With the conclusion of Nor-Am Cup competitions in Copper Mountain at the end of March and European Cup competitions in Kitzsteinhorn and Stubai this past weekend, the 2022/23 FIS Snowboard and FIS Freeski Continental Cup season has finally drawn to a close.
You can check out European Cup season recap HERE, and read on for our Nor-Am season summary below…
For the freeskiers this season’s Nor-Am Cup saw four halfpipe, three slopestyle and one big air competition take to the slopes at some of our favourite venues, with Copper Mountain (USA) hosting twice, along with WinSport Canada Olympic Park (CAN), Aspen Snowmass (USA) and Stoneham (CAN).
The snowboard NAC circuit was even busier, hitting all of the stops listed above, as well as Sun Peaks (CAN) and Horseshoe Resort (CAN), with eight slopestyle, four halfpipe and two big air competitions all successfully completed over the course of three months of action.
As always, the top athletes on the halfpipe and the slopestyle & big air NAC leaderboards at the end of the season earned themselves personal spots on the World Cup tour for next winter, and below we’ll take a look at just who stepped up this past season and how they did it.
FREESKI
For women’s halfpipe it was Canada’s Emma Morozumi leading the way, as the 18-year-old earned a win, two 3rd-place finishes and a 4th in four starts for a total of 220 points to put her just ahead of World Cup regular Riley Jacobs of the USA. With just two full seasons of FIS competition to her name, Morozumi is looking like a bright addition to the always strong Canadian team.
For the men it was two-time reigning US National Champion Nick Geiser leading the way, also with 220 points. Geiser earned himself one victory and one runner-up finish in his 2022/23 Nor-Am campaign before going on to repeat as US National Champion two weeks ago at Copper Mountain, and the 18-year-old should be a welcome addition to the stacked US World Cup team next season.
