If the final two races of the 2022/23 FIS Alpine Snowboard World Cup season are anything like Wednesday’s dramatic giant slalom showdown on the slopes of Rogla, Slovenia, then fans are in for a treat.
The slalom finale takes place on Saturday 18 March, in Berchtesgaden, Germany, which will decide the winner of the day’s race plus conclude the overall title in both the women’s and men’s seasons, while Sunday sees the same wrapping up in the mixed team competition.
Switzerland’s Julie Zogg leads the way in both the PSL and overall standings, but the 30-year-old is shouldering the pressure of hoping to claim a sixth slalom title – fifth consecutive – come Saturday. Conversely, nerves may take effect with a first-ever big globe on the cards.
Zogg’s 309 points in the slalom is just 13 ahead of Daniela Ulbing (AUT) on 290 with Sabine Schoeffmann (AUT) third on 238.
In the overall standings, Zogg has more of a healthy advantage, however, after Wednesday’s drama in which Italy’s Roland Fischnaller made up a 90-point deficit to take the slalom small globe after the two ahead of him in the standings preceding the race – Oskar Kwiatkowski (POL) and Andreas Prommegger (AUT) – faltered, no one will be feeling safe in their positions.
Zogg is on 559 points with Ramona Theresia Hofmeister (GER) – the newly crowned giant slalom small globe winner and seeker of a fourth consecutive big globe – on 504 points. Schoeffmann and Ulbing are also both still in the running on 499 and 491 points, respectively.
The return of a certain Ester Ledecka, who knocked out Hofmeister in the quarter finals in Rogla in her first race back since claiming a second Olympic snowboard gold at Beijing 2022, will likely be a factor. The Czech Republic rider looked on fine form after returning from a lengthy injury lay-off, coming second to Schoeffmann midweek.
The rankings on the men’s overall tour, with one individual race to go, sees Maurizio Bormolini (ITA) leading the way on 452 points. Alexander Payer (AUT) and newly crowned PSL world champion Prommegger are on 433, Kwiatkowski is on 398, Fabian Obmann (AUT) is on 385, and that man Fischnaller, no doubt hoping for another miracle, on 384.
In the slalom standings, Bormolini will be hoping to revisit his early season form in order to claim the small globe. The Italian has posted a score of 266 points with one race to go, with Payer on 225, Obmann on 197 and Stefan Baumeister (GER) just two points behind on 195. Edwin Coratti (ITA,172), and Dario Caviezel (SUI) and Arvid Auner both on 171 are also still in the mix.
All have a chance of claiming bragging rights for the season in what looks like a hotly contested finale.
In the mixed team event on Sunday, Prommegger and Ulbing top the rankings for Austria on 180 points, with Gian Casanova and Ladina Jenny on 136 for Switzerland. Germany’s Stefan Baumeister and Hofmeister follow on 109, Kwiatkowski and Aleksandra Krol – who bagged a first ever World Cup parallel team podium for Poland at the first race of the season – on 92, and Caviezel and Zogg on 80.
