SBX Star’s World Cup season drew to a close with dual victories in Mt. St. Anne SBX Double Header
Charlotte Bankes’ 2023-24 World Cup campaign drew to a close with back-to-back wins in the double header Mt. St. Anne Snowboard Cross World Cup this weekend.
The victories – Bankes’ fourth and fifth individual Gold medal performances this season – saw her secure second spot in the cup standings, and came amid an eight-podium season with Silver in Montafon and Bronze in Sierra Nevada adding to Gold in the opening Team SBX race of the season in Les Deux Alpes back in December.
Bankes’ first victory of the weekend came ahead of eventual Crystal Globe winner Chloe Trespeuch with another French athlete, Lea Casta, in the Bronze medal slot, while Sunday’s race saw her triumph ahead of Michela Moioli of Italy and Australia’s Josie Baff, with Trespeuch in fourth but crucially having progressed far enough in the final race of the season to guarantee the overall title.
Amid a season that got started slowly, Bankes can now point to twenty individual World Cup victories since 2015 to add to two World Championship titles and two Crystal Globes, in a career which is fast becoming one of the greatest ever in British snowsport history.
Third victory of season for SBX star
Charlotte Bankes scored her third Snowboard Cross individual World Cup win of the season with a consummate performance in this evening’s Cortina World Cup.
Fresh from dual podiums in Sierra Nevada last weekend, Bankes qualified in first spot and never looked back storming to victory with first place finishes in both the Quarter and Semi Finals before holding off the challenge of Eva Adamczykova and Michela Moioli in the Final.
The result gives Bankes her fourth individual World Cup podium of the season, all coming since the beginning of February.
Speaking afterwards, Charlotte said:
“Tonight was a crazy night, some really tight racing.
“To come away with the win tonight is just unbelievable after quite a tough week.
“Thanks to Abi for her help and work even if she’s not on the road with us and to the coaches for helping me be fit to race tonight and supporting me during this week.
“JP did an incredible job with the boards, they were missiles.
“Another great team effort and just amazing to come away with the win.“
Charlotte Bankes was in flying form in Sierra Nevada, while in Aspen, USA, the Men’s Slalom team made history
Bankes seals dual podiums in Sierra Nevada SBX
Charlotte Bankes was back to her dominant best at the Sierra Nevada Snowboard Cross World Cup, with Gold and Bronze medal performances over the weekend’s back-to-back races.
Coming into the weekend fresh from victory at the Gudauri World Cup last month, Bankes was sensational in Saturday’s races, cruising through amid difficult conditions to secure her second solo victory of the season. Having looked set fair for a repeat performance in Sunday’s second World Cup, Bankes found herself in a close battle with Chloe Trespeuch of France during the Big Final, which saw both riders fall while contesting first spot, with Bankes getting back up to seal Bronze.
The results push Bankes up to fourth in the overall standings after a difficult first half of the season, closing in on Australia’s Josie Baff in third spot.
Ryding and Taylor make British Slalom History
The Aspen Slalom World Cup saw Dave Ryding and Laurie Taylor make British Slalom history, as two British skiers finished in the top-10 in a Slalom World Cup race for the first time ever. Amid a weekend of heavy snowfall, which saw the race start time pushed back following blizzard conditions the night before, both delivered a superb display of Slalom racing, with Taylor smashing his previous personal best to take an astonishing eighth place finish.
Ryding, coming into the second run from fifth spot, ended up taking seventh for his fourth top-10 finish of the season and the 29th of his career, while Taylor delivered a second run for the ages, the fastest among the field, to pull himself up from 19th spot at the turn.
The result makes it the first time Britain has had two skiers in an Alpine World Cup top-10 since Gina Hawthorn and Divina Galica finished in the top-10 in March and April 1968 at the Aspen and Heavenly Valley GS World Cups.
Musgrave in top-10 and Young & Clugnet top-10 at successful Levi World Cup
Andrew Musgrave added another top-10 finish to his impressive 2023/24 season with eighth place at the Levi World Cup 20km C. The result, Musgrave’s eighth top-10 of the season, puts the 33-year-old at fifth in the overall season Distance race rankings and continues an impressive year, which also saw him take the fourth World Cup podium of his career.
In the Team Sprint, Andrew Young and James Clugnet finished in a credible 19th spot adding to their impressive body of Team Sprint performances in recent years.
SBX star takes third consecutive World Cup podium
Charlotte Bankes backed up her first place showing yesterday with a third place finish at the second of the weekend’s double-header Snowboard Cross World Cups in Sierra Nevada.
Having made serene progress through the knockout phases, a hard-fought final saw Bankes come in in third place behind Michela Moioli of Italy and Australian Josie Baff in first and second spot.
The result gives Bankes her fourth podium of the season after two consecutive Gold medal performances followed Team Gold in the first race of the season.
Afterwards, Charlotte said:
“This was another good day of racing, a great team effort and I really built my runs.
“The final was tight I was in good position slip streaming Chloe and saw space on the inside. We came out neck and neck form that turn and on last rollers unfortunately there was contact and we both crash out.
“A shame to finish like that for both of us as we were in front fighting for the win. But hopefully we’ll both be fit for the next race in Cortina next weekend.”
SBX superstar takes second consecutive World Cup victory with a superb display in Sierra Nevada
Charlotte Bankes recorded her second consecutive Snowboard Cross World Cup victory with a perfectly executed charge through the Sierra Nevada SBX World Cup.
Bankes, who came through both her Quarter and Semi Final contests in first place, appears to have put early season struggles behind her as she returned to the dominance that saw her take back-to-back Crystal Globes in 2022 and 2023 to take the seventeenth solo World Cup victory of a storied career.
At the Finals stage in Sierra Nevada, Bankes saw off the challenge of Czechia’s Eva Adamczykova in silver, and the French pair Chloe Trespeuch and Manon Petit Lenoir in third and fourth respectively.
Speaking afterwards, Charlotte said:
“It was great to get the win today going into this big block of racing ahead. Today was tough conditions but a great team effort with a fast board and a great game plan that I was able to finish off.
“Thanks to everyone involved; it’s another big team effort as we go again tomorrow.”
2023/24 season explodes into life with day of stunning results
Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale take sensational Team SBX Victory
Reigning Mixed Team Snowboard Cross World Champions, Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale, opened their season in outstanding style with Britain’s first ever Team Snowboard Cross World Cup victory at Les Deux Alpes. In a strong field and amid challenging conditions, Nightingale and Bankes rode flawlessly to back up their breathtaking World Championships win with another superbly executed demonstration of Team Boardercross action.
The following day’s solo competition saw disappointment for Bankes as she failed to make it through the qualifying heats, but Nightingale recorded a personal best 16th place finish, improving on his previous PB set at the Mt. St. Anne World Cup in March.
Muir Majestic in Beijing
Returning to the site of the Beijing Olympic Winter Games Big Air competition, Kirsty Muir delivered an astonishing display of Big Air skiing to land second place among a field of the world’s strongest Big Air athletes. The result gave Muir her third career World Cup podium and a first in the Big Air discipline, having recorded top-10 finishes in her previous two Big Air competitions in Chur and Copper Mountain last year.
In the Freestyle Snowboard competition, Mia Brookes delivered another excellent performance to take fourth place in one of the highest calibre Big Air World Cup contests of recent years. Mia, who qualified in first place, looked on course for another podium position before high-scoring jumps from Anna Gasser, Tess Coady, and Miyabi Onitsuka nudged her just out of the top-3.
In the Men’s competitions, Billy Cockrell’s first World Cup of the season saw him finish in 39th spot, while Freeskiers Tom Greenway and Chris McCormick finished in 29th and 46th spot respectively.
Musgrave pushing for podiums in Cross-Country
Andrew Musgrave’s strong start to the Cross-Country World Cup season continued in Gallivare with fifth place in the 10km Free Interval Start. Once again, Musgrave was the only non-Norwegian skier in the top-5, finishing just 1.3s outside of the podium places and only 6.4s behind race winner Paal Golberg. The result continues Musgrave’s excellent early season form which has already delivered three top-10 finishes in four World Cup races.
Andrew Young put in an impressive showing to break into the top-30, while Joe Davies finished 34th putting him in third spot in the U23 rankings.
Jeannesson breaks new ground in Ruka Moguls World Cup
19-year-old Mateo Jeannesson obliterated his previous World Cup personal best with an astonishing sixth place finish at the Moguls World Cup opener in Ruka. Marking his first time making the Super Finals stage of a World Cup competition, Mateo skiied with skill and verve to push himself into the top-6 for the first time at World Cup level, as one of only two teenage skiers to make the top-10.
The result demolishes a previous personal best of 19th set in Deer Valley in February.
Para Snowboard Season gets underway in Landgraaf
The first events of the Para Snowboard season saw Nina Sparks and James Barnes-Miller both take a sixth and seventh place finish in back-to-back Banked Slalom World Cup races in Landgraaf. In the Europa Cup competition, Matt Hamilton was the standout performer with third and fourth place finishes, while Jack Silverwood took a fifth and a seventh, and Scott McNeice seventh and ninth.
Reigning Team Snowboard Cross World Champions seal remarkable victory at Les Deux Alpes World Cup
Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale opened their World Cup season in the best possible way with a superb World Cup win at the Les Deux Alpes Snowboard Cross Team event this afternoon.
Against a strong field, the World Champion pair were dominant throughout, coming second in their Quarter Final leg before taking victory in both the Semi Final and Final stages.
With Bankes looking in imperious form, and Nightingale ensuring the team never lost touch with the field, victory marks a stunning start to the season for the British pair.
Speaking afterwards, Huw and Charlotte said:
“After a few days in the hotel, it’s been great to be racing a team event to start the season; today’s performances were really the result of an amazing team effort from everyone.
“Les Deux Alpes have done an amazing job in pulling off this race, and we’re both looking forward to going again tomorrow.”
GB Snowsport Head Coach, Pat Sharples, said:
“It’s so incredible to see Charlotte and Huw continue their success from last year into the start of this season in Les Deux Alpes. Both Charlotte and Huw as well as their coaching and support team have worked incredibly hard right through the summer and autumn and it’s paying off. What a start to the World Cup circuit!“
After a period of non-programme activity following the conclusion of the 2022/23 winter season, GB Snowsport squads are now back in pre-season training.
With the 2023/24 season approaching quickly and the Freestyle World Junior Championships already on the horizon, pre-season training camps have been confirmed in the following locations while the Alpine and Cross-Country Squads have both already completed a number of pre-season camps in Peer and Bo.
Freeski
Location: Perisher, Australia
Dates: 16 August – 3 September
Athletes Attending: Connie Brogden, Caoimhe Heavey, Chris McCormick, Kirsty Muir, Mia Rennie
Location: Cardona, New Zealand
Dates: 25 August – 29 September
Athletes Attending: Zoe Atkin, Connie Brogden, Tom Greenway, Caoimhe Heavey, Kirsty Muir, Mia Rennie
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Freestyle Snowboard
Location: Perisher, Australia
Dates: 2 – 23 August
Athletes Attending: Mia Brookes, Billy Cockrell, Charlie Lane
Location: Cardona, New Zealand
Dates: 20 August – 12 September
Athletes Attending: Mia Brookes, Charlie Lane, Katie Ormerod (completing return-to-snow protocols)
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Moguls
Location: Whistler, Canada – Water Ramp Camp
Dates: 8 – 30 July
Athletes Attending: Cali Carr, Will Feneley, Makayla Gerken Schofield, Mateo Jeannesson
Location: Perisher, Australia
Dates: 18 August – 5 September
Athletes Attending: Will Feneley, Makayla Gerken Schofield, Mateo Jeannesson
Location: Hintertux, Austria
Dates: 3 – 13 October
Athletes Attending: Will Feneley, Makayla Gerken Schofield, Mateo Jeannesson
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Ski Cross
Location: Corralco, Chile
Dates: 13 – 26 September
Athlete Attending: Ollie Davies
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Snowboard Cross
Location: Corralco, Chile
Dates: 9 – 29 September
Athletes Attending: Charlotte Bankes, Huw Nightingale
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Cross Country
Location: Blink Festival, Sandnes, Norway
Dates: 31 July – 6 August
Athletes Attending: James Clugnet, Joe Davies, Andrew Musgrave
Location: Hemsedal, Norway
Dates: 10 – 15 September
Athletes Attending: James Clugnet, Joe Davies, Andrew Musgrave, Andrew Young
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Alpine
Location: Saas Fee, Switzerland – Men’s Slalom Camp
Dates: 13 August – 2 September
Athletes Attending: Billy Major, Dave Ryding, Laurie Taylor
Location: Saas Fee, Switzerland – Van Deer Camp
Dates: 7 – 15 August
Athlete Attending: Charlie Raposo
Location: Saas Fee, Switzerland – Men’s Slalom Camp
Dates: 10 – 30 September
Athletes Attending: Billy Major, Dave Ryding, Laurie Taylor
Location: Saas Fee, Switzerland – Women’s Alpine Camp
Dates: 22 August – 1 September
Athlete Attending: Charlie Guest
Location: Argentina – Van Deer Camp
Dates: 23 August – 16 September
Athlete Attending: Charlie Raposo
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Para Alpine
Location: Oslo/Fonne – Norway
Dates: 27 July – 12 August
Athletes Attending: Shona Brownlee, Menna Fitzpatrick, Katie Guest, Adam Hall, Louise Harrison, Michael Kear
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Para Snowboard
Location: Perisher, Australia
Dates: 20 July – 17 August
Athletes Attending: James Barnes-Miller, Matt Hamilton (Invitational Athlete)
GB Snowsport confirm the British Freeski, Freestyle Snowboard, Moguls, Snowboard Cross, and Ski Cross Squads for the 2023/24 season
Featuring three reigning Snowboard World Champions in Mia Brookes (Slopestyle, Bakuriani 2023), and Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale (Team Snowboard Cross, Bakuriani 2023) and nine World Cup medallists, the six World Cup and A Squads will host 26 athletes across Freeski Slopestyle and Big Air, Freeski Halfpipe, Freestyle Snowboard Slopestyle and Big Air, Moguls, Ski Cross, and Snowboard Cross disciplines.
Among the athletes named in today’s selection are five who meet World Cup/A Squad criteria for the first time, and a further seven athletes selected pending coach and FIS point criteria reviews at the end of the pre-season programme.
The Freeski A squad features eight athletes, with Zoe Atkin, Connie Brogden, Tom Greenway, Tyler Harding, Chris McCormick, Kirsty Muir, James Pouch, Mia Rennie, and James Woods all returning from last season’s selections, and Caoimhe Heavey named for the first time having chosen to transfer to the British programme from the Canadian system. Sam Gaskin, meanwhile, is selected to the B Squad in Halfpipe.
The Freestyle Snowboard A Squad features Slopestyle World Champion Mia Brookes alongside Billy Cockrell, Maisie Hill (who continues her recovery from injury), Katie Ormerod and Emily Rothney. Charlie Lane and Ethan Smith are also selected on an initial pending basis. The B Squad features Lenny Fenning, Teiva Hamaini, and Euan Rogers, with Roahan Duncan, Amber Fennell, and Mia Langridge all selected on a pending basis, while Siddhartha Ullah will continue his progress in the Freestyle Halfpipe discipline having recorded top-10 positions in National Championships and Nor-Am Cup competitions last season.
In Snowboard Cross, two-time Crystal Globe holder Charlotte Bankes is joined by fellow Team World Champion Huw Nightingale, while in Ski Cross Ollie Davies is once again selected to the World Cup squad having secured his first World Cup podium earlier in the year. An eight-athlete Ski Cross Europa Cup Squad features Greg Baillie, Tommy Dade, Faith Davie, Scott Johns, Alannah Lawrie, Emma Peters, Zoe Winthrop, and Patrick Young.
The Moguls discipline sees 16-year-old Cali Carr join Will Feneley, Leonie Gerken Schofield, Makayla Gerken Schofield, Thomas Gerken Schofield, and Mateo Jeannesson in a World Cup squad that delivered a series of exceptional performances through the 2022/23 season.
Without a World Championships to focus on across the Freestyle programme, athletes across all disciplines will be looking to this season as an opportunity to hone and develop technical skills as the build-up to the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games draws closer, while continuing to deliver exceptional results on the World Cup circuit.
Mateo Jeannesson, Moguls World Cup Squad Member, said:
“Last year I feel like I made some big strides in my development, and I’m excited about what’s coming next season. We’ve got a great team spirit and an amazing set-up, and I feel like that’s given us all the ingredients we need to show the rest of the world how much talent there is in British Moguls skiing. I’m really pleased to be a part of this team, and I’m looking forward to getting back to it.”
Pat Sharples, GB Snowsport Head Coach, said:
“After a hugely successful 2023 winter season for our athletes at World Championships, X Games, and on the World Cup circuit, it’s super exciting to see new, young, talented athletes join our teams across all Freestyle disciplines. With many of them targeting events like the World Junior Championships and Youth Olympic Games, and some starting out on their journey on the World Cup circuit, this promises to be another exciting season ahead.
“Selection to these squads doesn’t happen without an enormous amount of hard work and dedication, and it’s right that we acknowledge both the athletes’ own commitment and the incredible efforts of all the coaches across the British Freestyle system who play such an important role in developing such a talented pool of British snowsport athletes.”
Full Squad Selections
Freeski – A Squad
- Zoe Atkin*
- Connie Brogden†
- Tom Greenway
- Tyler Harding
- Caoimhe Heavey** †
- Chris McCormick
- Kirsty Muir
- James Pouch
- Mia Rennie†
- James Woods
Freeski – B Squad
- Sam Gaskin*
Snowboard Cross World Cup Squad
- Charlotte Bankes
- Huw Nightingale
Ski Cross World Cup Squad
- Ollie Davies
Ski Cross Europa Cup Squad
- Greg Baillie†
- Tommy Dade
- Faith Davie
- Scott Johns
- Alannah Lawrie
- Emma Peters
- Zoe Winthrop
- Patrick Young†
Moguls World Cup Squad
- Cali Carr***
- Will Feneley
- Leonie Gerken Schofield
- Makayla Gerken Schofield
- Thomas Gerken Schofield
- Mateo Jeannesson
Freestyle Snowboard A Squad
- Mia Brookes
- Billy Cockrell
- Maisie Hill
- Charlie Lane†
- Katie Ormerod
- Emily Rothney
- Ethan Smith†
Freestyle Snowboard B Squad
- Roahan Duncan
- Amber Fennell†
- Lenny Fenning
- Teiva Hamaini
- Mia Langridge
- Euan Rogers
- Siddhartha Ullah*
* Half Pipe Only
** Nation Transfer from Canadian system
*** Nation Transfer from American system
† Selection status pending FIS points or coach review