32nd Annual ABOM Mogul Challenge

32^ND ANNUAL ABOM MOGUL CHALLENGE - MATT GRAHAM WINS A 7TH GONG!

4 Sept 2022: The return of the ABOM Mogul Challenge to Mt Buller yesterday (Sat 3 Sept) was a display of dazzling bumps skiing with an impressive international and local line up thrilled to be back on the Chamois course.

Familiar faces and newcomers were cheered enthusiastically by the spellbound crowd who lined the course all afternoon and into a chilly night rubbing shoulders with plenty of Olympic, World Cup and emerging talent. 

The blisteringly dual finals saw the top tier go head to head down the 197 metre course in just 20 seconds, squeezing in two spectacular aerial jumps between high speed bump sections.

The highlight of the night was Matt Graham dominating the course and the competition to take home his 7^th ABOM trophy – the most titles in the history of the event, followed by Nick Cleaver who has five in his collection.

Austrian Avital Carrol beat out a strong stable of Japanese skiers to secure her first ABOM title.

Matt reflected on the win at the bottom of the course saying, “I was up against Kosuke Sugimoto and he’s one of the best skiers in the world so I just had to send it and it all came together in my last run.  It’s great to be competing again at Mt Buller under lights, it’s the second time we’ve done this and it’s pretty special to be able to it here in Australia. I’m coming back from an injury and getting back into training and loving the sport again, having a lot of fun.”

Avital summed up her experience taking out top place on the women’s podium, “It was super fast, super fun, charging all the time and kind of terrifying and super exciting at the same time!”

Event director Andrew Pattison was delighted to have the community back together, “This is the fun event that the athletes look forward to, it’s great to be back.”

101 athletes competed over the divisions which included open, youth and masters and Mt Buller showed the international mogul community the passion and energy the resort has for the sport beamed via a live-stream from the course.

OPEN WOMEN

1. Avital Carrol (Austria)
2. Rino Yanagimoto (Japan)
3. Anri Kawamura (Japan)

OPEN MEN

1. Matt Graham (Australia)
2. Kosuke Sugimoto (Japan)
3. Cooper Woods (Australia)

YOUTH WOMEN

1. Talia Manns (Perisher)
2. Kayleigh Yap (TBR/Mt Buller)
3. Eliza Peake (Perisher)

YOUTH MEN

1. Jasper Wong (TBR/Mt Buller)
2. Joe Foley (TBR/Mt Buller)
3. Tom Guiney (Perisher)

JUNIOR WOMEN

1. Yuma Taguchi (Japan)
2. Shiori Asano (Japan)
3. Xanthia Coote (Perisher)

JUNIOR MEN

1. George Murphy (NSWIS)
2. Mateo Jeannesson (Great Britain)
3. Kaisei Ozasa (Japan)

MASTERS MEN

1. David Graham (Australia)
2. Sam Hall (Australia)
3. Watkin McLennan (TBR Masters)

• More details including athlete lists and history of the event is available at abommogulchallenge.com
• Full results and highlights are available at abommogulchallenge.com

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2 Sept 2022: Mt Buller welcomes an international line up of 101 of the world’s top shelf mogul skiers for the eagerly awaited return of the legendary ABOM Mogul Challenge this Saturday night.

The 32^nd running of this iconic mogul event has lured the elite of bump skiers to the steep and stunning Chamois run, home to the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia, for what is set to be a sizzling competition concluding in a high octane dual mogul finals under lights.

Australian athletes including 3 x Olympian Matt Graham, Cooper Woods, Jackson Harvey and locals Indi Speirs and Edward Hill.  All are ready to take on strong competition in the Open division which sees strong representation from Mt Buller’s Team Buller Riders (TBR) and Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA) as well as internationals from Great Britain, Austria, Japan, Korea and the Netherlands.

An impressive women’s line up includes teenage sensation Anri Kawamura from Japan who already holds 11 World Cup podium finishes at just 17 years of age and is currently ranked third in the world on the Overall World Cup Mogul Standings.  Compatriot Rino Yanagimoto will be another skier to watch after winning the 2019 ABOM Mogul Challenge and carrying a World Cup Silver in dual moguls.

The Youth category features 22 athletes with an exciting array of emerging talent that will be skiers to watch at future Winter Olympic Games and line up with even representation for both female and male skiers. 

The Masters event is set to blaze the bumps with a generous dose of Olympic and World Cup athletes including 4 x Olympian Adrian Costa, Nick Fisher (2006 Olympian) and Sam Hall (2014 Olympian).

The course itself measures 197 metres and the skiers will cover the two steep sections of gruelling bumps and launch off the two huge jumps in startlingly short times.  Mt Buller is covering all the angles and action with a live stream and multiple camera angles to allow replays of the dazzling skills on show.  

The event is a celebration of feestyle skiing that stretches from initial training sessions and the Youth heats on Friday through to the final showstopping dual mogul finals on Saturday night.

Hospitality on course is proudly provided by the spiritual home and sponsor of the ABOM Mogul Challenge, the ABOM Café and Bistro.  Locals, snowsports fans and resort guests will enjoy the high energy on course with DJ, running commentary and a full day of heats and training on Saturday leading into the finals.

• LIVE stream coverage of the event at abom.snow.tv
  • 11am - Single Moguls Women
  • 2pm - Single Moguls Men
  • 5.20pm - Dual Moguls Final
• More details including athlete lists and history of the event is available at www.abomogulchallenge.com
• Results and highlights will be shared right here and on Mt Buller social media channels on Sunday 4 September.