A Big Day for the Maddie/ys; Mastro Clinches First World Cup Win; Schaffrick First World Cup Podium
It was a storybook start to the 2024-25 FIS World Cup halfpipe season for the Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team. Last season’s World Cup halfpipe Crystal Globe runner-up Maddie Mastro clinched her first victory on the World Cup stage and teammate Maddy Schaffrick earned her first World Cup podium in her first appearance back in the bib in eight years.
Near perfect conditions set the scene for an exciting snowboard halfpipe World Cup final at China’s iconic Secret Garden Resort. The Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team put four athletes through to finals: Maddy Schaffrick, Maddie Mastro and Bea Kim on the women’s side, and Chase Josey representing the red, white and blue for the men.
Coming off a podium-perfect season, Mastro looked confident at the top of the pipe, singing as she dropped into the ditch for the first halfpipe final of the 2024-25 season. Mastro set the tone for the day, throwing a clean first run complete with impressive amplitude that put her in the top spot. Teammate Shaffrick was the only rider to best Mastro’s run, scoring an 85.25 in her first final back from retirement.
The Americans held on to the top two spots as Mastro dropped in for her second run, kicking things off with her signature double-crippler and lacing together a near-flawless performance. With coaches celebrating at the top and her teammates were stoked at the bottom, Mastro was awarded a massive score of 88.75, which put her in a position to secure the first World Cup win of her already impressive career.
Schaffrick was the second-to-last rider to drop and the final threat to mix up the podium. It had already been an impressive showing for the 30 year old, making her return to competition after an eight-year hiatus from the World Cup circuit. With that, wherever she landed in the final rankings would be her best World Cup finish of her career. Schaffrick showed veteran composure as she dropped in the Secret Garden halfpipe for the final time and put down another solid performance. Still, it was ultimately not enough to best teammate Mastro’s score. Schaffrick ended the day on the podium in third place, an impressive feat in her first World Cup since February 2016. China’s Xuetong Cai split the Americans on the podium and earned a second-place finish in front of her home crowd.
With 15 World Cup podiums to her name, Mastro was all smiles when asked what it meant to land in the top spot for the first time in her career.
“I’ve got a lot of seconds and thirds in these World Cups and this is my first on top and am I happy about it," remarked Mastro. “I came into this contest with a completely new game plan and just wanted to focus on doing my own thing. I had these goals of tricks I wanted to land and runs I wanted to put together and…it happened. This contest just set a new baseline for women’s snowboarding and I’m just really excited to be a part of it.”
For Mastro, it's a victory well worth the wait.
Coming off a breakout 2023-24 season, 17-year-old Bea Kim ended the day in seventh place, improving on each run and continuing to impress at a young age on the world stage. On the men’s side, Chase Josey showed competitive consistency under pressure, ending the day in ninth place amongst a field of heavy hitters like Japan’s Yuto Totsuka, who landed an insane final run complete with a triple cork that put an exclamation mark on his winning performance. Australia’s Scotty James took second and Japan’s Ryusei Yamada finished third.
The halfpipe squad returns home for the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix in Copper Mountain, Colorado, with qualifications set to drop on Wednesday, Dec. 18.
