<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Day one of competition at an action-packed weekend in Copper Mountain closed out on a frigid Friday afternoon with halfpipe finals at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix, where Queralt Castellet of Spain won her first World Cup competition in almost three years, and Australia’s Scotty James was near-perfect on his way to locking down one of the all-time highest scores in World Cup history.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While afternoon temperatures dipping down to nearly -20c had competitors and fans alike fighting to stay warm in Summit County, sunny skies, low winds and an immaculate Copper pipe meant that Friday’s competition was a thrilling and progressive opener to the 2022/23 FIS Snowboard halfpipe World Cup season.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CASTELLET'S STRONG FIRST RUN WITHSTANDS ALL CHALLENGES</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the women’s competition the veteran Castellet was dropping in against a field in which two of the riders on the startlist hadn’t even been born when she made her first World Cup appearance back in the 2005/06 season. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Still, 18 years and 59 starts into her World Cup career, Castellet on Friday proved once again that age ain’t nothing but a number and that progression never needs to end, dropping in on an exceptional first run that would give her a seventh World Cup victory.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Starting with a technical switch backside 540 weddle, Castellet would then stomp a switch frontside 720 stalefish, into a frontside 540 weddle, then a backside 900 weddle, and finally a frontside 720 melon to cap things off, giving her a score of 89.75, the win, and the yellow World Cup leader’s bib to start the season.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I’m freezing, but I’m warm inside,” Castellet said from the finish area, waiting for her coach to bring her jacket down from the top of the pipe, “I feel so good. The idea today was to build from the first run and unfortunately today I couldn’t really put it down in my second and third. But it’s the same game for everybody and I’m pleased that I put a really good and solid run in the first run that gave me the points to win the comp. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“It’s been awesome riding here. The pipe’s amazing and the vibe here from the first day has been incredible. It’s just a perfect start to the winter.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Second place behind Castellet was rising Canadian star Elizabeth Hosking, who earned her first career World Cup podium and the first snowboard halfpipe podium for a Canadian woman in almost 13 years. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Leading things off with a frontside 540 indy, Hosking would then go backside 540 weddle, frontside 720 stalefish, Haakonflip 720 weddle, nose grab straight air, and finally a frontside alley-oop 540 indy to finish things off just one point back of Castellet with a score of 88.75. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Finally, 85.00 points and third place for the women would belong to Mitsuki Ono, who’s run began with a straight air indy, into a frontside 900 tail grab, and then a backside 540 weddle, frontside 720 indy, and finally a switch frontside 720 weddle.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>JAMES HITS NEW HEIGHTS WITH 99.00 POINT SECOND RUN</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Over on the men’s side of things we were witness to something truly special on Friday afternoon, as Scotty James put together what were two of the finest runs of his already incredible career, with the second of those runs earning him a simply unheard of 99.00 point score.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There has been one perfect 100 score awarded in FIS history, given somewhat controversially to Shaun White (USA) at the Aspen Snowmass World Cup back in 2018. James finished second behind White in that competition five years ago, and on Friday here in Copper he all but replicated White’s brush with “perfection” with a run that was surely one of the greatest ever seen in World Cup competition. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dropping switch, James started his run off with a switch McTwist Japan, straight into a cab 1440 stalefish, then a frontside 1080 tail grab, a cab 900 indy, and finally a switch backside double cork 1260 indy - all done with massive amplitude, perfect control, and clinical execution, spinning all four ways in his run and locking in a different grab on every hit. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was - essentially - perfect.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Definitely the highest score I’ve got in my life,” James smiled from the finish area after his victory lap, “And I’m not going to lie, probably one of the most satisfying runs I’ve ever done in my life. We’ve worked pretty hard on the switch McTwist, and I have to say I feel like I’ve got some soul back. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“The progression is so rapid these days, and I’m really happy to be a part of that, but I wanted to make some new additions with some creativity (to my run), and as we say as snowboarders, get the soul back. So I felt that in the first hit, and then after that I was able to just have good momentum, and I’m absolutely thrilled.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As it was for Castellet, the win was the seventh of James’s World Cup career and, somewhat surprisingly, his first World Cup win in nearly three years, as well. However, if he continues at anywhere near the level he showcased on Friday in Copper, there could be several more to come through the 2022/23 campaign. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Slightly overshadowed by James’ 99.00-pointer was an incredible performance from Jan Scherrer, as the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games bronze medallist finished up just a few points back of his silver-medal winning friendly rival.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Scherrer’s runs have become some of the most creative in halfpipe riding over the past few season, and his best run on Friday was no exception. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Starting things off with an extremely rare backside 900 double shifty, Sherrer then went frontside double cork 1440 indy, cab double 1080 weddle, frontside double 1260 indy, and finally his signature frontside alley-oop 900 nose grab to cap things off for a score of 96.75 and his sixth World Cup podium. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Finally, third place would belong to Kaishu Hirano, as the younger brother of Beijing 2022 gold medallist Ayumu earned the first World Cup podium of his career with an electric first run. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With a frontside double cork 1080 indy, switch frontside double 1080 weddle, frontside double 1260 indy, backside double 1260 weddle, and finally finishing off with a frontside 900 weddle for his lone non-dub of his run, Hirano would earn a score of 88.25 to add yet another name to the long list of Japanese halfpipe threats.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With halfpipe competition at Copper a wrap we now turn our attention to big air, where the third of four World Cups slated to take place in the 2022/23 will go down on Saturday, beginning at 10:00 MST.</div><div><br /></div>