The 21-year-old came third at the event in Calgary, Canada behind Frenchman Arthur Longo and Canadian Justin Lamoureux.

Ben, whose previous best finish was ninth in Italy in March 2009, was thrilled with his performance.

He said: "I managed to land my first run in the semis which put me into the finals. This was only the second time I have got this far so I was just happy to do that.

"I got a score of 40.3 when I landed my first run which put me into second place. On the second runs I was pushed into third after an amazing run from Arthur Longo. My second run kept me in third so I'm super happy. This has put me in a very good frame of mind for going to Vancouver and has been the best result of my snowboarding career to date!"

The result moves Ben from 99th position in the World Cup standings to 43rd and 16th in the half-pipe discipline rankings.

The men's Olympic half-pipe competition takes place at the Cypress Mountain Resort on February 17.