The Olympic season starts with slopestyle in Stubai

Last Year

Last year followed a very similar narrative, with only enough weather window to complete qualifications in both categories to generate a result. Absent from the start list this season, Tess Ledeux started last season off by overcoming the challenging conditions to win here on the glacier. Colby Stevenson wasted no time in stomping his authority too, landing a run that was lacking in absolutely nothing: spinning all four ways, nose buttering in two directions and ripping all his grabs.

The Course

The five-feature course runs on the skiers left hand side of the monstrous Stubai Zoo line. Two jumps are quickly followed by two similar rail pads which both include up-rails, followed by gaps to down-rails. The final feature is new to Stubai—it kinks 90 degrees to the left with a wall ride/quarterpipe redirecting into a choice of down bars.

The judges—in collaboration with the riders—have decided to judge this final feature as one ‘section’. This is due to the lack of consequential tricks that will go down on the quarterpipe and the subsequent lack of speed and impetus needed to do something heavy on the following rails. This limits the availability of trick difficulty within the feature, making it somewhat inconsequential to the overall score because it will be near impossible to distinguish yourself from the rest of the pack. 

With the jumps being relatively small most of the weighting of the contest—where the riders will be able to differentiate themselves the most—comes down to the two rail pads in the middle of the course.

The first of which is high-speed and intimidating. Some riders have been struggling to manage the speed through here given there is barely time to think, let alone speedcheck between the landing of the last jump.

Almost unsurprisingly however, Alex Hall has been making light work of it. Allegedly he has been backside 360 swapping the massive gap between the up-rail and the down-rail, locking on and then continuing a blind 270 out—like only he can. The rest of the field is going to have to pull something wild out the bag to be anywhere near AHall if  he can put that down when it counts.

Who will make history?

Whatever your thoughts are on the Olympics, FIS or ski influencers for that matter—they are here to stay. And believe it or not, some people think they are pretty important. So as the sport races towards another Olympics, each World Cup carries even more weight than the last. For outsiders looking in, the desperate battle to qualify comes to its sharp end, and for medal hopefuls the arms race to develop new tricks and stay fit reaches fever pitch.

Who can peak at the right moment and write their names in the history books?

Stubai Slopestyle World Cup Schedule

Due to weather, the original schedule has been torn up many times over. With a good weather window tomorrow, men’s qualifications has been cancelled today and will run tomorrow in a double up format, with the combined rankings being used as the final result (a real treat for the judges). The women’s final will also go ahead tomorrow. The full schedule for the day will only be released after the TCM this afternoon. Check back here for updates.