Kelly Clark competes in the FIS snowboard world cup halfpipe final during the Winter Games NZ at Cardrona Alpine Resort on Aug. 30, 2015 in Wanaka, New Zealand.
Five For Friday: Alpine Skiing
Five For Friday: Figure Skating
Five For Friday: Freestyle Skiing
The season-opening stop on the U.S. Grand Prix tour is stacked with a field of Olympians and 2018 Olympic hopefuls.
Among those in competing in the four-day event at Mammoth Mountain, California, are three-time Olympic snowboarding medalist Kelly Clark, and 2014 Olympic freeskiing champions David Wise and Joss Christensen.
Competition is being held in halfpipe and slopestyle in both the snowboarding and freeskiing disciplines. After qualifying runs the first two days, the halfpipe skiing final is Saturday, followed by the halfpipe snowboarding final and slopestyle skiing final Sunday.
It’s also the first world cup event of the year in the snowboarding and freeskiing disciplines. Competition will be held in Unbound’s Main Park and the 22-foot Super Duper Pipe.
“I’m really excited about the Mammoth Grand Prix,” said Wise, the 2014 Olympic gold medalist in the halfpipe skiing. “Not only is it the first grand prix of the season, it’s also the closest event to my home (Reno, Nevada), so I’m looking forward to dragging some of my friends and family down to Mammoth to show them what’s going on. Everyone’s been riding really well and progressing and that Olympic contest pressure is off, so everyone’s just flowing and I’m excited to see what happens out there.”
TV: 2 p.m. ET Sunday and 1 a.m. Jan. 27, NBC Sports Network; 3 p.m. Sunday and Jan. 30, NBC
Webcast: 2:20 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, NBC Live Sports Extra
Paul D. Bowker is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.