LIAM BREARLEY CLAIMS FIRST CANADIAN SLOPESTYLE CRYSTAL GLOBE
The 2023/24 Park & Pipe World Cup season concluded with an electrifying finale on a dynamic Silvaplana Slopestyle course, where Canada’s Liam Brearley delivered a breathtaking performance to secure his place in World Cup History as the first Canadian ever to claim the Slopestyle crystal globe.
Brearley's remarkable season reached its pinnacle with a flawless top-to-bottom run, showcasing technical rail tricks, all four-way spins, a diverse array of grabs, and impressive amplitude. The silky smooth style that is now a hallmark of his riding saw him score 88.10 a fitting culmination of Brearley's exceptional performances across this heavily interrupted Slopestyle season.
During his Globe clinching second run that saw him leapfrog Japan's Ryoma Kimata to claim the top spot in the men's Slopestyle final rankings., Brearley tied together series of jaw-dropping tricks, including a cab 270 on to 270 off, noseslide backside switchup to forward, frontside double cork 900 truckdriver, switch backside 1260 melon, backside 1620 melon, switch frontside 1440 tail grab, a massive switch frontside 720 stalefish to melon grab, and a fully-locked frontside 270 on 450 off on the rainbow rail.
In a season of unprecedented unpredictability, a weathered out U.S. Grand Prix in Mammoth followed by Canada’s very own Snow Rodeo in Calgary and a scheduled event at Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic unable to go ahead due to snow conditions, the 2023/24 FIS Slopestyle World Cup calendar settled as a three event season, with The LAAX Open on January 20th and the addition of a penultimate World Cup in Tignes France.
Brearley's triumph at Silvaplana added to his impressive LAAX Open victory and a 9th place in Tignes to finish on 229 points for the season, 49 ahead of Kimata. Adding the Globe to a stellar season of accolades including X Games knucklehuck gold, and a win in Streetstyle competition at Dew Tour that have firmly established him as one of the elite snowboarders on the global stage.
With his historic win, Liam Brearley has not only made his mark in snowboarding history but has also set a new standard of excellence for Canadian athletes in Slopestyle competition.
Reflecting on his historic achievement, "It's really crazy. I really thought one of the Canadian squad would have done it before me. I had no clue about that coming into this contest. But it's super sick to be the first one, and I'm glad I could do it here."
"It's been such a crazy season and I'm so thankful for all the results," said Brearley. "To cap it with a first place here [in Silvaplana] when I've got second twice before, it means everything to me."
"This is my favourite course of the year, every year, and to finally win this one is just super sick. I'm glad I could get it done.”
Brearley was valiantly backed up by his Canadian Teammates throughout this condensed season with Cameron Spalding finishing in 4th and Francis Jobin in 10th,
Laurie Blouin of Quebec City was fourth on the day in the women's event with 70.28 points and additionally finished fourth in the Slopestyle World Cup overall points standings for 2023/24.
