Font Romeu hosts opening Slopestyle Skiing World Cup
Published Tue 19 Dec 2017
Sochi Olympian and 2017 Slopestyle Skiing World Cup bronze medallist Russ Henshaw hits the hill this week in Font Romeu, France for the season’s first World Cup and Olympic qualifier.
Many of the world’s best riders will compete from December 19 to 23 at the French ski resort in the to qualify into PyeongChang.
Slopestyle requires a series of acrobatic and aerial tricks on a specially constructed track not dissimilar to skateboard rails. The sport ‘with no rules’ is one of the most popular disciplines and debuted in Sochi in 2014, where Henshaw placed eighth.
In early 2017, Henshaw - from Jindabyne, captured a World Cup bronze medal at Seiser Alm in Italy after recovering from a brutal 2015/16 when he sustained a shoulder injury.
In the run-up to PyeongChang Henshaw is reporting that he is in good shape and looking forward to the start of his competitive season.
“I'm feeling really good and had an amazing time preparing in Laax (Switzerland). I got quite a few days on the jumps and also had the bonus of skiing a lot of powder so it all worked out great,” Henshaw said this week as he arrived in Font Romeu.
With each course specially constructed, he is eager to test out this year’s track.
“I haven't seen anything to do with the course yet. Hopefully it is all good and the weather cooperates this year,” he said.
Russ will be joined in Font Romeu by fellow Aussie skiers Ryley Lucas and Nic Stevens.
Official training gets underway today and Men’s qualification begins at 7.25pm (AEDT) on Thursday, 21 December with finals on Saturday, 23 December from 10.47pm (AEDT).
You can follow the live scoring HERE, check for updates on OWIA Twitter HERE or tune into Eurosport from 10.30pm (AEDT) on Saturday night. Check the Eurosport Slopestyle Skiing broadcast schedule HERE