Monster Energy congratulates its team of snow sports athletes on
a strong performance in the Toyota U.S. Freeski & Snowboard
Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain, California, this weekend.
MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN, Calif.,
Feb. 5,
2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Monster Energy
congratulates its team of snow sports athletes on a strong
performance in the Toyota U.S. Freeski & Snowboard Grand Prix
at Mammoth Mountain, California,
this weekend.
In Saturday's Men's Freeski Slopestyle final, 22-year-old Birk
Ruud from Oslo, Norway, took the
victory with a perfect run at Unbound Parks. Team USA's Dusty
Henricksen from Mammoth Lakes,
California, clinched the win in Men's Snowboard Slopestyle.
Also, this weekend Brendan Mackay
took silver, and David Wise took
bronze in Men's Freeski Halfpipe, and Annika Morgan took bronze in Women's Snowboard
Slopestyle. Overall, Monster Energy riders claim five podium spots
(two first, one second, and two third) in the elite freeski and
snowboard competitions.
From February 1-4, the Toyota U.S.
Freeski & Snowboard Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain,
California, featured the world's
best winter sports athletes competing in both halfpipe and
slopestyle competitions. One week after X Games Aspen 2023,
athletes competed for FIS World Cup points and coveted spots on
their respective countries' Olympic teams.
Here are the highlights for team Monster Energy at this year's
Toyota U.S. Freeski & Snowboard Grand Prix at Mammoth
Mountain:
Men's Freeski Slopestyle: Monster Energy's Birk Ruud Claims
First Place
In the highly competitive Men's Freeski Slopestyle final,
Norwegian Birk Ruud came in hungry for a medal after finishing
fifth in the discipline at X Games Aspen 2023 the previous
weekend.
Ruud opened his run with a left nosebutter 450 on to pretzel 270
out, switch right 270 on to pretzel 450 out, and left 270 on to
continuing 630 out on the rainbow rail. In the jumps, he put down
switch right bio 900 safety, right double 1260 safety, switch left
double 1620 mute, and a huge left double bio 1440 mute for 94.80
points and first place.
"It's an amazing feeling. I had a tough time coming in straight
from X Games," said Ruud, 22, who was fifth in slopestyle at X
Games Aspen last weekend. I only got one day of practice before
qualifiers, but I'm happy to put down a good run and get the win
today. Next is going home and getting ready for the World Champs,"
said Monster Energy's Ruud upon taking the Men's Freeski Slopestyle
win at Mammoth Mountain.
Saturday's win marks the second FIS World Cup slopestyle victory
of the season for Ruud. The Norwegian sits on top of the 2022/23
season leaderboards in first place. Ruud also took the gold medal
in Big Air at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Men's Snowboard Slopestyle: Monster Energy's Dusty Henricksen
Gets the Win
Due to high winds, the Men's and Women's Snowboard Slopestyle
finals were postponed from Friday to Saturday. But when the weather
still showed no signs of slowing down, winners were determined on
the strength of qualifier results, with 20-year-old Dusty Henricksen from Mammoth Lakes, California, taking the top
spot.
In his highest-scoring run of the qualifiers, Henricksen covered
the course with a perfect run for 88.68 points and the win.
With Saturday's victory, Henricksen takes over the lead in the
2022/23 FIS Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup rankings.
Henricksen won Slopestyle at Mammoth in 2020. The previous
weekend, Henricksen earned bronze in Snowboard Knuckle Huck,
bringing his X Games count to four medals (2 gold, 2 bronze). In
2021, Henricksen made his X Games debut by claiming gold in
Snowboard Slopestyle and Knuckle Huck.
Men's Freeski Halfpipe: Monster Energy's Brendan Mackay Takes Silver, David Wise
Bronze
High winds gusting over Mammoth Mountain almost shut down the
Men's Freeski Halfpipe final. But the weather ultimately
cooperated, and the ten finalists dropped in for the fourth and
final halfpipe World Cup competition of the 2022/23 season.
Coming to Mammoth Mountain fresh off a gold medal win at X Games
Aspen 2023, 32-year-old David Wise
from Reno, Nevada, proceeded to
dominate the final session. But after holding on to the top spot
for the majority of three runs, Wise found himself leapfrogged on
final attempts by his teammate, 25-year-old Brendan Mackay from Calgary, Canada.
On his third run of the final, Mackay opened with a huge switch
left alley-oop double 900, into switch right 900, huge tailgrab
flairs both ways, and ending with back-to-back left double 1260
mute to right double 1260 mute for 93.00 points and second place
behind American Birk Irving in first place.
This marks the third second-place finish out of four FIS World
Cup events for the Canadian. Mackay finished the 2022/23 FIS World
Cup season and Crystal Globe race in second place behind American
Birk Irving in the top spot.
Mackay was joined on the podium by Wise in third place. In his
best-scoring run of the weekend, Wise put down switch right 720
tailgrab, switch left 900, and a finishing combo of back-to-back
double 1260 mute both ways for 91.75 points.
Wise is a two-time Olympic champion (2014, 2018) in Freeski
Halfpipe and owns five X Games gold medals in the discipline.
Women's Snowboard Slopestyle: Monster Energy's Annika Morgan Takes Third Place
On Saturday, the Women's Snowboard Slopestyle finals were
cancelled as the high winds created unsafe conditions for athletes.
As a consequence, Germany's
Annika Morgan found herself in third
place on the strength of her qualifier results.
In her best run of the qualifiers, the 20-year-old from
Garmisch-Partenkirchen strung together switch boardslide pretzel,
Cab 180 to 360 off the cannon, and boardslide pretzel the curved
rail. In the jumps, Morgan sent backside 720 tailgrab and backside
720 melon for 75.14 for 75.14 points and third place.
"Unfortunately, finals got canceled due to wind, but still hyped
to snag third at the Grand Prix out here in Mammoth," Morgan told
her Instagram followers on Saturday.
Visit http://www.monsterenergy.com for exclusive updates during
the 2023 FIS Freeski World Cup season, including photos, videos,
and contest results as they happen. Follow Monster Energy on
YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok for exclusive
behind-the-scenes looks and athlete features.
###
About Monster Energy
Based in Corona, California,
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Monster Energy supports the scene and sport. Whether motocross,
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Agency, Inc., (949) 300-5546, kim.dresser@indiepragency.com
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SOURCE Monster Energy