Voss-Myrkdalen big air weekend to close out 2016/17 World Cup season
Aug 31, 2018·Freeski Park & Pipe
Voss-Myrkdalen, NOR - The final competitions of the 2016/17 FIS Freestyle skiing World Cup season are slated to take to the air Norwegian skies of Voss’s Myrkdalen resort this weekend, with a pair of big air contests lined up for Friday and Saturday.
Most famously the host of the 2013 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships, Voss has been an exceptional host for freestyle skiing action dating all the way back to 1986, and the excellent jump set-up for this weekend’s competitions promises to turn the 2016/17 season-ender into one more feather in the resort’s cap.
Qualifications for the first of the two Voss big air’s took place on Thursday, where Emma Dahlstrom (SWE) lead the way for the small ladies’ field with a score of 86.60, and Norway’s own Eirik Sateroy took top spot in the men’s ranking round with a 91.60. Qualifications for Saturday’s competition will take place that morning before the event.
As 2016/17 marks the first season FIS Freestyle has run a complete big air World Cup schedule - including the three-stop big air Super Series that wrapped up in February in Quebec City (CAN) - this weekend we will see the first-ever freeski big air crystal globes awarded.
Coming into Voss it’s a pair of Swedes on top of the rankings, with Emma Dahlstrom’s 253 points placing her on top for the ladies, and Henrik Harlaut sitting well out in front on the men’s leaderboard with 309 points.
While Dahlstrom is ahead of second-overall Mathilde Gremaud (SUI) by less than 30 points, the only skier she really has to look out for this weekend is Silvia Bertagna (ITA), who, with 200 points, is 53 off of Dahlstrom’s pace. However, with just a handful of ladies competing in Norway, the opportunity for a dramatic last-minute reshuffle in the race for the globe is very real.
With the Swiss team and their skiers Kai Mahler, Luca Schuler, and Andri Ragettli - ranked 2-4 respectively on the men’s big air leaderboard - not in attendance for this weekend’s World Cup finals, Harlaut is sitting in a fairly comfortable position, needing just 44 points over the course of the weekend to put himself safely clear of Oystein Braaten (NOR), who currently holds 152 points and fifth place on the rankings.
And, although it is highly unlikely that he should accomplish the feat, top qualifier Sateroy and his 125 points also sits within mathematical striking distance of Harlaut. While it is nearly impossible that Sateroy should be able to make the jump to top spot, there’s a good opportunity for the 19-year-old to make his way onto the top three of the season this weekend with a strong showing, and possible earn himself a silver or a bronze season medal in the process.
Friday’s competition in Voss-Myrkdalen gets underway at 17:00 CET, while qualifications for Saturday’s event begin at 12:30, followed by the final competition of the 2016/17 World Cup season at 15:00.
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