Twenty Americans to Compete at 2022 Olympic Halfpipe Venue
Following halfpipe competition at the Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain, Colo., twenty Americans are headed to Secret Garden, China for the second northern hemisphere FIS Freeski and Snowboard World Cup competition of the season Dec. 19-21.
The Secret Garden halfpipe will be 2022 Olympic venue and will provide athletes with a preview for what they can expect on the world’s biggest stage. Hunter Hess is returning to compete at Secret Garden where he earned his first-ever World Cup podium with a third-place finish last season. He shared the podium with an elite group including Canadian X Games gold medalist Simon D’Artois who won the event and 2018 Olympic bronze medalist Nico Porteous who finished second.
In addition to Hess, the freeski roster looks strong including Aaron Blunck, who is coming off of two consecutive podiums at the NZ Winter Games World Cup and the Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix World Cup. U.S. Freeski Pro Team athlete Birk Irving kicked off the season with a victory at the NZ Winter Games after landing both a double cork 1440 and a never-been-done, gravity-defying, down the pipe double cork 720.
For the snowboarders, Maddie Mastro is coming in hot off her third-consecutive podium appearance at Copper Mountain with a third-place finish. Also, Chase Blackwell who made finals at the Copper Grand Prix will join teammate Ryan Wachendorfer this weekend.
Tune in live to catch all the action!
SNOWBOARD ATHLETES
U.S. Snowboard Pro Team
Maddie Mastro
Chase Blackwell
Ryan Wachendorfer
Americans
Josh Bowman
FREESKI ATHLETES
U.S Freeski Pro Team
Aaron Blunck
Alex Ferreira
Hunter Hess
Taylor Seaton
Birk Irving
Abigale Hansen
Devin Logan
U.S. Freeski Rookie Team
Svea Irving
Hunter Carey
Jaxin Hoerter
Cassidy Jarrell
Connor Ladd
Dylan Ladd
Sammy Schuiling
Americans
Jeanee Crane Mauzy
Cameron Brodrick
HOW TO WATCH
All Times in EST
FREESKI
Friday, Dec. 20
10:00 p.m. - Men and women’s halfpipe, Secret Garden CHN - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
SNOWBOARD
Saturday, Dec. 21
10:00 p.m. - Men and women’s halfpipe, Secret Garden, CHN - NBCSN, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports Gold
*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast
Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.