Mammoth Lakes, CA – The 2017 Toyota U.S. Grand Prix tour concludes this week at one of the nation’s premier ski and snowboard resorts, Mammoth Mountain in California. The Grand Prix will serve as the first 2018 U.S. Olympic team qualifier for both halfpipe and slopestyle.
Recently recording the snowiest January on record, Mammoth Mountain is prepped and ready to host the world’s elite skiers and snowboarders. No stranger to top-level winter sports athletes, Mammoth has long served as a training ground for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association’s top athletes, providing a world-class halfpipe, slopestyle and big air venue for America’s best snowboarders and skiers, as well as hosting Project Gold development camps that take place each May.
In addition to serving as the very first qualifier for the 2018 U.S. Olympic team, the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth will serve as a World Cup event, offering skiers and snowboarders valuable FIS points. Snowboarders will also earn points towards the World Snowboard Tour (WST) rankings, while skiers will earn points towards the Association of Freeskiing Professionals (AFP) Tour.
In the halfpipe, watch for competitive performances from recent X Games bronze medalists Chloe Kim (Torrance, Calif.) and Taylor Gold (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and Olympic ski gold medalists Maddie Bowman (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) and David Wise (Reno, Nev.). Snowboarder Elena Hight will also be looking to continue her success after winning gold in the X Games pipe, as well Chase Josey following his victory in Laax where Kim won for the ladies.
It’s a stacked field in slopestyle, where 2016 snowboarding winner and local boy Brandon Davis (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) and 2015 winner Hailey Langland (San Clemente, Calif.) will face off against a hungry field including back-to-back World Cup winner Enni Rukajarvi of Finland, the odds-on favorite for a win in Mammoth after emerging victorious from both Laax and Seiser Alm. Rukajarvi will still need to contend with Julia Marino (Westport, Conn.) and Jamie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.), the top two X Games medalists. Meanwhile, 2014 Olympic medalists Joss Christensen (Park City, Utah) and Devin Logan (West Dover, Vt.) will vie for podiums for the American skiers.
Following a strong showing at X Games in Aspen, Freestyle Canada will send a delegation of 24 slopestyle and halfpipe skiers to Mammoth. Noah Bowman (halfpipe) and Alex Beaulieu-Marchand (slopestyle) each earned a bronze medal in Aspen. Kaya Turski, a seven-time X Games medalist from Montreal, is also back in competition after two years off due to injury.
EVENT SCHEDULE
Monday, Jan. 30
Halfpipe and Slopestyle Training
Tuesday, Jan. 31
Halfpipe and Slopestyle Training
Wednesday, Feb. 1
Slopestyle Snowboarding Qualifiers
Halfpipe Freeskiing Qualifiers
Thursday, Feb. 2
Halfpipe Snowboarding Qualifiers
Slopestyle Freeskiing Qualifiers
Friday, Feb. 3
Slopestyle Snowboarding Finals
Halfpipe Freeskiing Finals
Saturday, Feb. 4
Halfpipe Snowboarding Finals
Slopestyle Freeskiing Finals