The FIS Snowboarding World Cup Season Is Underway In Cardrona, New Zealand

Who doesn't love when the competition season starts? This weekend marked the beginning of International Ski & Snowboard Federation World Cup season with a big air event having taken place at Cardrona, New Zealand.

This season opener sees a couple of names that are very familiar to the American fans, both of which took the one and two spots, with third place being taken by Finnish athlete Kalle Jarvilehto.

Jarvilehto was light on his first two jumps, with the second jump scoring only a 30.75. However, for the third and final jump, he went hard and quite big throwing down a triple-cork 1440 for a score of 90.75, which would lead to his placing third. The final jump was not only big and technically difficult, but he also made the landing look ultra-smooth and almost effortless.


For the second-place spot on the podium, a man who has seen his share, and likely the shares of others, of podiums, championships, and medals. A favorite of American fans, Red Gerard was able to get pull out just far enough ahead of Jarvilehto to secure second place. His final jump, also a triple-cork 1440 though adding the style of a backside shifty, pushed him from fourth to second place with a 161.25 final score to Jarvilehto's 160.25.


While those two were setting themselves up for the podium, the winner of this event, Chris Corning, was dominating the event almost from the moment he stepped onto the snow. Though in first from the get-go, his exclamation point for the win came after his second jump, throwing down a signature quad-cork 1800. This trick, almost too big believe, was first successfully completed by Corning himself at this same venue just about a year ago, which also secured him a win.


Hopefully, this is the level of competition we have to look forward to for this big air season, one of the most exciting of all the snowboard disciplines. Congratulations to these three and here's to hoping that each of them continues on to a great season.

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