FIS Snowboard Alpine World Cup 2022/23 season approaches

Germany’s Hofmeister resumes rivalry with Ledecka (CZE)

Happy to be starting on home snow, defending overall parallel World Cup winner Ramona Theresia Hofmeister (GER) will be hoping for a strong start in Winterberg as she bids to secure a fourth consecutive overall title. If the 26-year-old manages the feat, she will match the achievement of history-making dual snowboard-ski athlete Ester Ledecka (CZE), who took the title between 2016 and 2019.

The Czech athlete, who stunned the world – and herself – when she won Olympic gold in both Alpine skiing (super-G) and snowboarding (parallel giant slalom) at PyeongChang 2018, defending the latter title at Beijing 2022. Ledecka will again compete in both sports this time round.

Focused on skiing last season, Ledecka took part in only two Alpine snowboard events in 2021/22, claiming first and second place. She will be favourite for any event she enters this year, and is likely to add to her two World Championship golds and one silver.

The 27-year-old may be a slow starter, however, due to ongoing recovery from surgery after breaking her collarbone in the summer. Ledecka returned to training only in mid-October, so adding to her seven Alpine snowboard World Cup titles, which also include three parallel giant slalom globes, may be a challenge.

Hofmeister, an Olympic bronze medallist at PyeongChang 2018, will also be looking for a quartet of crystal globe wins in her favoured discipline of parallel giant slalom, having claimed a third in a row in March.

Zogg striving for the summit as Ulbing and Tsubaki emerge

Switzerland’s Julie Zogg will be hoping to go one better in the overall rankings after coming second to Hofmeister last season. The veteran snowboarder, who debuted at the World Cup in December 2007, bagged her fourth consecutive – and career’s fifth – parallel slalom World Cup title following three victories in four competitions in 2021/22. It wasn’t enough to claim the grand prize, however, which she won for the only time in 2014/15.

Austria’s Daniela Ulbing, third overall in 2021/22 and silver medallist in parallel giant slalom at Beijing 2022, is also one to watch, as is the Japanese teenager, Tsubaki Miki. The 19-year-old claimed three podiums during the last campaign, the first in her four World Cup seasons, including beating Hofmeister and Zogg to top the table in the parallel slalom in Piancavallo (ITA) in March.