ALPENSIA, South Korea (Nov. 25, 2016) - Three American men soared into the finals as the FIS Snowboard World Cup tour visited the Olympic big air jump in Alpensia. Chris Corning (Aspen, CO), Ryan Stassel (Anchorage) and Red Gerard (Silverthorne, CO) all made it through Thursday's qualifiers and into Friday's big air finals. Women will qualify on Friday.
Corning, who was on the podium two weeks ago in the Milan big air, was second in his heat and had the third highest score at 92.25. Stassel was third in the same heat, while Gerard, just 16, finished fourth in the other heat.
"We had beautiful sunny conditions and a top notch setup here in Korea for the big air," said Head Coach Mike Jankowski. "The level of riding here is very high and we are proud of all our riders pushing the level today."
While Corning and Stassel are veteran podium finishers, the teenaged Gerard is pumped to be in finals on the Olympic jump. "Red is definitely a happy guy right now, but he is far from satisfied just making the final," added Jankowski. "He has his mind set on landing more difficult tricks in the final and getting on the podium."
The innovative big air scaffold was setup immediatey opposite the nordic jumps, with the landing hill and finish dropping into the Alpensia Ski Jumping Center stadium. The venue is in the heart of the Alpensia Resort area which will be the site for all nordic events, bobsled and luge, alpine GS and slalom and the Olympic stadium. The big air is a newly built venue over 160 feet high, the largest big air ramp in the world. A field of 56 men and 39 women from 23 nations are competing with 20 U.S. riders attending.
Saturday's final round will be streamed live on NBCsports.com beginning at 11:00 p.m. EST on Friday evening U.S. time.
RESULTS
Men's big air qualifying
