VIS two-time Olympic Medallist Scotty James has narrowly missed the podium at the World Cup event in Copper Mountain, USA, finishing in fourth place, after the top-four finishers recorded their best score of the day in the final run in a dramatic final run (of three) shoot out.
 
The 30-year-old from Warrandyte in Victoria started well, qualifying for finals in second place.
 
In finals, James scored 87.75 in his first run, had a fall in his second run and put down a great final run, unlucky to miss the podium with a score of 92.75 points for the judges.
 
Japanese riders clean swept the podium with 2022 Olympic gold medallist Ayumu Hirano first on 97 points, Yuto Totsuka second with 94.75 and Ruka Hirano in third place on 92.75.
 
After two events, James is ranked third on the World Cup standings.
 
In the women’s event Emily Arthur was Australia’s highest place finisher in 23rd with Misaki Vaughan 24th and Amelie Haskell 35th in her World Cup debut.
 
The next event halfpipe event is in Laax, Switzerland, on January 18.

Scotty James up close in the men's snowboard halfpipe final
© fisparkandpipe

Scotty James has claimed silver in the opening FIS Snowboard World Cup Halfpipe event of the season at Secret Garden, China, giving the 30-year-old from Warrandyte in Victoria the 16th World Cup medal of his decorated career.

Competing on the Beijing 2022 site where James won the second Olympic medal of his career, the VIS rider qualified for finals in third place.

Under sunny skies in the best of three run final, the triple World Champion was unable to put a clean run down in his first two runs, but saved his best for last, with a spectacular final run which included a cab triple cork 1440, scoring 88.25 points from the judges to move into second place.

Taking the win with the two highest scoring runs of the event was Japanese rider Yuto Totsuka of Japan with a best score of 95.50 in his last run, with another Japanese rider Ryusei Yamada in third on 87.75.

Competing for Australia in the women’s event was Misaki Vaughan, who finished in 23rd place in her World Cup debut.

American Maddie Mastro was victorious in the women’s final ahead of Xuetong Cai of China in second with another American Madeline Schaffrick rounding out the podium in third.

Copper Mountain in Colorado, USA, will host the next FIS World Cup halfpipe event on December 20.

Teen Snowboard star Valentino Guseli has revealed on social media that he has sadly injured his knee at the World Cup Big Air event in Beijing last week and is set for a lengthy period on the sidelines.

Guseli has since returned to Australia to have a corrective ACL surgery.

Click below to see Guseli's full post and video.

The Snowboard and Freeski Park & Pipe tour has headed to China for two weeks of World Cup competition, with a big air first up over the weekend in Beijing and then a halfpipe event in Secret Garden next weekend.

In the snowboard big air, Melia Stalker recorded her best ever result in the discipline with a tenth-place finish, narrowly missing out on the top-eight women’s final.

Joshua Robertson-Hahn also had his best ever World Cup finish, placing 17th, with Jesse Parkinson also achieving his highest ever finish in big air, placing 25th.

In the men’s freeski big air, Joey Ellis made his World Cup debut finishing in 40th place.

Next weekend VIS snowboard superstar Scotty James will make his season debut competing back in the 2022 Olympic Halfpipe at the Secret Garden resort, where he claimed the silver medal at the Olympics, and has won two World Cup events from two starts.