Hoefflin and Ragettli sweep slopestyle globes for the Swiss
Mar 14, 2020·Freeski Park & Pipe
On Friday it was announced that the FIS Freeski Slopestyle World Cup finals in Silvaplana (SUI) would be cancelled due to the ongoing Novel Coronavirus pandemic that has effected travel and public gatherings around the world, and with that announcement the 2019/20 FIS Freeski World Cup season has drawn to a close.
While ending the season on such a note is unfortunate, there are plenty of positives to take away from the 2019/20 slopestyle campaign, which saw consistently next-level skiing go down at competitions in Font Romeu (FRA), Seiser Alm (ITA), Mammoth Mountain (USA) and Calgary (CAN), from which the Swiss pair of Sarah Hoefflin and Andri Ragettli walked away with the crystal globes as the season’s top skiers.
So with the final standings in officially in the books, let’s take a look back at the season that was…
Hoefflin becomes first women with two slopestyle crystal globes
While she would be forced to miss what ended up being the season’s final slopestyle competition in Calgary, Sarah Hoefflin still did enough through the first three competitions of the season to walk away with the women’s 2019/20 FIS Freeski Slopestyle World Cup crystal globe, making a little history by becoming the first women ever to win the trophy twice.
Hoefflin started things off with a third-place result at the season-opener in Font Romeu, before faltering somewhat (by her lofty standards, at least) with an eighth-place finish in Seiser Alm.
However, the reigning Olympic champion and four-time X Games medallist rebounded in a big way in Mammoth Mountain, taking the third World Cup victory of her career and bumping herself up to 192 points on the season.
That number would prove to be enough to earn Hoefflin her second globe in four seasons, making her the sole member of the multi-globe club in the women’s slopestyle world despite the fact that she was forced to sit out the Calgary competition after breaking her arm in training at Dew Tour.
"I'm over the moon to win my second globe," Hoefflin told FIS, "Though this is obviously not the way in which I would have hoped to have won it, but I understand the decision to cancel the final event given the circumstances. My heart goes out to all those who are being affected around the world.
Second overall on the season went to 18-year-old Marin Hamill of the USA, who made a huge leap forward in what was her fourth season of World Cup competition. Hamill’s previous best end-of-season ranking was 18th overall, and though she has yet to score her first World Cup podium, her four top-10 finishes in 2019/20 (including fourth at Font Romeu) was enough to give her 161 points and the season’s silver medal.
Third overall went to Norway’s Johanne Killi, who would have had a good shot at catching Hoefflin had she one more competition to her credit. While Killi sat at the Mammoth Mountain World Cup, she earned a second-place finish in Seiser Alm and was just off the podium in fourth in Calgary, and finished the season with 154 points to land in the slopestyle overall top-3 for the fourth time in her career.
Worth noting is that Killi’s podium in Seiser Alm was the eighth of her career, moving her into a tie with compatriot Tiril Sjaastad Christiansen for the most women’s slopestyle World Cup podiums.
Ragettli continues to set new standards with third career slopestyle globe
Over on the men’s side of things, Andri Ragettli once again showed why, at just 21 years old, he’s the most decorated freeskier in World Cup history, as he ended the season with 265 points and his third slopestyle crystal globe in the past five seasons.
Ragettli finished the season off with back-to-back victories in Mammoth and Calgary to add to his career totals, taking him up to six career victories and 12 total podiums - both of which are tops all-time amongst slopestyle skiers (though he is tied at six wins with women’s all-time leader Sjaastad Christiansen). When added together with his big air podiums, Ragettli now has 19 World Cup podiums - the most of any freeskier in World Cup competition.
Further, Ragettli’s third slopestyle globe puts him head and shoulders above the rest of world, with no other skier having more than one of the season’s top trophy to their credit. Combined with the big air globe that he won last season, Ragettli’s four career crystal globes now put him ahead of Kevin Rolland and Virginie Faivre (who have three each) for the most all-time by a freeskier.
But if you think Ragettli is satisfied with his accomplishments thus far, think again.
“It feels amazing to win the globe again this season,” Ragettli said via DM, “It’s always one of my goals for the season to win the overall on the World Cup. If you win the globe it’s always a great season. It feels crazy that it’s already my fourth globe, but I’m still hunting for more. Next season I want to win the globe in both big air and slopestyle.”
Should he accomplish that goal, it would be another milestone for Ragettli, as no other skier has accomplished the feat.
Second overall on the men’s rankings with 220 points was Colby Stevenson of the USA, who earned podiums in three of three slopestyle events entered in 2019/20, taking third place in Seiser Alm and finishing runner-up to Ragettli in both Mammoth and Calgary.
With the second-overall finish on this season’s World Cup and gold in both slopestyle and the knucklehuck at the 2020 X Games in Aspen, Stevenson clearly established himself as one of the world’s very best in 2019/20 - with his feats becoming even more impressive when you consider that a traumatic brain injury in 2016 very nearly ended his skiing career.
Finally, rounding out the men’s slopestyle World Cup season podium with 199 points and the bronze medal was Ragettli’s Swiss countryman Fabian Boesch. While he’s still searching for his first World Cup win, the two-time world champion earned his best-ever end of season ranking in 2019/20 on the strength of a second place finish in Seiser Alm and top-five results in both Font Romeu and Mammoth.
And with that, we’re signing off until next season. Here’s hoping for the best for the health and wellness of all our fans around the world, and thanks for following along this FIS Freeski Slopestyle World Cup season!
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