinders so far this season.

Now, we know that no “Best in the World” ranking is incomplete without Scotty James (AUS) in the conversation. The problem is, Scotty hasn’t dropped in on a competition thus far in 2021/22, and this weekend isn’t going to change that status. While rumours abound about where Mr. James is and what he’s up to, for now it’s just a wait and see as to if or when he’ll get some competition warm-ups in ahead of Beijing 2022.

One man who most certainly is getting his reps in ahead of Beijing 2022 is Shaun White, as the 35-year-old is set to drop in on his third-straight World Cup competition dating back to last season, as he pushes to make the U.S. team for his fifth Olympic Winter Games birth and an outside shot at his fourth Olympic gold medal.

While White hasn’t shown the top-to-bottom technical wizardry of the Japanese contingent or Scotty James since his return to competition at the end of last season, he does still have the otherworldly amplitude, unimpeachable style and insatiable drive that few others in snowboarding history can compare to. The man can still ride the heck out of a pipe, and though he hasn’t been confirmed for Beijing 2022 yet, it seems inevitable that a there’s a spot on the U.S team with his name on it.

It also seems inevitable that there’ll be a U.S. Olympic spot for Taylor Gold, especially after the 28-year-old earned second-place behind Totsuka at Dew Tour. Gold also finished in fifth at Copper in December, just behind Ayumu Hirano and just ahead of his U.S. teammate Chase Josey, and with some strong results here in Mammoth all three of White, Gold and Josey should be locked in for Beijing.

One more rider to keep an eye on in the men’s field is German rider Andre Hoefflich, who’s looking to rediscover the form that had him finish fifth on the World Cup pipe rankings back in 2019/20. Hoefflich has struggled somewhat this season, finishing 12th in Copper and eighth at the Dew Tour, but expect him to be back amongst the best of the best soon.

Finally, watch out for Valentino Guseli, the highest-halfpipe-air-ever world-record holding 16-year-old out of Australia. While going big is his signature, a constantly evolving trick quiver has Guseli quickly rising up the ranks of the halfpipe elite, and at Dew Tour this season he finished just ahead of Shaun White in sixth place.

WHERE TO WATCH

We’ll be updating this section on the web story closer to finals time. Find livestream links below and check back later for TV broadcast info.

QUICK LINKS

• Toyota U.S. Grand Prix Virtual Media Hub

• Livestream for halfpipe finals (with geo restrictions)

• Livestream for slopestyle finals (with geo restrictions)

• Mammoth Mountain FIS data page (start lists, live scoring, results)

• 2021/22 FIS Snowboard Park & Pipe World Cup Calendar

• Past Mammoth World Cup halfpipe results

• Highlight videos and interviews

• Halfpipe: Photos (FIS Snowboard) / Photos 2 (US Ski & Snowboard)

• Slopestyle: Photos (FIS Snowboard) / Photos 2 (US Ski & Snowboard)

• World Cup standings

Press Release Source: Chad Buchholz / www.fis-ski.com/en/snowboard

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