SNOWBOARD: Gerard wins weather-challenged Mammoth Slopestyle, but Corning takes the seasonal title

American Olympic Snowboarder Chris Corning

The final FIS World Cup competition in Halfpipe and Slopestyle at Mammoth Mountain in California was plagued by heavy weather, but there was just enough of a break to settle three of the four season titles at stake in Halfpipe and Slopestyle.

American Red Gerard hadn’t competed in a World Cup all season, after winning the Olympic title in PyeongChang last year. But both of his runs were medal-worthy: he was second after a first run of 81.10, then overcame teammate Judd Henkes (83.95) with his second ride of 85.10 that proved to be the winner.

“We’ve had some pretty bad weather here in Mammoth so I’m just really psyched we got the contest done and people got to ride and they didn’t have to cancel the finals,” said Gerard “It was awesome for me. The last couple weeks have been insane and I couldn’t ask for any better. I’m psyched up for sure. It’s been fun.”

Chris Corning of the U.S. finished fifth, but that was enough to give him the season title, 2,250-1,700 over Henkes.

“It was definitely one of the goals today, to come here and walk away with the globe, so that’s pretty sweet,” said Corning. “These guys all rode really well today, the course was probably the best it’s been all week, so it was fun to ride today.”

In the Halfpipe events, Yuko Totsuka (JPN) and Xuetong Cai (CHN) both won and took the season titles.

The women’s Slopestyle was canceled due to the weather in Mammoth, so Miyabi Onitsuka (JPN) was declared the seasonal winner.

In Scuol (SUI), the final Parallel Giant Slalom of the season was held, with Russian Andrey Sobolov defeating teammate Dmitry Loginov in the men’s final and Milena Bykova (RUS) edging Czech star Ester Ledecka in the women’s final.

Even though she spent much of the season on the Alpine World Cup, Ledecka re-engaged and won the season title. “For sure this year has been tough, because I decided to go to the Alpine Ski world championships and so I had to miss some races at the start of the year,” Ledecka said. “But in the end it paid off. I’m happy that I was able to make podiums at every race this season and I think I showed that I’m one of the best snowboarders in the world.”

It’s Ledecka’s third seasonal title in the Parallel Giant Slalom. Summaries:

FIS Snowboard World Cup
Mammoth Mountain, California (USA) ~ 6-9 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s Halfpipe: 1. Yuko Totsuka (JPN), 95.75; 2. Patrick Burgener (SUI), 91.75; 3. Derek Livingston (CAN), 86.00; 4. Chase Josey (USA), 83.75; 5. Ryan Wachendorfer (USA), 83.50. Also: 9. Jason Wolle (USA), 67.35; 10. Louie Vito (USA), 63.50; … 14. Taylor Gold (USA), 28.50; 15. Lucas Foster (USA), 25.75; 16. Chase Blackwell (USA), 18.75.

Men’s Halfpipe Final Standings: 1. Yuto Totsuka (JPN), 3,760; 2. Ruka Hirano (JPN), 2.410; 3. Jan Scherrer (SUI), 2,240; 4. Patrick Burgener (SUI), 2,020; 5. Scotty James (AUS), 2,000.

Men’s Slopestyle: 1. Red Gerard (USA), 85.10; 2. Judd Henkes (USA), 83.95; 3. Ruki Tobita (JPN), 80.50; 4. Niek van den Velden (NED), 79.90; 5. Chris Corning (USA), 78.60. Also: 6. Charles Guldemond (USA), 76.45; … 9. Ryan Stassel (USA), 73.55.

Men’s Slopestyle Final Standings: 1. Chris Corning (USA), 2.250; 2. Judd Henkes (USA), 1,700; 3. Lyon Farrell (USA), 1,627; 4. Ryan Stassel (USA), 1,590; 5. Takeru Oysuka (JPN), 1,500.

Women’s Halfpipe: 1. Xuetong Cai (CHN), 89.25; 2. Sena Tomita (JPN), 85.25; 3. Verena Rohrer (SUI), 77.00; 4. Mirabelle Thovex (FRA), 66.75; 5. Elizabeth Hosking (CAN), 62.00.

Women’s Halfpipe Final Standings: 1. Xuetong Cai (CHN), 3,900; 2. Queralt Castellet (ESP), 2,520; 3. Verena Rohrer (SUI), 2,410; 4. Chloe Kim (USA), 2,000; 5. Kurumi Imai (JPN), 19.60.

Women’s Slopestyle: Canceled.

Women’s Slopestyle Final Standings: 1. Miyabi Onitsuka (JPN), 2,000; 2. Reira Iwabuchi (JPN), 1,700; 3. Isabel Derungs (SUI), 1,680; 4. Silje Norendal (NOR), 1,600; 5. Sina Candrian (SUI), 1,600.

FIS Snowboard World Cup
Scuol (SUI) ~ 9 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom/ Big Final: 1. Andrey Sobolev (RUS); 2. Dmitry Loginov (RUS). Small Final: 3. Dario Caviezel (SUI); 4. Dmitry Sarsembaev (BLR).

Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom Final Standings: 1. Tim Matsnak (SLO), 3,336; 2. Andreas Prommegger (AUT), 3,070; 3. Ronald Fischnaller (ITA), 2,709.4; 4. Andrey Sobolev (RUS), 2,635; 5. Edwin Coratti (ITA), 2,350.

Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom/ Big Final: 1. Milena Bykova (RUS); 2. Ester Ledecka (CZE); Small Final: 3. Cheyenne Loch (GER); 4. Natalia Soboleva (RUS).

Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom Final Standings: 1. Ester Ledecka (CZE), 5,000; 2. Selina Joerg (GER), 3,419.7; 3. Ramona Hofmeister (GER), 3,258.2; 4. Nadya Ochner (ITA), 3,230; 5. Sabine Schoeffmann (AUT), 3,190.