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> News > Guseli Makes History in Mammoth

snowboarding News

Guseli Makes History in Mammoth

Mammoth Mountain halfpipe World Cup training day one. Image credit: / Buchholz / @fissnowboard

06 February 2023

Snowboard competition at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain (USA) wrapped on Saturday, where Japan’s Mitsuki Ono and Ruka Hirano earned wins in a highly entertaining halfpipe competition, and where the USA’s own Julia Marino and Dusty Henricksen were awarded the slopestyle victories based on their qualification scores after slopestyle finals were cancelled due to the wind.

On top of the big successes for the Japanese and U.S. teams, we also saw a history-making day for Valentino Guseli of Australia, who became the first snowboarder to complete the World Cup podium hat trick in a single season. More on that later.

Halfpipe competition dropped in at 9:30 PST in Mammoth in ideal conditions, with warm temps, sunny skies, and next to no winds. While those winds would increase throughout the morning, they stayed well within the bounds of holding a fair and safe competition.

ONO MAKES IT BACK-TO-BACK WINS

Already coming into Mammoth the World Cup leader after winning the first World Cup of her career two weeks ago in Laax, Ono stepped her game up once again on Saturday in Mammoth, attacking the pipe with a first run that would stand as the winner once all was said and done.

Opening things up on her winning run with a big switch frontside 720 weddle, Ono would then go frontside 900 tail grab, into a backside 540 weddle, then a frontside 720 indy, and finally a huge switch frontside 900 weddle to finish things off for a score of 90.75 for her second career World Cup victory, hot on the heels of her first.

“It was difficult conditions today because of the wind,” Ono said just before the awards ceremony, “But I’m very happy to land my first run with my cab 900. So stoked to land that. And the Japanese team was really strong today. Ruka’s riding was really cool. I’m so happy.”

Second place with a score of 86.75 for the women for the second year in a row went to the veteran Cai Xuetong of China - the 30th World Cup podium of her incredible career.

The 29-year-old Cai lead off her second run with a huge method, before going frontside 900 truck driver, backside 540 weddle, air to fakie melon, cab 720 tail grab, and finally a super stylish alley-oop backside rodeo 540 to finish things off.

Rounding out the podium in third with a score of 82.00 was the USA’s own Maddie Mastro, who earned the 10th top-3 of her World Cup career in a third and final run that started with a big frontside 900 indy, into a backside 540 weddle, then a frontside 720 indy, a Haakonflip melon, her signature double crippler indy, and finally a big ol’ method to finish things off.

Now with two wins and a second-place finish so far in 2022/23, Ono has a a stranglehold atop the women’s halfpipe World Cup leaderboard, with 280 points to Queralt Castellet’s 179 - an 80 point lead with just one competition left to go, next week in Calgary.

HIRANO MATCHES TEAMMATE ONO FOR SECOND WIN THESE SEASON

A big day for the Japanese team continued in the men’s competition, where Ruka Hirano put down an exceptional second run to match his teammate Ono and claim back-to-back World Cup wins after also taking top spot in Laax.

Hirano’s 91.50-scoring winning run started off with a big switch backside double cork 1080 weddle, into a backside 900 weddle, then a massive frontside double cork 1440, a switch frontside double cork 900 indy, a frontside 1260 indy, and finally a stylish alley-oop frontside 540 melon to wrap it up.

The win was the fourth of the 20-year-old’s career, and moved him ahead of Scotty James on the World Cup halfpipe rankings, giving him 214 points to James’ 180.

Second place in a history-making performance was Australia’s Valentino Guseli, as the 17-year-old earned the the first halfpipe podium of his World Cup career to become just the fourth rider ever to podium in all three of the Park & Pipe World Cup events - slopestyle, big air and halfpipe.

Guseli’s first run began with the massive switch method that has been his signature this season, before going switch frontside 1080 indy, then a frontside 1260 tail grab, a backside 900 weddle, and finally a near-perfect frontside 1440 tail grab to cap it off for a score of 86.25 and the first of what should be many halfpipe top-3s.

Guseli wasn’t done for the day with just the halfpipe podium, but we’ll get to that in slopestyle section.

Finishing in third place for the first World Cup podium of his career was the host U.S. team’s Chase Blackwell, who stomped a storming second run.

Leading off with a switch backside 720 Japan, Blackwell would continue into a backside 900 weddle, then a frontside double cork 1080 weddle, a cab double cork 1080 weddle, and finally a frontside double cork 1260 weddle - all with huge amplitude - for a score of 84.00 and his first taste of the World Cup TOP-3.

MARINO AND HENRICKSEN TAKE WINS, GUSELI MAKES HISTORY

As halfpipe competition at Mammoth was winding down, the winds at Mammoth were winding up, and ultimately slopestyle finals would be cancelled as it was deemed too unsafe to continue on course.

Qualification results would then stand as final results, giving the USA’s Julia Marino and Dusty Henricksen the victories on home soil - both well-deserved results for the standout riders from qualies.

The cancellation of finals also meant that Valentino Guseli would finish in second place at the Mammoth Mountain slopestyle and thus become a singular figure in FIS Snowboard World Cup history.

With his big air win in Edmonton back in December, his second-place finish from earlier in the day at Mammoth in halfpipe, and his second-place finish based on Wednesday’s Mammoth slopestyle results in slopestyle, Guseli on Saturday became the first rider in FIS Snowboard World Cup history to earn podiums in all three Park & Pipe events in one season.

In an era of competitive snowboarding that is the most ruthlessly technical and high-stakes that it has ever been, the capability to excel at just big air and slopestyle in the same season is out of reach for the majority of riders on the contest circuit.

To not only compete, week-in and week-out, in big air, slopestyle and halfpipe, and also to be among the upper echelon of snowboarders in all three of those events, earn podiums in those events, and do it in the same season - it’s nearly unfathomable.

However, for those of us who are lucky enough to witness Guseli’s relentless enthusiasm for snowboarding and boundless energy on a daily basis, his latest achievement has been nothing if not inevitable.

It was destined to happen, it did happen, and now the young Australian stands alone with a feat that may never be matched.

“I’m just super hyped to have landed my tricks this week and got some pretty good results,” Guseli said before slopestyle awards, downplaying his history-making week, “It’s a little bit unfortunate we didn’t get to have at it today in slopestyle, but I’m happy pipe ran and I’m happy with my riding.”

Pushed to consider all the great riders who had come before him and not accomplished what he’s done this season, Guseli dove into it a little further.

“Wow. I guess I’m not really feeling it too much yet, but I’m honoured. I’m so hyped. I just want to keep pushing - for podiums, wins, records…I guess (laughing). But really I just want to keep loving my life and snowboarding and hanging out with awesome people and being in awesome situations like this one.”

In third place behind Guseli on the men’s side of things was Chris Corning (USA), for his first slopestyle podium in almost two years. Meanwhile, the women’s podium was rounded out by Reira Iwbuchi (JPN) in second, and Annika Morgan (GER) in third.

With the win, Henricksen takes over the men’s slopestyle World Cup lead, while Iwabuchi maintains her lead on the women’s side of things.

Valentino Guseli, already the big air crystal globe winner this season, sits second on the slopestyle rankings, third in the halfpipe rankings and in a commanding lead atop the FIS Snowboard Park & Pipe overall rankings.

Watch this space.