Corning Second at Kreischberg World Cup

Chris Corning (Silverthorne, Colo.) claimed his first World Cup slopestyle podium of the season at the Kreischberg, Austria, FIS Snowboard World Cup. It all came down to the last run for Corning and after slight bobbles on his first two runs, he was able to put it down and close out his final run with a very stylish cab 1260 Nosegrab in front of a high energy Austrian crowd.

“I am really happy with my result,” said Corning. “It was a tough contest and not landing my first or second run didn’t help. I was able to pull it all together on the last run. I just had to regroup and get pumped up and make sure not to give up on myself.”

U.S Snowboard Team athlete Judd Henkes (La Jolla, Calif) fought his way back after not making it straight through to finals from the qualifying round. Henkes had to compete in the semi-finals Saturday morning where he finished fourth, claiming the last spot on the finals start list. Henkes finished sixth in the finals with Ryan Stassel (Anchorage, Alaska) ninth. Norwegian Mons Roisland won the event and Hiroaki Kunitake of Japan closed out the podium in third place.

Currently two Americans sit in the top 10 of the World Cup slopestyle standings following the Kreischberg event. Corning is fifth and Stassel holds onto the seventh position behind slopestyle World Cup leader Takeru Otsuka from Japan.

FIS World Cup slopestyle competition will continue Jan.15-19 in Laax, Switzerland, followed by Seiser Alm, Italy, Jan. 24-26. After that, the world’s top snowboarders will descend on Park City, Utah for the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships Feb. 1-10. Tune into NBC for all the action.

“I am feeling good heading into the World Champs,” said Corning. “I think I will get the invite and I look forward to really showing what I’ve got and hopefully bringing home some World Championship medals in slope and big air on home turf.”

RESULTS
Men’s Slopestyle

WORLD CUP STANDINGS
Men’s Slopestyle