The weather was difficult, but the victories were sweet for American Birk Irving and Canada’s Cassie Sharpe in the final Halfpipe World Cup of the season at Mammoth Mountain, California.
The seasonal World Cup title was on the line for both the men and women, but for Irving, it was his first World Cup of the season!
No matter, he came with an 88.60 on his first run that had him in second place, then turned up the volume on his final run and scored 95.20 for the victory. “It’s amazing to finish off the season with my first podium and my first victory,” said Irving, “I just wanted to put my stock run on my first run. I was able to put it down and I was sitting in top-3. Then I just thought that I didn’t have that much to lose so I tried to throw some different tricks in there and it worked out perfectly.”
Canada’s Simon d’Artois finished second off his first-round score of 93.80, but even better was that he won the seasonal World Cup title. “I can’t believe it. It hasn’t yet hit me”, said d’Artois, “It was a tough day and I was happy to put two runs. There was obviously some tough competition out here. And Birk absolutely killed it and he deserves to be in first. But to finish second here today and to walk away with the globe is just unbelievable.”
In the women’s Halfpipe, Canada’s Cassie Sharpe won both the competition in Mammoth and the seasonal title.
“I like to put myself under pressure,” said Sharpe, ”It stresses me out, but it’s so fun. I came into this not expecting to get the globe, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up about it. If it happened then yeah, but if it didn’t, I did not want to be upset about it.”
Sharpe was also second after the first round, but scored a fabulous 95.60 on the second run to win easily from Estonia’s 17-year-old wunderkind, Kelly Sildaru (87.40). The victory allowed her to take the season crown, 280-260 from teammate Rachael Karker.
Sunday’s Slopestyle events were also affected by weather, but Mac Forehand of the U.S. managed a win in the men’s division for his second medal of the season. Swiss Mathilde Gremaud won the women’s Slopestyle, but the seasonal races won’t be decided until the final competition in Switzerland at the end of the month. Summaries:
FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup
Mammoth Mountain, California (USA) ~ 7-10 March 2019
(Full results here)
Men’s Halfpipe: 1. Birk Irving (USA), 95.20; 2. Simon d’Artois (CAN), 93.80; 3. Thomas Krief (FRA), 86.60; 4. David Wise (USA), 85.20; 5. Jaxin Hoerter (USA), 84.80. Also: 8. Hunter Hess (USA), 74.40; … 10. Cameron Brodrick (USA), 61.80; … 12. Cassidy Jarrell (USA), 58.60.
Men’s Halfpipe Final Standings: 1. Simon d’Artois (CAN), 256; 2. Nico Porteous (NZL), 225; 3. David Wise (USA), 210; 4. Hunter Hess (USA), 178; 5. Thomas Krief (FRA), 164.
Men’s Slopestyle: 1. Mac Forehand (USA), 90.95; 2. Ferdinand Dahl (NOR), 86.05; 3. Kiernan Fagan (USA), 85.20; 4. Teal Harle (CAN), 83.95; 5. Max Moffatt (CAN), 82.05. Also: 6. Nick Goepper (USA), 80.85; … 10. Colby Stevenson (USA), 66.15; … 16. Peter Raich (USA), 32.40.
Women’s Halfpipe: 1. Cassie Sharpe (CAN), 95.60; 2. Kelly Sildaru (EST), 87.40; 3. Kexin Zhang (CHN), 82.20; 4. Rachael Karker (CAN), 79.40; 5. Zoe Atkin (GBR), 73.80. Also: 6. Brita Sigourney (USA), 68.40.
Women’s Halfpipe Final Standings: 1. Cassie Sharpe (CAN), 280; 2. Rachael Karker (CAN), 260; 3. Kexin Zhang (CHN), 256; 4. Kelly Sildaru (EST), 180; 5. Fanghui Li (CAN), 156.
Women’s Slopestyle: 1. Mathilde Gremaud (SUI), 86.65; 2. Johanne Killi (NOR), 79.15; 3. Megan Oldham (CAN), 76.15; 4. Sarah Hoefflin (SUI), 75.75; 5. Julia Krass (USA), 64.70. Also: 6. Taylor Lundquist (USA), 61.80.
