Perathoner perfect at Steamboat World Cup finale

Steamboat (USA) hosted two Banked Slaloms to conclude the FIS Para Snowboard World Cup season on February 9th and 10th.

Emanuel Perathoner made it six wins out of six for the season in Lower Limb 2 Banked Slalom in Colorado. The Italian defeated Joe Pleban (USA) in Monday’s final before getting the better of Fabrice von Gruenigen (SUI) – who was third on Monday - to take maximum points on Tuesday. Zach Miller won the second small final to round out the podium.

Perathoner won nine races out of 10 throughout the whole season with the only blemish coming in last week’s first Big White (CAN) Snowboard Cross final which was won by von Gruenigen. The two-time Winter Olympian is an overwhelming favourite for double gold on his Paralympic debut on home snow at Milano Cortina next month.

In women’s Lower Limb competition, Lisa Bunschoten-Vos returned to action in style after injury. The Dutchwoman fractured the top of her shin bone in training in December, but beat overall Crystal Globe winner Kate Delson (USA) in finals on both days. Just six-tenths of a second separated the pair on Tuesday.

With Cecile Hernandez (FRA) absent, Delson was already assured of a full set of series titles, but 30-year-old Bunschoten-Vos showed she will be a big threat at next month’s Paralympics.

Brenna Huckaby Clegg (USA) and Nina Sparks (GBR) contested the small finals on both days. Clegg won the first, but Sparks exacted revenge on Tuesday for her first podium finish since March 2024.

Elliott just misses out on Slalom sweep

In men’s Lower Limb 1, Noah Elliott (USA) almost matched Perathoner’s perfect campaign in Banked Slalom. Having already clinched all three Crystal Globes at Big White, the 28-year-old beat teammate Mike Schultz by just over a second in Monday’s final to make it five wins out of five. Chris Vos (NED), the husband of Lisa Bunschoten-Vos, beat Bruno Bosnjak (CRO) in the small final for third.

But on Tuesday, ‘Monster Mike’ edged out his younger compatriot by 0.23 to end Elliott’s Banked Slalom win streak. Vos again beat Bosnjak to round out the podium.

There were no women’s Upper Limb races at Steamboat, but Aron Fahrni (SUI) and Jacopo Luchini (ITA) shared the spoils in men’s Upper Limb action. Luchini pipped his Swiss rival by just 0.13 in Monday’s final with another Italian, Ricardo Cardani, taking third.

That result saw Fahrni complete a full set of Crystal Globes for the season, and he celebrated by reversing the placings in Tuesday’s final. The 27-year-old won by just over half a second to claim his third Banked Slalom win of the season and a full set of Crystal Globes. Cardani again bested Dean van Kooij (NED) in the small final to secure third.

Fahrni admitted that he had surprised himself by winning all three Globes, crediting his improvement and "a bit of luck".

"Winning the overall ranking is an honour for me and shows we work well as a team and that we're doing a lot of things right," he added. "It also confirms my approach of taking the races as relaxed as possible and not attaching too much importance to them.

"These results show that I don‘t have to change anything for the Paralympics and that I can look forward to the Games. How the results are going to be is written in the stars. I hope that we can showcase our beloved sport in the best possible way and deliver interesting competitions."

Para Snowboard at Milano Cortina 2026 gets underway with Snowboard Cross seeding runs on March 7. The finals take place the following day, with Banked Slalom on March 14.