Silvaplana set to welcome snowboarders for first time at slopestyle World Cup finals

Kleveland running four-straight podium streak heading into Silvaplana

After starting the season with so few FIS points that he was on the startlist as an alternate for the Kreischberg big air, Marcus Kleveland has since caught fire, earning third place at the Laax Open slopestyle, X Games big air gold, slopestyle gold and big air bronze at Aspen 2021, and then finishing off his latest two week stint in Aspen with another slopestyle win in the World Cup competition there.

Kleveland is the hottest rider in snowboard and, as mentioned above, the 21 year-old now sits atop atop the slopestyle World Cup rankings and second in the Park & Pipe overall standings with 160 points, and he has a very real chance of capturing both globes this weekend.

There are, however, a handful of riders on hand in Silvaplana who could make that feat difficult for him.

Canada’s Max Parrot stands atop that list, as the 26 year-old is just 10 points back of Kleveland – and would likely be atop the World Cup points list had he not been forced to drop out of the Laax Open due to covid-19 protocol concerns. With a win at the Kreischberg big air World Cup, Aspen 2021 big air world champs silver, and a fourth-place at last weekend’s Aspen slopestyle World Cup, Parrot will be hard for anybody to beat if he can put one down clean on Sunday.

Laax Open winner Niklas Mattsson of Sweden is another 10 points back of Parrot, and while he was feeling the effects of a nagging injury and didn’t competing in the World Championships slopestyle competition, he was back in the bib for the World Cup there in Aspen, although he did finish a disappointing 39th.

Other riders on hand in Silvaplana with a shot of catching Kleveland include Sven Thorgren (SWE), Hiraoki Kunitake (JPN), Rene Rinnekangas (FIN) and Leon Vockensperger (GER), although the further you get down that list the lower the points and the less the chances.

The globes are just one part of the story here in Silvaplana though, as there’s a whole slew of riders with no chance at the titles who most definitely have a chance of taking the win on Sunday.

The US team is coming in heavy with Dusty Henricksen, Judd Henkes, Chris Corning, Brock Crouch, Luke Winkelmann and Lyon Farrell all making the trip across the pond, while Japan’s Kunitake will be joined by his teammates Ruki Tobita, Kaito Hamada, and Takeru Otsuka, and Canada will see Sebastien Toutant and Liam Brearley joining Parrot.

Although Mark McMorris is also on the startlist for Canada, it seems a longshot that he’ll make it to Switzerland from Alaska, where he’s slated to drop in on the last stop of the Natural Selection tour.

Finally, watch out for the host Swiss team, with Nicolas Huber, Moritz’s Boll and Thonen, and Jonas Boesiger all looking to finish the season off strong on home soil.

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