Kim on Top; Another Mastro Never-Before-Done
Chloe Kim came away with another World Cup victory, with teammate Maddie Mastro doing what she does best - another never-before-done trick as the Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team was back in Aspen Snowmass, Colorado for the first time since 2021, at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix.
In Saturday's halfpipe final, the pipe was crowded with fans to cheer on a field full of heavy hitters for the penultimate halfpipe World Cup of the season. The Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team saw three women in finals, including two-time Olympic Gold medalist Kim, two-time Olympian Mastro and 18-year-old Sonora Alba, who was making her first World Cup final of the 2024-25 season.
Alba was first to drop for the American women and sent her huge signature backside indy to start off what would be a near-perfect run, before just missing the landing on her final hit, an alley oop mctwist. With a chip on her shoulder, Alba dropped into the Aspen halfpipe for a second time and laced her full run clean, earning a score of 66.74 to put her in fifth place, tying her personal best World Cup result.
Wearing the coveted yellow bib to signify her place as first overall in the FIS halfpipe World Cup standings, Mastro had an uncharacteristic fall on the first hit of her first run, just slipping out on her signature double crippler. The seasoned veteran didn’t let the mistake shake her and brought a focused determination to her second attempt to land one clean and earn her a score the judges deemed worthy of fourth place. In her final attempt to sneak onto the podium, Mastro put down a newly designed run and became the first woman to land a switch ally oop backside rodeo in the contest. The judges awarded Mastro a score of 84.00, maintaining her fourth-place spot.
Straight off of her historic X Games gold medal just last week, Kim dropped into finals as the top qualifier and sent shockwaves through the field of competitors with a massive score of 91.75 on her first attempt of the day. Kim was unable to put down her final two runs, but her three-point margin on the rest of the field held strong throughout the contest and earned her the first-place spot on the podium. Korea’s Gaon Choi’s first run score of 88.75 landed her in the second place spot and Japan’s Sara Shimizu took third, continuing her breakout rookie season.
Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team veterans Chase Josey and Lucas Foster held it down for the American’s on the men’s side of competition and the olympians put on a show in front of a home crowd. Josey put down a nail biter of a first run and was unable to clean it up on his second attempt. With one attempt left, Josey dropped in regular, switching it up from his normal switch drop in and put down a heater of a run and his best of the season, catapulting him up to third place. Following up his teammate, Foster dropped into the pipe for the final time after failing to land both of his first two attempts. With his home Colorado crowd cheering him on, Foster put on a show, stomping all five of his hits including his signature double ally oop mctwist, earning him a score of 80.25 to bump out teammate Foster on the podium. Despite massive performances, the Amwericans were eventually knocked off of the podium by the Japanese, continuing their dominance in the halfpipe.
The Toyota U.S. Grand Prix continues Sunday with the men’s and women’s snowboard slopestyle finals, the first run dropping at 11:30 a.m. ET live on Outside Watch. The Hydro Flak U.S. Snowboard halfpipe Team turns to the Calgary Snow Rodeo for the final halfpipe competition of the season before World Championships.
