Local freestyle mogul skier Jordan Kober made Penticton proud Sunday Dec. 13 with a third place finish at the World Cup in Idre Fjall, Sweden.
Kober has been on the World Cup tour for six seasons, with Sunday marking his first podium finish on the international stage.
🚨 PODIUM ALERT 🚨â£â£
Congratulations to Jordan Kober who claimed his first World Cup podium today by finishing 3rd in Dual Moguls in Idre Fjall! 🥉🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/4tqxI17qla— Freestyle Canada (@canfreestyleski) December 13, 2020
Kober shared the bronze medal with American Bradley Wilson after their final runs were cancelled due to fog.
Kober finished his final World Cup race of 2020 within striking distance of first place with a final score of 78.31 points.
Sweden’s Ludvig Fjallstrom (79.74 points) and Australian Matt Graham (81.06 points) were both awarded with first place finishes due to the cancellation.
In dual moguls scores competitors rip down the mogul course and launch themselves off two jumps under scrutiny of a panel judges. Marks are awarded for the technical quality of the skier’s turns (60 per cent), the two aerial maneuvers (20 per cent) and speed (20 per cent). While speed is a factor, the fastest skier across the finish line does not necessarily win.
Kober completed his final run in 25 seconds and landed a back-cross (a back-flip with crossed skis) on his first jump and a cork 720 (two full off-axis rotations) on his second jump.
The 24-year-old said he was thrilled with the third place finish. His goal coming into the competition was to place in the top 12 to earn the right to continue on the World Cup tour.
“Once I was guaranteed a top 12 spot I could kind of relax and enjoy it,” he said. “But at the same time I did know there was a decent chance to get a better result, given the course and the snow conditions. It was the kind of day where anyone could win it.
“I was super psyched to make it that far, it was my best result ever.”
Despite being thrilled with the result, Kober said his final run being cancelled due to the low visibility left him wanting more. “Hopefully that just keeps me hungry to try to get that position again and try to finish the job next time.”
Kober grew up skiing and training at Apex Mountain Resort as part Apex’s freestyle team. He will continue to train at Apex this winter once he completes a two-week quarantine.
“Apex has been everything for me,” Kober said over the phone from his Penticton home Tuesday (Dec. 15). “They do so much for mogul skiing, it’s crazy.”
READ MORE: Former Olympian Kristi Richards looks to take Apex’s freestyle ski team to new heights
Kober began training at Apex in mid-November this year, earlier than he would have been able to anywhere else in Canada. “For my full development since I was a kid Apex has been awesome but this year alone being able to do that extra training, especially after not training all off-season because of COVID, that was huge.
“It gave me such an advantage heading overseas.”
Kober returned home to Penticton Monday (Dec. 14) afternoon. Once he’s completed quarantine he’ll resume training at Apex with his sights set on the World Cup event in Calgary Jan. 28 and 29, 2021.
“For the next two weeks I’ll just be sitting in my room not doing a whole lot but my first day out I’m definitely going skiing,” he said.
Looking into the future, with the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics only one ski season away, Kober will have his sights set on an Olympic dream
“That’s definitely the goal,” Kober said of making the 2022 Olympic team. “If I can keep getting results like this there’s definitely a real shot at getting there.”
READ MORE: Apex Mountain Resort receives record-breaking early season snow
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