The Crankworx World Tour is down a stop but up a tour title.
This year's tour will see three stops, down from the four it hit the past two summers, after eliminating the French festival in Les Gets.
The 2019 schedule will be: Crankworx Rotorua from March 19 to 24; Crankworx Innsbruck from June 12 to 16; and Crankworx Whistler from Aug. 9 to 18.
This season will also see dual slalom promoted to a Crankworx Championship, as the discipline will now be held at all tour stops with an overall title handed out at the end of the season.
"In a way, it represents what Crankworx is all about," Crankworx World Tour general manager Darren Kinnaird said in a release. "It's a simple, raw format that brings out riders from across the spectrum of mountain bike disciplines and ability. We added our first Dual Slalom competitions outside Whistler last year and they absolutely went off."
For more information, visit crankworx.com.
Saudan Couloir Ski Race Extreme registration opens
The second edition of the rebooted Saudan Couloir Ski Race Extreme will expand to include snowboarders.
The race, which in its first incarnation ran from 1987 until 2001, will feature pro categories for male and female snowboarders, as well as three amateur categories when it runs on Saturday, April 13 (with the possibility of running a day earlier if conditions are more favourable). Snowboarding was part of the race starting in 1993, but never featured a pro women's event.
The 3,300-metre race features 41 gates and declines of up to 42 degrees.
More details and registration are online at www.wssf.com/events/saudan-extreme.
Kripps takes second straight silver
After starting its BMW IBSF World Cup season a little on the late side, the duo of Justin Kripps and Cameron Stones has performed well in its first races of the season.
Kripps and Stones earned their second runner-up finish in as many races at the World Cup race at Königssee, Germany on Jan. 12.
They finished 0.11 seconds back of Germans Francesco Friedrich and Martin Grothkopp, while edging out third-place finishers Johannes Lochner and Christian Rasp, also of Germany, by 0.32 seconds.
"I just love the big 'S' curves here. The first time I drove here, I came with Pierre Lueders who was teaching me to drive and he explained the track really well then—how to hit these corners to get the good speed you need to the finish," Kripps said in a release. "I usually feel like I'll get a good result here, but more than that, I just like sliding here. I like most of the tracks around the world, but I just have a lot of fun on this track."
Meanwhile, Nick Poloniato and Ryan Sommer earned a ninth-place finish.
In the Jan. 13 four-man event, Kripps piloted his sled to a fifth-place showing, 0.87 seconds off the pace set by champion Lochner and his sled. Latvia's Oskars Kiebermanis led his team to a second-place finish while Friedrich and his crew took third.
Poloniato's team placed 17th.
On the women's side, Alyssia Rissling and Kristen Bujnowski slid to a ninth-place finish, while Christine de Bruin and Janine McCue tied for 10th. Germany's Mariama Jamanka and Annika Drazek earned the win ahead of second-place Elana Meyers Taylor and Lake Kwaza of the United States and fellow Germans Stephanie Schneider and Ann-Christin Stack.
The men's and women's skeleton races were cancelled because of inclement weather.
Langevin second at Font Romeu
Canadian Philippe Langevin took by far his best-ever FIS World Cup result at the slopestyle event in Font Romeu, France on Jan. 12.
The 17-year-old topped his previous best, a 10th-place finish at Stubai, Austria in November, with a second-place finish via a score of 90.27. American Alexander Hall scored a 92.11 to earn the win while third-place finisher Andri Ragletti of Switzerland posted an 89.06.
"I can't believe it, it's insane! I wasn't expecting this to come so fast, so I'm super stoked," Langevin said in a release. "I felt really good out there, I was able to do what I had set out to do, so that's a good sign for upcoming races. The key, now, will be to recreate that as often as possible and to be as consistent as possible."
Fellow Canadian Max Moffatt also performed well, finishing sixth, while Etienne Geoffroy Gagnon ended up in lucky 13th. Noah Morrison, meanwhile, snuck into the top 30 in 30th place.
On the women's side, Ontario's Megan Oldham put up the top Canadian result with a ninth-place finish in her second World Cup event. Switzerland's Sarah Hoefflin nicked 15-year-old American Eileen Gu by 0.49 points to earn the victory while Giulia Tanno, also of Switzerland, placed third.
Philp 21st at Adelboden
Canadian Trevor Philp was the only Canadian to post a result in either of the two Audi FIS World Cup races at Adelboden, Switzerland on Jan. 12 and 13.
Philp put up a 21st-place showing in the Jan. 12 giant slalom, with his two-run time placing him 4.83 seconds back of champion Marcel Hirscher of Austria. Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen placed second and France's Thomas Fanara was third.
No Canadians finished two runs in the Jan. 13 slalom. Hirscher again took the win, besting France's Clement Noel and Kristoffersen, who were second and third, respectively.
The women, meanwhile, were in action at Kronplatz, Italy, on Jan. 15. Marie-Michele Gagnon was the lone Canuck to finish the giant slalom, taking a 22nd-place result, 5.03 seconds back of winner Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States. France's Tessa Worley and Italy's Marta Bassino rounded out the podium in second and third, respectively.
Full results are available online at fis-ski.com.
