The big air title has already been awarded in January to Stefan Gimpl of Austria. Likewise, the race for the men’s snowboard cross title is already decided as Pierre Vaultier has gained an insurmountable lead, with 4,800 points already earned by winning four out of five races. He was a runner-up in the fifth race.
On the women's side, three riders are all within reach of the discipline title: current World Cup leader and reigning Olympic champion Maelle Ricker (CAN, 3,960), Helene Olafsen (NOR, 3,050) and Dominique Maltais (CAN, 2,860). However, the race for the women's parallel title is an even closer one. 2010 Vancouver Gold medalist Nicolien Sauerbreij (NED, 3,800) is only 90 points ahead of Doris Guenther (AUT), who comes to Valmalenco on the momentum of winning the parallel slalom held in Moscow last weekend. And with Germany's Amelie Kober taking a break from competition due to pregnancy, Fraenzi Maegert-Kohli (SUI, 3,420), Alena Zavarzina (RUS, 3,166) and Marion Kreiner (AUT, 2,940) might be able to intercede in the race between Sauerbreij and Guenther.
On the men’s side, it looks like an internal Austrian battle between Benjamin Karl, who sits comfortably in first with 5,600 points, and Karl's teammate Andreas Prommegger (4,450). Olympic champion Jasey-Jay Anderson (CAN, 3,800) has only a theoretical chance of adding another World Cup title to his belt.
In the halfpipe, it is more than likely that a Chinese rider will again be awarded the Crystal Globe. On the women's side, defending title holder Jiayu Liu (1,500) sits in fourth, with her fellow countrywomen Xuetong Cai (3,040), Zhifeng Sun (2,805) and Xu Chen (1,840) owning the top three positions. On the men’s side, Janne Korpi (FIN, 1,730) is in front, but several riders are breathing right down his neck: Kazuhiro Kokubo (JPN, 1,600), Finland's Antti Autti (1,360), China’s Xiaoye Zeng (1,320), Justin Lamoureux (CAN, 1,300) and France’s Mathieu Crepel and Arthur Longo, both with 1,200 points. All are within a range of only 530 World Cup points from the current leader.
