Tignes set for first ever snowboard slopestyle World Cup
Mar 13, 2024·Snowboard Park & Pipe
The FIS Snowboard Park & Pipe World Cup enters the homestretch this week, where the first of the season’s final two slopestyle competitions is set to hit the Tignes Mountain Shaker Festival with qualifications from the women on Thursday and the men on Friday morning, and finals for all the top athletes taking to the lengthy Tignes course on Friday afternoon at 13:15 CET.
As we reported a few weeks ago, Tignes’ last-minute ability to step up and host this week’s competition after cancellations in Mammoth Mountain (USA) and Spindleruv Mlyn (CZE) is crucial for the successful completion of a slopestyle World Cup calendar in 2023/24, as FIS rules state that there must be at least three World Cup competitions in any event in order to allow for crystal globes to be awarded at season’s end.
With all the pieces in place for a successful competition to go down here in Tignes over the coming days and the World Cup season-finale in Silvaplana (SUI) looming just over the horizon next week, we’re looking forward to handing out the crystal globe hardware after an exciting end to the 2023/24 season with these two big competitions.
This week marks the first time that the snowboard slopestyle World Cup will hit Tignes' slopes, though the resort has played host to two FIS Freeski World Cup competitions over the past two seasons, as well as the European X Games before that. With a 46 year history of hosting FIS Freestyle competitions, Tignes is one of the most historic venues on any FIS calendar, and they’re proving why yet again this week with one of their biggest competition programmes ever.
BROOKES AND MURASE HEADLINING STRONG WOMEN’S FIELD
With both slopestyle World Cup leader Julia Marino (USA) and third overall Anna Gasser (AUT) sitting this week out due to injury, most people will be looking to Mia Brookes (GBR) is the one to beat here in Tignes, as the 17-year-old reigning World Champion rolls into France with her first X Games slopestyle victory still fresh in everyone’s mind.
Though Brookes ended up eighth at the first slopestyle World Cup of the season at the Laax Open, had she been able to put her run down clean there’s a very real possibility she would have bumped Marino off the top of the podium.
Already the 2023/24 big air crystal globe winner, with a strong results this week in Tignes and next week in Silvaplana, Brookes still has a chance at adding the slopestyle globe to her heavy collection of 2023/24 hardware when all is said and done.
However, there’s a whole lot of work to be done before we can really be looking at that possibility, as a number of strong riders are ahead of Brookes on the points list and on hand here in Tignes.
Tops amongst those right now is Annika Morgan (GER), who earned a second place podium in Laax - the best result of her World Cup career. Also the second place finisher at the X Games knucklehuck back in January, Morgan is looking to be in perhaps the best form of her career this season.
While the Canadian squad lead Laurie Blouin and Jasmine Baird should definitely be a factor come finals time on Friday, the heaviest team from top to bottom, per usual, is the Japanese one.
Nineteen-year-old Kokomo Murase has established herself as one of the absolute best riders in the world this season, dropping never-been-dones left and right while racking up a mindbending collection of podiums. With wins at the Big Air Chur and Copper Mountain World Cups, as well as three podiums at the 2024 X Games, Murase is on an absolute tear this season.
However, with all that being said, Murase did finish second behind Brookes at those X Games, and watching those two go toe-to-toe once again here in Tignes should be compelling stuff.
Factor in that Reira Iwabuchi and Miyabi Onitsuka are also dropping in this week and it’s clear that expectations for more than one podium aren’t out of the question for the Japanese women’s squad.
BREARLEY LOOKING TO KEEP BREAKOUT SEASON ROLLING
For the men it’s Canada’s Liam Brearley rolling into Tignes on the hottest hot streak of his career, as the 21-year-old claimed his first World Cup victory at the Laax Open back in January, followed that up the next week with knucklehuck gold at the X Games, and then last week earned the street style win at the Dew Tour.
Brearley is firing on all cylinders right now, and the challenging Tignes slopestyle course should play right into his many strengths. Throw in the fact that Cameron Spalding and Frank Jobin are currently just behind him in third and fourth place on the slopestyle World Cup standings, respectively, and things are looking bright for the Canadians at the moment.
Sticking with the North Americans, the always-intimidating U.S. squad has a nearly-full roster of rippers on hand here in Tignes. While X Games slopestyle winner Red Gerard will not be competing here due to Natural Selection commitments, with Luke Winkelmann, Brock Crouch, Judd Henkes and Chris Corning all set for action, the USA should have a few heavy-hitters on the start list come finals time.
As with the women, for the men the Japanese are once again the strongest team from top-to-bottom - on paper, at least. With reigning big air World Champion and X Games big air winner Taiga Hasegawa, Laax Open second place finisher Ryoma Kimata, 2160-spinning Hiroto Ogiwara and silky-smooth Kira Kimura who has podiums in three out of six World Cup starts, the Japanese team’s credentials are rock solid.
However, when it comes to slopestyle competition over the past few seasons, podium results have been tough to come by for the Japanese, with Kimata’s runner-up in Laax and Hasegawa’s win at Silvaplana last season the only top-3 results for the Japanese team in the last 14 slopestyle World Cup competitions.
Others to watch out for on the men’s side of things include Valentino Guseli of Australia, who’s looking to chase down Japanese halfpipe rider Ruka Hirano and grab top spot on the FIS Snowboard Park & Pipe overall rankings before of the season finale in Silvaplana next week. Guseli failed to make finals in Laax at his last slopestyle start, meaning he should be extra motivated for a strong result this week in Tignes.
Norway’s Mons Roisland is another big dawg looking for big things this week, as the 25-year-old comes into competition with his third place finish behind Gerard and Mark McMorris at this year’s X Games still fresh in the collective consciousness.
Tiarn Collins (NZL), Ian Matteoli (ITA), Noah Vicktor (GER) and Nicolas Huber (SUI) are a few others capable of making some noise come finals time in the men’s field at the Tignes Mountain Shaker slopestyle World Cup.
We’ll have where-to-watch and livestream info for Friday’s finals for you closer to competition time.
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