Scotty James has come agonisingly close to winning his third straight X Games gold, claiming the silver medal in the superpipe event in Aspen, Colorado (USA) today. The podium performance is the sixth X Games superpipe medal of his decorated snowboarding career.
 
The 25-year-old snowboarder from Warrandyte, Melbourne, led for most of the competition with an impressive first run, before being overtaken by Japanese rider Yuto Totsuka in the later rounds.
 
In the last run of the day James had one last chance to topple Totsuka and delivered an impressive performance but came up just short in the judge’s eyes.
 
Rounding out the podium in third place was another Japanese rider, Ruka Hirano.
 
Three time Olympic champion Shaun White (USA) was set to make his comeback in his first event since the 2018 Winter Olympics, however he withdrew due to injury just hours before the competition with a tweaked knee.


IMAGE © Phil Ellsworth / ESPN Images

Scotty James has made a successful start to his northern hemisphere winter with a silver medal performance overnight at the opening FIS World Cup event in Laax, Switzerland.
 
The 26-year-old triple World Champion from Warrandyte in Victoria put down an impressive opening run scoring 93.75 points to lead all competitors after the first round of finals.
 
In his second run, James had another strong performance scoring 86.50 but was unable to better his first run in the best of two finals format.
 
Going past James in the second run to take the win was Yuto Totsuka from Japan on 95.25 points, with his teammates Ruka Hirano in third place with a score of 88.25.
 
The podium performance is the 11th World Cup medal of James career (6 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze).
 
“I’m getting my amplitude and execution back and just feeling good snowboarding,” James said, “I mean, it’s been a long time since I’ve really been in the pipe but those Japanese guys, while I was sitting home on the couch in quarantine in Australia not able to go anywhere, they had a halfpipe and they were working hard.”
 
“So I’m really excited (with second place). I’ve got a smile under my mask.”
 
It was a spectacular debut event by Australian 15-year-old snowboarding prodigy Valentino Guseli, who shocked the winter sports world by blitzing the field in qualifying for finals in first place.
 
In the final the teen sensation from the NSW south coast finished in eighth place, an amazing result in his first ever World Cup debut.
 
“Had the greatest experience In Laax this year, thanks for everyone’s support and help,” Guseli posted after the event.
 
“Can’t wait to come back again stronger next year.”
 
James will next be in action at the X Games in Aspen, Colorado, USA, where he will be aiming for his third straight victory at the event on Sunday January 31.

It was a stellar start to the FIS World Cup slopestyle season for 20-year-old snowboarder Tess Coady, with a third place podium performance at the opening event of the season overnight in Laax, Switzerland.
 
The 2017 World Junior Champion from Melbourne qualified through to finals in sixth place at the prestigious event featuring a star studded field.
 
Finals competition took place in difficult conditions with competitors facing strong winds, with Coady producing her best in the second and final run scoring 76.93 to record the third World Cup podium of her career (1 gold, 2 bronze).
 
Coady’s run included a half cab over the tube to boardslide to fakie on the waterfall, cab 180 to backside 360 out on the pole jam, cripple Indy on the wing kicker, frontside 720 melon to tail grab, backside 900 weddle, switch backside 180 nose grab out on the watch.
 
“So stocked to have put down a good run and be back on the podium” said Coady after her podium performance.
 
“My cab 180 to backside 360 on the pole jam and the backside 900 both did a lot for me today.”
 
Taking the win was two time Olympic champion Jamie Anderson of the USA, with New Zealander Zoi Sadowski-Synnott in third.
 
Coady will remain in Europe for training until the next events on the FIS competition calendar are confirmed.

Australian 15-year-old snowboarding prodigy Valentino Guseli has shocked the winter sports world by blitzing the field in qualifying for tonight's Laax Open Halfpipe World Cup in Switzerland.
 
The teen sensation from the NSW south coast wowed the judges with a near perfect 95 point score (out of 100) to lead the field in qualifying in his debut World Cup appearance.
 
Guseli was identified in Australia as an extreme talent some years ago but has been forced to wait till reaching the minimum age of 15 to compete in World Cup competition and test himself against the best riders on the planet. 
 
The qualifying result is the best ever by an Australian winter sports athlete on debut.
 
Fellow Aussie, World number one and triple World Champion Scotty James also qualified with a solid 81 point run in equal 3rd place.
 
The final takes place tonight under lights in Laax with two Aussies well placed to take home some silverware against the world's best snowboarders.
 

NSWIS snowboard athletes Tess Coady and Matt Cox have taken part in their first World Cup event of the 2020/21 season, with a big air competition held with an all star field in Kreischberg, Austria.
 
In the qualifying round, Tess Coady placed 22nd with a two jump total score of 96.60 points, missing out on the six woman final in her first World Cup big air start since November 2019.
 
Zoi Sadowski Synnott of New Zealand took the win in the women’s event, with Kokomo Murase of Japan finishing second, with Anna Gasser of Austria in third place.
 
The men’s field for qualifying was split into two heats, with Matt Cox taking part in heat number one. He placed 13th in his heat with a two jump score of 123.60 points, placing him in an overall position of 27th.
 
The men’s event was won by Canadian Max Parrot, with Swedish rider Sven Thorgren in second and Mons Roisland in third.
 
The next event for the park and pipe athletes is in Laax, Switzerland with a slopestyle event scheduled on January 22 and halfpipe on January 23.

In the halfpipe event, Scotty James will be competing for the first time this season, and young gun Valentino Guseli also making his World Cup debut. Emily Arthur will also be in action in the women’s event.
 
Coady and Cox will feature again, this time in the slopestyle discipline.
 
IMAGE: Matt Cox flying high in Kreischberg © Matt Cox Instagram

Work has commenced on the construction of a dry slope airbag jump at Jindabyne Sport and Recreation Centre as part of Stage 1 of the $5 million National Snowsports Training Centre (NSTC).

Snow Australia is working with the NSW Government to develop the NSTC in Jindabyne with the refurbishment of the existing JSRC sport centre that will become the NSTC administration, acrobatic and training facility.

Snow Australia Chief Executive Officer Michael Kennedy said the commencement of construction works is a great milestone.

“I can confidently say that the airbag will be among the very best in the world and will be highly sought after by athletes from all over the world to come and train in Jindabyne year round,” Mr Kennedy said.

“The National Snowsports Training Centre will have a profound impact on Australian athletes’ capacity to maintain and enhance their international competitiveness.

“It will serve as a base for our high-performance programs and will also provide a focal point for pathway programs and the broader winter sport community to come together.

“I would like to thank NSW Office of Sport, the Deputy Premier John Barilaro for the Government’s ongoing support.  We are looking forward to working with  NSW Office of Sport, NSWIS and the local community to maximise this special opportunity,” he said.

NSW Deputy Premier and Member for Monaro John Barilaro said the National Snowsports Training Centre would be a world-class airbag training facility that will attract winter sports athletes from around the world.

“Seeing excavators and earth works at the site is an exciting development in a project which will have many benefits for our region, not just from a sporting perspective but also economically through jobs, investment and tourism,” Mr Barilaro said.

“The centre will be open all-year-round, enabling Australia’s leading winter sports athletes to be at their peak at all times.”

Acting Minister for Sport Geoff Lee said the NSW Government is committed to improving the quality and quantity of sports infrastructure in regional NSW.

“The dry slope at the National Snowsports Training Centre is going to give Australia’s best athletes the chance to train in their own backyard 365 days a year,” Mr Lee said.

Commencement of the airbag comes at the same time Snow Australia completed the purchase of Action Sports Training (AST) with day-to-day management of the centre to transition in time for Term 1 programs.

AST has been in operation since 1988, initially as the Jindabyne Trampoline Club, and has been owned and operated by the Berchtold family since its inception. AST operates community acrobatic programs from the custom-built training facility inside the Jindabyne Sport and Recreation Centre. For more – click here.

Stage 1 of the National Snowsports Training Centre is scheduled for completion in early 2021.

Article Courtesy of Snow Australia
 

Triple World Champion Scotty James relocated to Europe in August and has been training on snow over the past months preparing for the northern hemisphere winter.
 
Tess Coady, Matt Cox and Valentino Guseli all spent time in Perisher during the Australian winter, before travelling to Europe at the end of September for on snow training camps at air bag and glacier based terrain parks in Austria and Switzerland.
 
The Copper Mountain World Cup event scheduled for December was cancelled due to COVID restrictions in Colorado, and postponing the first events of the season until January

Crystal Globes winners, snowboarder Scotty James and aerial skier Laura Peel, were today named the joint winners of the Olympic Athlete of the Year title for the 2020 Snow Australia Awards.
 
After an outstanding Northern winter that saw them both finish the season ranked number one in the World, the pair once again have been named joint winners of the award, previously sharing the title in 2015. 
 
Triple Olympian James now becomes the first person in history of the Snow Australia Awards to win the Athlete of the Year Award four times.
 
It was an extraordinary season for both athletes, with dual Olympian Peel claiming her career first Crystal Globe, and James becoming the overall season champion for the third time.
 
Peel finished the season with two gold, one silver and one bronze medal, in her first year jumping triple back somersaults.
 
The 30-year-old Canberra local said that this season far exceeded the expectations she had set for herself before it commenced.
 
“It was a great season - was pretty magic for me,” Peel said.
 
“I went in doing triples and completing triples for the first time - so the goal wasn’t to win the Crystal Globe, it was to gain some experience doing triples.
 
“But that (winning the Crystal Globe) has been a dream of mine pretty much since I started the sport so this was a really amazing season,” she said.
 
James successfully defended his X-Games titles and won the Dew Tour event in Copper Mountain. He qualified first in every World Cup event, before going on to finish the season with three golds and one silver World Cup medals.
 
James echoed Peel’s sentiments, adding that he feels extremely honoured to be named Athlete of the Year amongst some great talent in his fellow finalists.
 
“It’s getting harder every year to win this award, so each year brings a different excitement,” James said.
 
“I’m very happy to be the winner of this award, alongside Laura again. She’s been amazing and I’ve been watching from afar. As winter athletes we don’t get to be together that often so it’s been good to watch and support each other from afar.”
 
Snow Australia Chief Executive Officer Michael Kennedy said he couldn’t think of two more deserving winners for the title of Athlete of the Year (Olympic Disciplines) than Scotty and Laura.
 
“Scotty and Laura had fantastic seasons. They are both pushing themselves and their sport to the next level,” Kennedy said.
 
“Scotty’s consistent results made him unstoppable this season and it’s great to see him once again be crowned our Athlete of the Year,” he said.
 
“As for Laura, she now joins Aerials royalty in becoming World Cup Champion joining the greats of our sport in Kirstie Marshall, Jacqui Cooper, Alisa Camplin and Lydia Lassila in that honour.
 
The Athlete of the Year award caps off what has been a fantastic celebration of Australia’s snowsports athletes as part of the 2020 Snow Australia Awards online.
 
For a full list of Award winners - click here.

In the final halfpipe event of the season, Scotty James has claimed the bronze medal at the Burton US Open in Vail, USA.
 
The medal winning performance concludes another amazing season for the 25 year old triple World Champion from Warrandyte, Melbourne, having won the World Cup title as the number one ranked snowboard halfpipe rider in the world, and landing on the podium at all seven events he competed in for five  gold medals, 1 silver medal and 1 bronze medal. 

The US Open ran a modified course design, that started with a 13-foot minipipe, featuring 6-foot tombstones, that transitions into the standard 22-foot superpipe.
 
James had trouble in the top section in his first two runs, but put down an impressive third run scoring 93.00 points, which included a massive switch backside double cork 1260, and was unlucky not to finish higher on the podium.

"It was tough, I am not used to that position (riding first in the final run), but I kind of needed that extra kick in the ass I think to come out and land my third run", James commented in the finish area.

"I am glad I put one down, a little disappointing, obviously I would have liked to have come away with the win, but it is what it is, everyone is riding amazing and I am just stoked to be out here."
 
Finishing above James on the podium was Japanese rider Yuto Totsuka in first place, with the silver medal going to Jan Scherrer of Switzerland.

IMAGE: Scotty James Instagram

Scotty James has finished second and taken out the third World Cup title of his career at the final FIS World Cup snowboard halfpipe event of the season in Calgary, Canada.
 
The silver medal ends the amazing 11 win streak for the VIS Snowboarder, which commenced after his Olympic Games bronze medal performance in PyeongChang, Korea, in 2018.
 
After qualifying in first place, James posted his best score of 92.25 points in the second run of finals, but it wasn’t enough to top Japanese rider Ruka Hirano who scored 94.75 points on the third and final run. Rounding out the podium was Patrick Burgener of Switzerland with a score of 89.50.
 
James said in his post competition interview: "I feel pretty good, it's probably bitter sweet to say that obviously it hurts a little bit to finish in second but it is what it is. Ruka rode amazingly and he was the guy tonight.

"A big thank you to my team and everyone supporting me, it's amazing to come away with a Crystal Globe, these aren't easy to  win these days, so it's definitely exciting."
 
James now has three World Cup titles, having finished first on the standings previously in 2014 and 2017. 

This years standings saw Scotty James on top with 3800 points followed by Yuto Totska from Japan second on 3400 points and fellow countryman (today's gold medalist) Ruka Hirano third with 2800 points.
 
The final event of the season for James will be the US Open in Vail, Colorado, USA, on Saturday February 29.

Scotty James has continued his amazing win streak, with another gold medal performance at the Dew Tour event in Copper Mountain, Colorado, USA.
 
Competing in a unique modified halfpipe design that incorporated additional big air features usually seen in a terrain park, the 25 year old triple World Champion from Warrandyte, Melbourne, set a high score of 95.33 in his first run, that remained unchallenged for the next two rounds as he extended his winning streak to 11 events.
 
Behind James on the podium was Japanese rider Yuto Totsuka in second with a best score of 93.33 points and Pat Burgener from Switzerland in third with 91.00 points
.
“I never come into any competition expecting to win,” said James.
 
“Everyone is riding so well, so I knew I had to bring my best, to keep the streak alive is just the cherry on top.
 
“Adapting is huge in expressing creativity. Not every pipe is the same, not every run is the same and this course channels that. It’s innovative with lots of elements that are very different and that’s why this is so unique.”
 
James will now head to Calgary, Canada, for a FIS World Cup event next weekend, with the final scheduled to take place on the 15th of February.

Scotty James has extended his amazing win streak to ten events, with the Australian halfpipe rider defending his X-Games title in Aspen, Colorado, USA.

The 25 year old snowboarder from Warrandyte, Melbourne, led from start to finish in the jam format to claim his third career gold medal and celebrate with a victory lap ahead of his final run.

Behind James on the podium was Japanese rider Yuto Totsuka in second, with Jan Scherrer from Switzerland in third.
“I knew everyone was going to come out tonight and go for it”, James said in the finish area seconds after finishing his run.

“The variety tonight was really cool, and it definitely tested me.”

“In snowboarding we typically have one run in mind that we want to do, and tonight tested us all a little bit, we dropped from different sides, had different runs ,and really channelled that inner snowboarder from back in the day, so it’s been very cool tonight.”

“Aspen is always an insane event to ride and X-Games always makes it really cool for us.”

James is Australia’s most successful male snowboarder to date. The three time World Champion won an Olympic bronze medal at PyeongChang in 2018, has a collection of X Games medals (3 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) and nine FIS World Cup medals (6 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze).

James also became the second most successful half pipe rider in X Games history behind 2018 Olympic Champion Shawn White.

Photo by Phil Ellsworth / ESPN Images

Tess Coady has completed an amazing comeback from injury, claiming Australia’s first ever World Cup slopestyle gold medal in Seiser Alm, Italy.

The 19-year-old from Melbourne qualified in third place, and in finals stomped a run that saw her do switch bluntslide to regular on the waterfall rail, a perfect skate-style backside lipslide on the down rail out of the butterbox, and a 50-50 backside 180 melon out on the flat rail.

Through the jump line Coady was especially clean, with a switch backside 540, a huge backside 720, and a corked frontside 720 on the final jump to earn a score of 73.48 that would withstand all challengers to come.

“I’m so hyped,” Coady smiled from the finish area before the awards ceremony, “It’s my first slopestyle back since the (PyeongChang 2018) Olympics, where I injured my knee, and I was expecting to come out here and just get some experience doing slopestyle and competing again because it’s been such a long time. I was not expecting to win. It’s amazing.

“I have so much respect for every person that’s gone through a knee injury. It’s such a long process. I had it in my mind that it would be like a year of rehab and I’d be back snowboarding, but the reality for me was that it’s take about two years to get back. There’s a lot of hurdles to get over. But I’m so happy I was able to persist through it all and I’m stoked to be back.”

Coady now has two World Cup medals, with her first podium coming in January 2018 at Snowmass, CO, USA, where she placed third.

Joining Coady on the podium was Katie Ormerod from Great Britain in second place, and Canadian Brooke Voigt in third.

NSWIS rider Matt Cox finished in 45th place in the qualification round, and did not progress through to the final.

The next World Cup slopestyle event will take place in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, on the 21st of March, the venue where Coady won double gold in slopestyle and big air at the World Junior Championships in 2017.

It was another golden performance for Australia’s Scotty James overnight at the Laax Open World Cup event in Switzerland.

The 25 year old snowboarder from Warrandyte, Melbourne, took the first place podium for the third time this season, extending his current win streak to nine events dating back to December 2018.

James led the field with a huge 95.75 points in his first run, and held the lead for the rest of the event with a simple victory lap on his second and final run.

Behind James on the podium was Japanese rider Yuto Totsuka (92.25) in second, with American Taylor Gold (87.00) in third.

“It feels absolutely amazing,” James smiled after he completed a high-five victory lap down the sides of the pipe, “I know coming into tonight it was going to be really tough, everyone was going to bring their A-game, but I was ready to go there.

“I know Yuto (Totsuka) was going to go for it so I didn’t take anything for granted and I was ready to go again (in my second run) if I needed to, but it’s definitely sweet to be able to come down and say thank you to everyone that’s come out to watch us tonight. It really does mean the world and it makes our job so enjoyable.”

James is Australia’s most successful male snowboarder to date. The three time World Champion won an Olympic bronze medal at PyeongChang in 2018, has a plethora of X Games medals (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) and now nine FIS World Cup medals (6 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze) to add to his collection.

James will next look to defend his title at the X-Games in Aspen, Colorado, USA, on January 24.

It was another golden performance for Australia’s Scotty James overnight at the World Cup event in Secret Garden, China, site of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games competition.

The 25 year old VIS snowboarder took the first place podium for the second consecutive time this season.

James led the field with a mammoth 97.80 points in his second run, and held the lead for the rest of the event with a simple victory lap on his third and final run.

“It was definitely a pretty tough day with lots of elements to consider, some winds, a lot of snow, but I mean we prepare for the worst really, so I was really happy that was the run I wanted to do, regardless if it was sunny or snowing”, said the three time World Champion.

“My first run I wasn’t super happy, I did a little hand drag on the last hit, and I knew that I would get docked for that. I knew what I had to do on the second run and I just went back to the top refreshed and got ready to go again.”

“The Japanese athletes really brought it to me today, and I knew they would, so I just came out and gave it my best shot and it seems to be paying off.”

“I am really happy to leave my mark here and finish up with a win. With Secret Garden the Olympic venue in 2022, it was important for me to come here and not leave anything on the table, which I didn’t, and I am stoked.”

James is Australia’s most successful male snowboarder to date. The three time World Champion won an Olympic bronze medal at PyeongChang in 2018, has a plethora of X Games medals (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) and now eight FIS World Cup medals (5 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze) to add to his collection.

Behind James on the podium were Japanese riders Yuto Totsuka (95.80) in second and Ruka Hirano (92.50) in third.

Also competing for Australia was NSWIS athlete and 2018 Olympian Emily Arthur, who missed out on the eight woman final placing 14th in the qualifying round.

James and Arthur will next compete at the Laax Open in Switzerland from January 14-18.

NSWIS Snowboarder Matt Cox has finished the big air World Cup season ranked 11th in the world, after a number of impressive performances in the four big air events this season.

At the final stop in Atlanta, USA, SunTrust Park, home of the Atlanta Braves in Major League Baseball was transformed into a spectacular street style venue.

Cox finished in 20th place in Atlanta, his third top-20 performance of the big air season, with the other highlights being a fifth place in Cardrona, New Zealand, in August, and a tenth place finish last week in Beijing, China.Cox said despite the score, he was happy with his performance overall and is looking ahead to the next competition already. 
“I was super hyped, I landed both my runs.  I didn’t quite get the score I wanted which is a little bit of bummer but it’s on to the next,” said Cox.
“So this BIg Air here kind of wraps everything up for the season and we’re on to slopestyle next should be awesome.
“The venue has been incredible, we’re at a Baseball stadium… we got to sit in the locker room where the baseball players sit and walk out through the dug out into the venue,” he said.

With the big air tour now complete, Cox will not turn his attention back to the slopestyle discipline

IMAGE - The big air setup at SunTrust Park, Atlanta © FIS Snowboard

It was a golden FIS World Cup opener for Australia’s Scotty James at the Land Rover US Grand Prix event at Copper Mountain, Colorado, USA.

The 25 year old VIS snowboarder, took the first place podium for the second consecutive year at the event.

James, a three time Winter Olympian, led the field with a mammoth 96 point first run in challenging snow and flat light conditions and held the first run lead for the rest of the event with a simple victory lap on his third and final run.

“I definitely put some added pressure on myself after last year with some big expectations” said the Australian Institute of Sport male athlete of the year.

“I had to iron those emotions over and just come out with a clear head and approach it as a new season. I did that and just came out today and knew what I had to do to be up top. The elements weren’t in our favour today but everyone rode really well and I knew they were going to, so I had to bring it today.”

James is Australia’s most successful male snowboarder to date. The three time FIS World Champion won an Olympic bronze medal at PyeongChang in 2018, has a plethora of X Games medals (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) and now seven FIS World Cup medals (4 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze) to add to his collection.

Yuto Totsuka (JPN) took silver with 94.5 and Ruka Hirano (JPN) took bronze with 89.25.

NSWIS rider Emily Arthur finished in 25th place, missing out on the eight woman final.

James and Arthur will now travel to Secret Garden in China for the next FIS World Cup on December 22.

Pyeongchang bronze medalist and current World Champion and X Games champion Scotty James has been awarded Male Athlete of the Year after completing the perfect season, winning six of six events.

This is the second time James has won the prestigious male athlete of the year, after first having done so in 2017.
James enjoyed another exceptional snowboard season, including an unprecedented third consecutive halfpipe title.

A veteran of the sport at age 25, James finished the season with wins at The Dew Tour, X Games, US Grand Prix, Laax Open and the US Burton Open.

James was unfortunately unable to attend on the night, as he is currently preparing for his first event of the season in Copper Mountain (USA) in the Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup that starts tomorrow, see below his video acceptance speech.

With an unbeaten season, triple Olympian Scotty James has been awarded the coveted VIS Award of Excellence for a second consecutive year.

James won gold at six out of six events throughout the 2018/19 season including wins at The Dew Tour, X Games, US Grand Prix, Laax Open and the US Burton Open, as well as a third consecutive FIS World Championship title, an unprecedented feat as the first-ever snowboarder to do so.

James is now in the same category as the likes of fellow VIS athletes; Cadel Evans, Cathy Freeman, Kim Brennan, Drew Ginn & James Tomkins as dual Award of Excellence recipients.
“Cadel Evans, Huge fan. Cathy Freeman I grew up watching her at the Olympics and it was always inspiring so to be placed up alongside those two is pretty special and I’ll pinch myself every time I look at it.” James says.

The function was held at Carousel on Albert Park Lake and was attended by over 250 athletes, staff, partners and stakeholders, and recognised and celebrated the outstanding sporting achievements of VIS athletes from a year which brought us World Champions, World Records and a whole lot of Personal Bests.

Six main awards were presented including; the Award of Excellence, the Para Award, 2XU Rising Star Award, the Sarah Tait Spirit Award, the Performance Lifestyle Award and the very special Frank Pyke Achievement Award. In addition, a Coach Award is given to one athlete in each Tier 1 sport who is most deserving within this calendar year.

Award of Excellence:

The Award of Excellence, which honours the athlete who has achieved outstanding sporting results during the year, while contributing to the promotion and development of their sport, has been previously won by notable champions such as Catherine Freeman, Lydia Lassila, Cadel Evans, Mack Horton and Dylan Alcott - it is the pinnacle of VIS Awards.

The 2019 finalists for the Award of Excellence were snowboarder Scotty James, cyclist Kelland O’Brien and rowers Lucy Stephan and Katrina Werry.

After becoming the first-ever snowboarder to finish the season undefeated, Scotty James was awarded the 2019 Award of Excellence for a second consecutive year.

James won gold at six out of six events throughout the 2018/19 season including wins at The Dew Tour, X Games, US Grand Prix, Laax Open and the US Burton Open, as well as a third consecutive FIS World Championship title.

“I’m pretty stoked I get to be hung up against the wall with some other amazing athletes and legends that I admire.” He says.

James says that whilst being able to stand on top of the podium at every event was exciting, he knows that it can be taken away from him at any point.

“It’s been challenging for me to date, to get to where I am, but I think it’s going to be even more challenging to stay here. But, I’m excited for that. As long as im aware that it can be taken away from me at any moment, if I take it for granted, then I never will.”

Scotty is an active role model and mentor within his sport as well as a great ambassador for winter sports and the sporting community. He’s played an active leadership role within the newly structured National Park & Pipe Program which targets young athletes with potential to be medal contenders at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

Scotty has also recently been working closely with the OWIA and Mt Buller to secure the best possible National training facility for halfpipe here in Victoria. He has spent considerable time and effort to try to bring this to fruition and has gladly volunteered his time and effort to assist with this project.

On winning his second-consecutive Award of Excellence, James wanted to praise the Victorian Institute of Sport community.

“The VIS has been an amazing support network every time I’m home in Australia. Snowboarding is a sport that is outside the box and it can be challenging at time to get support in areas that I need. But, I know the VIS will always have my back and are very adaptive to me and what I was trying to achieve.” He says.  

Unfortunately Scotty was unable to attend the event, but Dad, Phil and Sister Rebecca accepted the award on his behalf. However, in true Scotty-style, the loveable boy from Warrandyte prepared this unique acceptance message;

NSWIS Snowboarder Tess Coady has made a successful return to competition, finishing in 11th place at the Big Air World Cup in Modena, Italy.
 
The Modena Big Air was a scaffold ramp setup, with riders getting two jumps in the qualification round, with the highest of the two jumps counting for advancing to the six woman or 10 man final.
 
In her first event back since sustaining a knee injury at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, Coady put down her highest scoring jump first up, with a score of 58 points putting her in 11th place.
 
In the men's event, NSWIS rider Matthew Cox was unable to back up his recent breakthrough fifth place finish at the World Cup in Cardona, New Zealand, finishing in 41st place.
 
The next competition on the schedule for Cox is the Big Air event in Beijing, China, with Coady looking at competing in January at the World Cup Slopestyle event in Seiser Aim, Italy.

Cardrona (NZL) played host to the first FIS Snowboard Big Air World Cup for the season on the 24-25 August 2019.

After a top 5 finish in the qualifying round with an impressive score of 76.50, Matthew Cox placed himself in a comfortable position heading into the finals.

Despite feeling stressed after a couple of mistakes in practice and a fall in the first run, Cox knew what he had to do to get a good score in his second.

“I dropped in, I was ready to roll and then I took off and had another crack at the front 14 off the toes,” Cox said.


“When I finished the 14 with probably 10 foot in the air to go, I was tensing every single muscle in my core that I could and thinking ‘I’ve got to get this’.”

Cox was rapt with his score of 89.25 and felt confident heading into his third run.

“I had a chat to my coaches, and we came to the decision to get the cab 12 and see where that would place me,” Cox said.

“I was super hyped to be in third place, but after some solid performances from Nick Laframboise (CAN) and Kalle Jarvilehto (FIN) that bumped me back down to fifth I was still over the moon.”

Cox finished 5th overall with a total score of 158.00, only 18.25 off competition winner Chris Corning (USA).

“The funniest thing is I was talking to the FIS official at the bottom and he said, ‘You’re going to get paid for this’ and I was losing my mind that I was going to get some prize money as well!” Cox said.

We caught up with Cox to chat all things Snowboarding.

What do you do to prepare for competition?
Well the months before it’s just pretty much snowboarding. Just getting on your feet, making sure everything is good and making sure I feel fine. My competition preparation is, I get up there, I get in my zone, I’ll put on a little bit of music and take myself off to the side and do a bit of breathing. I work with a guy called Matt Griggs and we’ve got a routine that we’ve worked together on for breathing, visualisation and holding my breath while visualising because it’s adding something harder to do while you’re visualising. It’s a segment of Kelee meditation )which is also what I do most nights before I go to bed) but when you’re in competition mode instead of trying to calm down and go into that one place and try and forget everything, you want to put all your energy into snowboarding. So, it’s all about what I’m about to do and prepare for it.

What do you like most about snowboarding?
There are so many factors that go into what I love about snowboarding. But as a little kid a lot of people said snowboarding was never going to take me anywhere. I have so many things to prove to myself, not even others, that I can do everything that I want to do and what I want to do is win an Olympic gold medal and be able to win multiple X Games. I have such a long checklist to tick off in my brain.
It’s also the fact that I can do whatever I want. No-one can get up there and tell what to do, when I get up there it’s all self-driven. You can’t rely on someone else to make your day good, it’s entirely up to you. You get into your mindset and do what you want to do. Obviously external factors help to give you a positive mindset but it’s entirely up to you to take whatever situation you’ve got and turn it into a positive.

Who are your snowboarding heroes?
One of my snowboarding heroes is Halldór Helgason, he is the man! He started following me on Instagram last year and I couldn’t believe it. He’s such a good snowboarder and has that effortless look, which is what I’m trying to do with my snowboarding obviously. So, he’s definitely one of my major idols.
Also, Travis Rice. He’s done a lot of work in film and done a lot of competing over the years, he’s one of the most ridiculous snowboarders on the planet.

What are you currently working on now? What is next for you?
I’m just cleaning everything up. A lot of the tricks that I have in my repertoire at the moment I have been working on for so long - back 16, switchback 16, cab 14’s, front 14’s, back 14’s. It’s just a matter of time and putting in the effort to having them on lock so I can just think ‘okay this is what I’m doing today, let’s go, let’s get it!’
Next for me in competition is Modena Big Air in Italy which is a scaffolding jump – it’s going to be so fun. Plus, I absolutely love food and part of my family heritage way back down the line is Italian, so it’ll be great to go back there. I love food, you could pretty much tempt me into doing anything with food.

What's your ultimate goal?
Winning a gold medal at the Olympics has been a dream of mine since I was a little kid. I want to take down that top spot at that event, it’s the pinnacle event for a lot of sports and I feel like it’s definitely one that stands out the most. Close second would be winning the X-Games; that’s more of a close to home kind of event where the Olympics is more of a prestigious thing.

The unstoppable Scotty James has capped off an incredible season this weekend, winning gold at six out of six events.

It was at the Burton US Open Snowboard event at Vail, CO, USA that James completed "the perfect season", taking out his sixth halfpipe gold medal for 2018/19 with a score of 92.00.

James credits missing out on first place in the semis, with inspiring his most recent gold-winning run.

"I wanted to ride my snowboard the way I do, I was able to do that and I am over the moon," he said.

"It's been an amazing season and coming up second in the semis put a fire under my butt and I didn't like finishing there."

Scotty James finishes the season with wins at The Dew Tour, X Games, US Grand Prix, Laax Open and the US Burton Open, as well as a third consecutive FIS World Championship title, an unprecedented feat as the first-ever snowboarder to do so.

Of winning his third-consecutive world title, the Melbournian said he couldn't believe it.

“I was pinching myself when I won my second world title, and now I’m triple pinching myself that I’ve won my third. It’s amazing."

NSWIS two-time Olympian Kent Callister also made the 10-man final, finishing ninth overall.

Impressive 13-year-old young gun Valentino Guseli placed 19th in the men's open event, after a spectacular win in the Junior Jam, which qualified the NSWIS Park & Pipe rider for the open competition.

IMAGE - Scotty James celebrating his sixth win of the year in Vail at the US Open © blattphoto

olympics.com.au

NSWIS Snowboarder Kent Callister has recorded his fourth straight top-10 of the season at the FIS World Cup Halfpipe event in Calgary, Canada.

Callister qualified for finals in eighth place, with a best score of 75.75 which came in his first run.

Unfortunately in the final, Callister was unable to put down a run, finishing at the back of the 10-man final.

Also in action for Australia was NSWIS teammate Emily Arthur, who finished in 12th place, just missing finals. 

The next World Cup event for Callister and Arthur will be in Mammoth Mountain, California, USA, on March 9th. 

IMAGE - Kent Callister boosting out of the Calgary Halfpipe © FIS Snowboard