What is big air snowboarding at 2018 Winter Olympics?
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea – Over the past two Olympics, snowboarders have had the chance to demonstrate some of their gnarliest tricks during the slopestyle competition.
Now they’re going to push it even more.
Big air makes its debut on Monday with qualifying for the women, and the new event will give a showcase to the toughest tricks being done in the sport.
The event is just like it sounds – big. Snowboarders ride down a ramp onto a jump and into the air, where riders will attempt to perform their best tricks.
For the women, that’s tricks with a high degree of rotation like a 1080, which is three full spins. Or it’s likely to be a double cork. The off-axis trick, which contains two flips and varying degrees of rotation, is the hardest trick in women’s snowboarding now.
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Austrian Anna Gasser is the favorite in the event and came into the Games off a big air gold at the X Games last month.
American Jamie Anderson, who won her second slopestyle gold last week, could contend for a medal. And Julia Marino and Hailey Langland, her U.S. teammates, should be in the mix.
For the men, triple corks – you guessed it, three off-axis flips – are standard. The difficulty comes in higher degrees of rotation or tougher grabs that make the tricks look stylish. So expect to see triple cork 1440s, which is four full spins, or 1620s.
It’s even possible to see a quad cork, which Norwegian Marcus Kleveland first landed in the X Games last year.
Besides Kleveland, Canadians Mark McMorris and Max Parrot are expected to challenge for a medal.