Toyota U.S. Grand Prix Qualifications Kick Off Competition at Mammoth

The competition kicked off in great fashion at the 2019 Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain with Ryan Wachendorfer (Edwards, Colo.) qualifying first in men’s snowboard halfpipe and setting the tone for the week.

“It feels good to know I’m heading to finals,” said Wachendorfer. “The weather shaped up after the morning was a little questionable with the wind, but the pipe is riding way better than the first day of practice so it was a good day. It’s awesome to see some of the younger guys making it to finals. I think we are going to see some new faces competing on Saturday.”

Joining Wachendorfer in finals is Chase Josey (Hailey, Idaho), who qualified third in his heat with a spontaneous run.

“There’s been a lot of crazy weather, but today’s been nice and sunny after a windy morning,” said Josey. “I winged it on my first run and ended up putting it down and making finals. It’s really cool riding with some of the younger guys, they are really pushing the limits. I think the older riders feel them right on our heels and it actually pushes me to send it even more.”

Josey and Wachendorfer were referring to U.S Snowboard Rookie Team members Jason Wolle (Winter Park, Colo.), Lucas Foster (Telluride, Colo.) and pro team member Chase Blackwell (Longmont, Colo.), all who made the cut into finals. In addition, Taylor Gold (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) made his first final since returning from surgery for two different injuries during the 2017-18 season. Also, American and U.S. Snowboard alumni Louie Vito (Sandy, Utah) qualified to finals finishing sixth in his heat.

For the women, Americans Summer Fenton (San Francisco, Calif.) and Zoe Kalapos (Vail, Colo.) each finished in a respectable fifth place, just missing the final round of competition.

Competition continued in the halfpipe at the U.S. Grand Prix with men’s and women’s freeski halfpipe qualifications. David Wise (Reno, Nev.) came out firing on all cylinders, landing his first run qualifying first in his heat.

“The weather has been challenging all week,” said Wise. “I think everyone was excited when the sun popped this morning. We were all able to get a couple laps through practice with the sun shining remembering the California good times. That’s what really set the vibe for me. I was able to land my first run, make it to finals, plus it just feels great to come out and compete again. I couldn’t say more about the Grand Prix crew maintaining the pipe and keeping it clean from all the fresh now. We as athletes are so appreciative of the maintenance crews hard work. I’m stoked to put on a show in finals tomorrow.”

Cassidy Jarrell (Aspen, Colo.) was the lone American that qualified into finals from heat one finishing third. In heat two, Wise qualified in first, Birk Irving (Winter Park, Colo.) second, Hunter Hess (Bend, Ore.) third, Cameron Brodrick (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) fifth, and Jaxin Hoerter (Breckenridge, Colo.) in sixth. U.S. Pro Team member Lyman Currier also competed and landed his second run capping off what was his first competition in three years after battling back from serious injury.

For the women, U.S. Freeski Pro Team member and Olympic bronze medalist Brita Sigourney (Carmel, Calif.) qualified second in her heat and will compete in finals.

“I feel really good that I’ll be competing in finals,” said Sigourney. “It was definitely an aggressive competition with very limited training. I’m really happy I landed my run and basically got my first day of training for finals as well as qualifiers in today. The pipe was good and I’m really looking forward to finals tomorrow.”

Olympic gold medalist Maddie Bowman (S. Lake Tahoe) and U.S. Rookie Team member Abigale Hansen (June Lake, Calif.) skied well and both finished fifth in their heat just outside of finals contention.

The day concluded with men’s snowboard slopestyle competition. Unfortunately, the women were unable to compete due to increasing wind and snow slowing down the course creating an unfavorable environment for the ladies. For the men, Chris Corning (Silverthorne, Colo.) qualified first in heat one.

"I was happy to qualify first in my heat yesterday," said Corning. "My strategy was to put a mellow run down and get myself into finals."

Also qualifying through in heat one was Olympic gold medalist Red Gerard (Silverthorne, Colo.) and Ryan Stassel (Anchorage, Alaska). In heat two, Judd Henkes (La Jolla, Calif.) qualified first and U.S. Snowboard Team alumnus Chas Guldemond qualified third.

"Im stoked to make finals here at the Grand Prix," said Henkes. "I had a tough contest last week so it was nice to rebound and make finals here."

Competition will continue at the U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth on Friday with men’s snowboard slopestyle finals, as well as men’s and women’s freeski halfpipe finals. Catch the action live and head out to Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, or tune in on NBC.

RESULTS
Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe Qualifications
Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe Qualifications
Men’s Freeski Halfpipe Qualifications
Women’s Freeski Halfpipe Qualifications
Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Qualifications

START LISTS
Men’s snowboard slopestyle finals
Men’s freeski halfpipe finals
Women’s freeski halfpipe finals

SCHEDULE
All times PST (local time)

Saturday, March  9.
9:30 a.m. - Men’s snowboard slopestyle finals - Mammoth Mountain, Calif.
12:00 p.m. -  Men’s and women’s snowboard halfpipe finals - Mammoth Mountain, Calif.
2:30 p.m. - Men’s and women’s freeski halfpipe finals - Mammoth Mountain, Calif.

Sunday, March 10. 
7:30 a.m. -  Men’s and women’s freeski slopestyle qualifications & finals - Mammoth Mountain, Calif.

HOW TO WATCH
Subject to change
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast
***Delayed broadcast

FREESKIING
Saturday, March 9
5:30 p.m. - Toyota U.S. Grand Prix men and women’s halfpipe - Mammoth Mountain, Calif. - NBCSports.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, March 10
4:45 p.m. - Toyota U.S. Grand Prix men and women’s slopestyle - Mammoth Mountain, Calif. - NBCSports.com & NBC Sports Gold

Thursday, March 14
12:30 a.m. - Toyota U.S. Grand Prix men and women’s slopestyle - Mammoth Mountain, Calif. - NBCSN***

SNOWBOARD
Saturday, March 9
12:30 p.m. - Toyota U.S. Grand Prix men's slopestyle - Mammoth Mountain, Calif. - NBCSports.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:00 p.m. - Toyota U.S. Grand Prix men and women’s halfpipe - Mammoth Mountain, Calif. - NBCSports.com & NBC Sports Gold

Tuesday, March 12
10:30 p.m. - Toyota U.S. Grand Prix men and women’s halfpipe - Mammoth Mountain, Calif. - NBCSN***

Sunday, March 17
12:00 p.m. - Toyota U.S. Grand Prix men and women’s halfpipe - Mammoth Mountain, Calif. - NBC***

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold and OlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.