OVER the Australian summer many of our skiers snowboarders travelled the world competing at world cups with great success.
In March VIS aerial skiers Laura Peel and Danielle Scott made it a double World Cup podium celebration in Almaty, Kazakhastan, where Peel claimed gold and Scott bronze.
Peel landed both triple back somersaults in the first final and then the medal round to record the 13th World Cup victory of her career.
Four VIS women qualified for finals with Scott in first, Airleigh Frigo seventh, Abbey Willcox eighth and Peel in 12th.
First year World Cup athlete, Elise Coleiro was 13th to just miss the final and matching her career best finish.
In the first round of finals, Peel scored 93.85 placing her third, Scott scored 91.66 putting her in fourth and Willcox made it three Aussies in the super-final in sixth place, scoring 84.96.
Missing out on the super-final was Frigo in 12th on 60.79 for her full-full.
In the men’s competition Reilly Flanagan performed a lay full single twisting double somersault to finish 31st.
With one event remaining, Peel was on 442 points on top of the World Cup standings, increasing her lead to 78 points ahead of Xu, Scott is third 98 points behind Peel.
Also, in the top 10 for Australia were Willcox sixth and Frigo ninth.
The final World Cup of the season then took place at the 2026 Olympic venue in Livigno, Italy, on March 13.
Snowboard Cross: Bronze for Baff and mixed team gold in Türkiye
IN a double World Cup event in Erzurum, Türkiye, featuring first an induvial and then a mixed team race, NSWIS rider Josie Baff made a great start to the weekend with her third podium of the season in a close final that went right to the finish line.
In the big-final, Baff was in third for most of the race but came close in the final stages to be just narrowly behind Lea Casta of France in second place by 0.12 seconds, and only 0.19 behind winner Charlotte Bankes of Great Britain.
“This has been the most demanding course so far on tour” said the 22-year-old Baff from Jindabyne in the NSW Snowy Mountains.
Three other NSWIS teammates also made it through to the women’s quarter-final top-16 stage, Belle Brockhoff was 11th in her first event of the season returning from injury, Mia Clift 13th and Amber Essex 14th.
In the men’s event Cam Bolton was Australia’s best riding through to the quarter-finals in 16th.
In the round of 32 Jarryd Hughes was 19th and Adam Lambert 26th.
Missing finals at the qualification stage were Declan Dent 35th, James Johnstone 41st and Matthew Thomas 49th.
After five events, Baff was ranked third on the standings with 310 points, trailing Casta in second on 365 and Bankes out in front on 450.
Cam Bolton was fifth on the men’s standings.
Cameron Bolton and Josie Baff then combined to win Australia’s first ever World Cup gold medal in the snowboard cross mixed team event in Erzurum, Türkiye, giving Baff two medals after finishing third in the individual event.
Bolton had a great opening leg, leading from start to finish, crossing the line three hundredths of a second ahead of the USA, giving Baff a small lead heading into the final women’s run.
In the final run Baff also managed to maintain the lead from start to finish.
“Cam and I had been wanting to be in a team for a while and he gave me the perfect amount of lead that I needed. I knew that if I had the track to myself, I was going to be hard to pass, so it worked out well for us today and we are really happy,” said Baff the 22-year-old from Jindabyne in the NSW Snowy Mountains.
“Really happy sharing a team with Josie, we are close friends and teammates. She is riding so well I just wanted to come out and make sure that I rode as well as I could and give her every opportunity to shine, and shine she did,” said the 34-year-old Bolton from the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria.
Australia has now won mixed team gold medals at both the World Cup and World Championship levels, Belle Brockhoff and Jarryd Hughes were World Champions in 2021.
The Australia 2 team featuring Jarryd Hughes and Mia Clift finished in 13th.
Next for the snowboard cross riders was a World Cup double event in Gudauri, Georgia, on March 8 and 9.
Moguls: Bad visibility forces finals cancellation
IN the first of two World Cup events in Almaty, Kazakhstan, bad visibility unfortunately forced the cancellation of men’s finals, which was set to be an exciting round for Australia with three NSWIS skiers qualifying through to the 16-man final.
Results from qualifying were used for the final placings, Matt Graham was seventh, Cooper Woods eighth and George Murphy had a personal best finish of 13th which would have been his first career World Cup final.
Also in action was Jackson Harvey, who continues to improve in his third start back from injury in 26th and Oliver Logan recorded a did not finish.
Dual Moguls: Bronze medal for Graham
NSWIS skier Matt Graham claimed the 27th World Cup podium of his career in Almaty, Kazakhstan, after capturing bronze in the dual moguls.
In the match up for the bronze medal, Graham defeated Korean Daeyoon Jung 22 to 13, his second dual mogul podium of the season.
“I am looking forward to going to Livigno and checking out the (2026 Olympic) course there and then finishing off at the World Championships (in St Moritz).
NSWIS teammate Cooper Woods also performed well finishing in seventh place, after losing to eventual winner Kingsbury in the quarter-finals, while teammates Jackson Harvey was 19th, George Murphy 21st and Oliver Logan 34th.
At the time with two World Cup events remaining, Matt Graham was ranked third overall in the combined mogul standings, sixth in single moguls and fourth in dual moguls. Both final World Cup events of the season will take place at the 2026 Olympic venue in Livigno, Italy, with moguls on March 11 and dual moguls on March 12.
