The U.S. Olympic Teams for halfpipe and slopestyle snowboarding and skiing will be determined by five selection events in December and January.
Those selection events are as follows:
Breckenridge, Colo. — Dec. 12-15
Copper Mountain, Colo. — Dec. 16-22
Breckenrdige, Colo. — Jan. 6-12 (moved from Northstar, Calif.)
Mammoth Mountain, Calif. — Jan. 14-19 (two snowboarding events)
Park City, Utah — Jan. 15-18 (no snowboarding events)
The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association details how the Olympic Team selection process works in this snowboarding document and this freestyle skiing document.
Here’s the text for snowboarding:
Up to three halfpipe athletes per gender who have had a top four result, against the entire competition field, in the selection events will be named to the Olympic team. If more than three athletes, in either gender, have had a top four result then ties will be broken. … Each athlete’s best two results will be combined to create a ranking list for nomination in each gender.
Up to three slopestyle men and two slopestyle women athletes who have had a top four result, against the entire competition field, in the selection events will be named to the Olympic team. If more than three men and two women athletes have had a top four result then ties will be broken. … Each athlete’s best two results will be combined to create a ranking list for nomination in each gender.
Here’s the text for freestyle skiing:
Up to three halfpipe (or slopestyle) athletes per gender who have had two top three results against the entire competition field in the selection events during the selection period will be named to the Olympic team. If more than three athletes, in either gender, have had two top three results then ties will be broken. … Each athlete’s best two results will be combined to create a ranking list for nomination in each gender.
It’s expected most (if not all) disciplines will fall into tiebreaker ranking lists. Here’s where it gets tricky.
A nation can’t send more than 24 snowboarders to the Olympics across all disciplines — halfpipe, slopestyle, snowboardcross and parallel giant slalom and parallel slalom — even though it could qualify up to 32 Olympic snowboarding spots (four per gender per event).
As of Dec. 23, the U.S. had qualified 26 snowboarding quota spots — four men and women each in halfpipe and slopestyle, four men in snowboardcross, three women in snowboardcross, two men in parallel and one woman in parallel. If it stays that way, the U.S. will not be able to fill two of those spots.
A nation can’t send more than 26 freestyle skiers to the Olympics across all disciplines — aerials, moguls, skicross, ski halfpipe and ski slopestyle — even though it could qualify up to 40 Olympic freestyle skiing spots (four per gender per event).
As of Dec. 23, the U.S. had qualified 34 freestyle skiing quota spots — four men and women each in aerials, moguls, ski halfpipe and ski slopestyle, two men in skicross and zero women in skicross. If it stays that way, the U.S. will not be able to fill eight of those spots.
The Olympic selection tiebreaker rankings for halfpipe and slopestyle snowboarding and skiing are calculated the same as World Cup standings, on a points system that begins with:
First place — 1,000 points (for snowboarding, 100 for freeskiing)
Second — 800 (80 for freeskiing)
Third — 600 (60 for freeskiing)
Fourth — 500 (50 for freeskiing)
The tiebreaker rankings throw out results by international athletes (such as Australian Torah Bright, who won the Dew Tour women’s halfpipe). There has been conflicting information if results will be thrown out by Americans not eligible for the U.S. Olympic Team, such as 13-year-old snowboarder Chloe Kim, who is too young for Sochi.
That in mind, here are the Olympic selection event tiebreaker rankings for snowboard halfpipe, snowboard slopestyle, ski halfpipe and ski slopestyle (only counting snowboarders with top-four results and skiers with top-three results):
Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe
1. Greg Bretz — 1,800
2. Taylor Gold — 1,600
3. Ben Ferguson — 1,000
4. Louie Vito — 900
5. Shaun White — 800
Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe
1. Kelly Clark — 2,000 — clinched Olympic berth
2. Arielle Gold — 1,600 (or 1,400* if Kim is counted)
3. Gretchen Bleiler — 1,100 (or 1,050* if Kim is counted)
Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle
1. Shaun White — 1,320
Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle
1. Jamie Anderson — 1,800
2. Ty Walker — 1,500
Men’s Ski Halfpipe
1. Aaron Blunck — 180
2. David Wise — 129
3. Gus Kenworthy — 112
4. Lyman Currier — 105
Women’s Ski Halfpipe
1. Maddie Bowman — 180 (has two top-three results)
2. Brita Sigourney — 160 (has two top-three results)
3. Angeli VanLaanen — 125
Men’s Ski Slopestyle
1. Nick Goepper — 200 — clinched Olympic berth
Women’s Ski Slopestyle
1. Maggie Voisin — 140
2. Devin Logan — 136
2. Darian Stevens — 136
4. Grete Eliassen — 102
