World’s Best Snowboarders are Heading To People’s Republic of China

EVENT TYPE

World’s Best Snowboarders are Heading To People’s Republic of China

EVENT TYPE

On March 9th to 16th the world’s top freestyle snowboarders will drop in at the 2016 Corona World Championships of Snowboarding in Yabuli, People’s Republic of China, battling for the titles in Slopestyle, Halfpipe and for the first time also in Big Air with 500,000 US$ in prize money. With less than a month to go, the confirmed rider field is without a doubt the strongest in recent history. Amongst the 250 competing riders are all the stars that snowboarding has to offer including Kelly Clark, Jamie Anderson, Shaun White and Mark McMorris. This event marks the first time People’s Republic of China will host a top-level international snowboarding competition in all 3 disciplines.

Defending Champions
The four defending World Champions will be in Yabuli defending their titles won at Oslo 2012. Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI) current world number 2 in men’s halfpipe, Kelly Clark (USA) current world number 1 in women’s halfpipe, Chas Guldemond (USA) and Spencer O’Brien (CAN) in the men’s and women’s slopestyle events.

WCS Picks From The Field of Players
Current pick with the odds tipped in their favor in men’s slopestyle is Mark McMorris (CAN), who’s won almost every event he’s entered in the past few seasons is the man most people will be betting on to take the 2016 World Championship title. He will be followed closely by his fellow teammate Sebastien Toutant (CAN), Japan’s Yuki Kadono and Norway’s Ståle Sandbech.

Jamie Anderson (USA) is the odds-on favourite for women’s slopestyle, but with the rail and jib feature heavy course Kiwi jibber Christy Prior (NZL) could prove to be her toughest competition. In men’s halfpipe the all-time favourite Shaun White has his eyes on the prize, but young Japanese superstar Ayumu Hirano is hot on his heels with consistent big wins upping his ante. Tipping the scales, American heavy hitters Matt Ladley and Taylor Gold will prove challenging for Iouri Podlatchikov (SUI) in defending his title.

The women’s halfpipe is going to be a close one; leading lady Kelly Clark (USA) faces some stiff competition from the up-and-comers in the women’s pipe scene who’ve been proving their worth at the Elite level events over the past seasons, with the likes of Chloe Kim (USA) and Arielle Gold (USA) consistently taking out the top podium spots.

All New Titles
The World Championships of Snowboarding in 2016 introduces all new Big Air Champion titles in the men’s and women’s big air discipline, where our picks for taking out the top spots are Torgeir Bergrem (NOR) or Max Parrot (CAN) in the men’s and defending champion Spencer O’Brien (CAN) or Anna Gasser (AUT) in the women’s. With all of the best big air athletes competing, our chosen favourites will face some seriously tough competition from the entire field of big air contenders.

Top Riders Confirmed For WCS 2016:

Slopestyle Men

Chas Guldemond (USA) (Current defending World Champion)
Mark McMorris (CAN)
Tyler Nicholson (CAN)
Stale Sandbech (NOR)
Darcy Sharpe (CAN)
Yuki Kadono (JPN)
Sven Thorgren (SWE)
Niklas Mattsson (SWE)
Eric Beauchemin (USA)
Mikey Ciccarelli (CAN)
Max Parrot (CAN)

Slopestyle Women

Spencer O’Brien (CAN) (Current defending World Champion)
Jamie Anderson (USA)
Anna Gasser (AUT)
Christy Prior (NZL)
Cheryl Maas (NED)
Elena Koenz (SUI)
Enni Rukajärvi (FIN)
Karly Shorr (USA)
Jessika Jenson (USA)
Silje Norendal (NOR)

Halfpipe Men

Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI) (Current defending World Champion)
Shaun White (USA)
Ayumu Hirano (JPN)
David Habluetzel (SUI)
Max Gold (USA)
Jan Scherrer (SUI)
Taku Hiraoka (JPN)
Matthew Ladley (USA)
Christian Haller (SUI)
Pat Burgener (SUI)

Halfpipe Women

Kelly Clark (USA) (Current defending World Champion)
Chloe Kim (USA)
Arielle Gold (USA)
Maddie Mastro (USA)
Summer Fenton (USA)
Hikaru Oe (JPN)
Mirabelle Thovex (FRA)
Kurumi Imai (JPN)

Big Air Men

Torgeir Bergrem (NOR)
Max Parrot (CAN)
Yuki Kadono (JPN)
Sven Thorgren (SWE)
Sebastien Toutant (CAN)
Billy Morgan (GBR)
Mark McMorris (CAN)
Keita Inamura (JPN)
Stale Sandbech (NOR)
Darcy Sharpe (CAN)
Kalle Jaervilehto (FIN)

Big Air Women

Lia-Mara Boesch (SUI)
Cheryl Maas (NED)
Elena Koenz (SUI)
Spencer O’Brien (CAN)
Enni Rukajärvi (FIN)
Silje Norendal (NOR)
Katie Ormerod (GBR)
Sina Candrian (SUI)
Christy Prior (NZL)
Jamie Anderson (USA)
Anna Gasser (AUT)

Event Schedule

March 8th: Arrival of athletes
March 9th: Practice and event kick off
March 10th: Qualifications Halfpipe and Slopestyle
March 11th: Qualifications Halfpipe and Slopestyle / Quali’s & Semi’s Big Air
March 12th: Qualifications Halfpipe and Slopestyle/ Quali’s & Semi’s Big Air
March 13th: Qualifications Halfpipe and Slopestyle/ Big Air finals
March 14th: Semi-finals Halfpipe and Slopestyle
March 15th: Slopestyle finals
March 16th: Halfpipe finals

About Yabuli
The Yabuli resort is a 3-hour drive from the 10 million city of Harbin, the center of People’s Republic of China´s northeastern region. Yabuli is the largest and most well-known winter sports destination in People’s Republic of China.  Rapidly developing its reputation as an emerging winter sport powerhouse, People’s Republic of China will host the 2022 Winter Olympics. In 2016, WCS will be the foremost professional elite championship event in People’s Republic of China across any snow sport. In Yabuli, the Club Med Resort will be the preferred hub for all riders and international visitors ensuring western hospitality standards.

About the World Championships of Snowboarding
The World Championships of Snowboarding (WCS) is the pinnacle snowboarding event organized by TTR Pro Snowboarding and the World Snowboard Federation (WSF). The WCS crowns snowboarding’s true World Champions in the disciplines of Halfpipe, Slopestyle and Big Air. It is a high caliber celebration of the sport held every 4 years, bringing together 300 riders representing 43 WSF Member Nations, staged by alternating resort locations around the world. In 2016, Yabuli resort, the largest winter sports resort in People’s Republic of China will host the 2nd edition of the World Championships of Snowboarding.

Media Contact World Championships of Snowboarding:

Rich Hegarty
rich@wcsnowboarding.com
www.worldsnowboardtour.com
www.wcs2016yabuli.com