Let the 2014 Qualifiers BEGIN.....

We’ve barely caught our breath from London 2012, and the Paralympic torch has just been lit, but 11 hours ahead of us here in the UK the first qualifiers for the Winter Olympics in 2014 have begun.

As every skier and snowboarder worth their salt headed to the Southern Hemisphere, this time there was an added sense of purpose, the prospect of starting campaigns to represent their home nations in Sochi.

For the first time, and as a requirement from the IOC, the freestyle world has an official ‘World Cup’ structure, which allows athletes to build up points to qualify for the games under the A standard. The field at the games will be small (a field of 40 in the Men’s Snowboarding Halfpipe is the largest) so competition is tough, especially in countries like France and the USA where they are restricted to four athletes for both slopestyle and half pipe.

Out in Cardrona, the first blood was taken by skiers Torin Yater-Wallace from the USA, with the two French men Thomas Krief and Benoit Valentin in 2^nd and 3^rd. In the Women’s event the USA took the top spot with Devin Logan and once again it was one country taking the other two spots on the podium as Manami Mitsuboshi and Ayana Onozuka.

The British were represented by a small group of skiers, although we are perhaps better known for our slopestyle athletes, a credible 18^th place for Rowan Cheshire gets her season off to a good start and James Machon took 20^th place amongst a strong men’s field followed by Murray Buchan in 23^rd and Robert Taylor in 26^th.

We’re yet to see the truly massive names of Freestyle make an appearance, Shaun White will be expecting a chance to defend his gold medal in the pipe, particularly after a perfect score at the X Games in 2012. Torah Bright will also be hoping she will start as one of the favourites despite the appearance of a number of new faces like Hannah Teter and Kelly Clark as the women’s field continues to increase both in size and depth. The boarders will be closing out the NZ Winter Games in the pipe on the 25th and 26th of August as the skiers head down to Argentina for 'The End Of The World Challenge' an AFP event that also serves as an Olympic Qualifier for the new Slopestyle event.

2014 will be the first time that slopestyle appears at the Olympics and with the skiers getting to compete in the half pipe there are 6 more medals to contend for in Olympic freestyle. You can be sure that the Scandinavians and the French will be looking to end the period of US dominance in freestyle with their own crop of young talented athletes.

Having just signed off on an immensely successful summer games, that we’re already thinking about winter sports in general seems crazy, let alone the 22^nd Winter Olympic Games but for the freestyle community this marks the point that it all becomes a more serious prospect. After FIS scrapped plans to used ‘crossover’ judges on the skiing and snowboarding events, the community as a whole is back on board with the prospect of a freestyle competition that satisfies both the athletes and the organisers in what is sure to be a spectacular event to watch.

In snow sports, 18 months might as well be 18 years, injuries will no doubt change plans and rankings, but you can already feel the excitement among the freestyle community as the build-up begins in earnest to be at the top of the start ramp on the 8^th of February 2014.

To end this post, something a bit different, a nice little edit from UK Rider Sean Tumelty who's currently recovering from a duff shoulder. Winter's only round the corner, isn't that a nice thought?

Mellow Snow from Sean Tumelty on Vimeo.