Olympic test event final stop on Halfpipe World Cup circuit

The Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup competition is in Korea this weekend for the final event of the series, which doubles as the Test Event for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

For Scotty James, the Phoenix PyeongChang World Cup is the final chance for him to make up the points needed to take out the overall series title.

Currently sitting in second place on the leader’s board with 1700 points, the two time Olympian is trailing American Chase Josey by 260 points.

The 2015 World Champion has had another very strong season, winning gold at the X Games in Aspen on Australia Day, and finishing in the top-10 at every World Cup event with his best result a silver medal in Laax in January.

A solid performance at the Bokwang Snow Park this weekend would be the icing on the cake of a stellar season.

“I’m excited to cap off the World Cup season, hopefully on top,” James said.

“The game plan for this event is to take the same approach as every other one – enjoy myself and the competition. Let the rest just fall into place.

“I’ve got some great competitors here so it’s going to be a good show.”

James will be joined in Korea by fellow Aussies Kent Callister, currently in 12th place on the World rankings, and Nate Johnstone in 20th place.

For Johnstone, he will relish his first experience of the Olympic venue.

“Korea is just one more stepping stone to get over in qualifying for the Olympics,” Johnstone said.

“Being the Test Event, there is a little extra pressure but I am excited more than anything because it’s our first look at what the Games are going to be like when we get there.

“I’ve only been to one other event in Korea and that was a long time ago, but they put on really good events so I’m expecting it to be pretty good conditions for the halfpipe.”

Scotty James is already in Korea and can confirm Johnstone’s expectations of the pipe.

“The halfpipe is awesome,” James said on Tuesday.

“I had the first day of practice today and it went great. The halfpipe cutter, Jeremy, did a great job and I'm really enjoying Korea so far.”

The men’s qualification round for the Phoenix PyeongChang Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup will be held on Friday 17 February, kicking off at 1.45pm AEDT. The final will be held from 3pm AEDT on Sunday afternoon.

The men will then head to Sierra Nevada, Spain in early March for the Snowboard Halfpipe World Championships where he is the defending champion.

Article courtesy Georgia Thompson | olympics.com.au

Pic by @SeannJames