Monster Energy Athletes Earn Victories & Medals in 2024 Toyota U.S. Grand Prix, Mammoth Mountain
Monster Energy congratulates its team of snow sports athletes on a strong performance in the 2024 Toyota U.S. Grand Prix, the iconic freeski and snowboard halfpipe and slopestyle FIS World Cup at Mammoth Mountain, California.
In the Men's Snowboard Halfpipe contest, 22-year-old Yuto Totsuka from Yokohama, Japan, took the gold medal. The Men's Freeski Slopestyle final saw 25-year-old Alex Hall from Park City, Utah, claim the victory.
"I'm stoked. It was super tough conditions, but the park crew here in Mammoth killed it getting the course cleaned up and ready for today. We had a decent day today. We made it work, and we were all hungry for it." - Alex Hall
From January 31 to February 3, the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain featured the world's best winter sports athletes competing in both halfpipe and slopestyle competitions. The iconic venue in California has hosted the prestigious Grand Prix more than a dozen times. Sanctioned by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), the contest awarded FIS World Cup points for the 2024 season.
Here are the highlights for team Monster Energy at the 2024 Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain:
Men's Snowboard Halfpipe: Monster Energy's Yuto Totsuka Returns to the Top Spot
After adverse weather forced the cancelation of several contest events, including Snowboard Slopestyle disciplines, athletes were stoked to run the Men's Snowboard Halfpipe contest on Saturday. Amid perfect conditions on Mammoth's 22-foot superpipe, the final saw the return to the top spot of 22-year-old Yuto Totsuka from Yokohama, Japan.
In his first World Cup gold in three seasons, Totsuka rose to first place on Run 1 by posting a 92.25-point score. On Run 2, the 2021 X Games Champion raised the bar even higher with a stacked routine featuring switch backside double cork 1080, switch backside double cork 1440 mute, frontside double cork 1260, backside double cork 1260 mute, and frontside 1080 on the final wall for 94.75 points and the win.
"Today was different from usual in that I felt like I could make my tricks from before the start. I felt good for the first time in a long time, and it's given me confidence," said Monster Energy's Totsuka.
This marks the third career victory for Totsuka at the U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain.
Also rising to the podium, 21-year-old Kaishu Hirano from Murakami, Japan, dropped into the contest after earning his second career X Games bronze medal at X Games Aspen 2024 the previous weekend. Putting together a stylish method McTwist, back-to-back frontside 1260 and backside 1260 earned Hirano 89.25 points for third place in an all-Japanese podium at Mammoth.
Stay tuned for the final FIS World Cup snowboard halfpipe event of the season, the Snow Rodeo in Calgary, Canada, from February 9-10, 2024.
Men's Freeski Slopestyle: Monster Energy's Alex Hall Claims First Place
In the highly competitive Men's Freeski Slopestyle on Mammoth's Unbound Terrain Park, 25-year-old Park City local Alex Hall dropped in as a podium favorite. The previous weekend, Hall had claimed silver medals in Ski Slopestyle and Big Air at X Games Aspen 2024. Now, he was ready to go all the way up…
On his highest-scoring run, Hall worked the rails with technical finesse, including Tokyo drift right 180 on to frontside switch-up continuing 270 off, left slide to backside switch-up pretzel 270 out, and left 270 on tail-tap to 450 nose-tap on the knuckle. He then hit the jumps with a left double cork 1260 opposite Japan, switch left double 1260 mute, and right 1080 bring-back to 900 safety on the final booter for 86.66 points and the win.
"I'm stoked. It was super tough conditions, but the park crew here in Mammoth killed it getting the course cleaned up and ready for today," said Monster Energy's Hall, adding, "We had a decent day today. We made it work, and we were all hungry for it."
On the strength of this win, Hall is tied with American Mac Forehand on the FIS Men's Ski Slopestyle World Cup rankings while edging ahead of Forehand on the FIS Freeski overall rankings.
Hall faced heavy competition from fellow Park City rider 26-year-old Colby Stevenson in the silver-medal position. On Run 2, Stevenson impressed the judges by hitting the jumps with a left double 1620 opposite Japan, switch left double cork 1440 double Japan, and switch right double 1440 mute on the money booter for 84.88 points and second place. This marks the tenth FIS World Cup podium for Stevenson.
