This week at the World Championships in St Moritz-Engadin, Switzerland, the snowboard and freeski athletes took on their second event, the big air competition, following last week’s slopestyle opener. NSWIS skier Daisy Thomas and snowboarder Tess Coady delivered the top performance among the Australian contingent, finishing in 22nd and 23rd places respectively.
 
In the snowboard big air, Japan dominated taking five of the six places on the podium. Australian results included Coady 23rd, Mela Stalker 24th and Jesse Parkinson 51st. Kokomo Murase and Ryoma Kimata of Japan were victorious.
 
In the freeski big air, Thomas was 22nd, Abi Harrigan 24th and Joey Elliss 49th. The freeski wins went to Italian Flora Tabanelli and Luca Harrington of New Zealand.

IMAGE - Daisy Thomas in action
PIC Chris Hocking

Daisy Thomas, Abi Harrigan and Joey Elliss have represented Australia in the freeski slopestyle event at the 2025 FIS Freestyle and Snowboard World Championships on Corvatch mountain in St Moritz, Switzerland.
 
In the women’s competition NSWIS skiers Thomas and Harrigan missed out on the 12-woman final finishing in 20th and 24th places respectively. In her World Championship debut Thomas’ best score came in her second run scoring 44.34, and Harrigan on  26.79.
 
Making his World Championship debut in the men’s event was Elliss in 40th place.
 
Victory in the women’s event went to local Swiss skier Mathilde Gremaud and Norwegian Birk Ruud was the men’s event winner. 
 
The three skiers will return to compete in the big air event at the World Championships. Women's qualifications are on March 26th, men's on the 27th, and the finals are on the 29th.

NSWIS freeskier Abi Harrigan has broken through to claim the first World Cup podium of her career, finishing second in the slopestyle event over the weekend in Tignes, France.
 
The 2022 Olympian qualified for finals in sixth place with a best score of 64.66, also advancing to the 10-woman final was NSWIS teammate Daisy Thomas in seventh on 62.58.
 
In the best of two run final high up in the French Alps, Harrigan put two down clean runs, scoring 67.85 for her first run, and then improved in the final run to score of 75.41, landing her in second place, securing Australia’s first World Cup ski slopestyle podium since Russ Henshaw in 2017, and only the second Australian female to do so joining former X-Games and World Champion Anna Segal.
 
Harrigan’s silver medal run included a right spinning 540 with grab on the first jump, switch 720 with grab on the second jump, smooth rail sections and left spinning cork 720 with grab on the final jump.
 
Joining Harrigan on the podium in first place was Kirsty Muir of Great Britain on 77.98, third place went to Ruby Star Andrews of New Zealand on 72.75
 
17-year-old Thomas finished in eighth place, her best score of 59.83 coming in the second run.
 
“Feeling pretty surreal to get my first podium here at Tignes,” said the 22-year-old Harrigan from Jindabyne in the NSW Snowy Mountains.
 
“I had a large training block after the Laax open, got a lot of stuff done, but also just had a blast skiing and love the sport so much right now, which has given me a new mindset towards competing.”
 
“This is the best thing leading into World Champs. It’s definitely going to give me a big confidence boost. Just stoked to ski a new course and see what we can get done.”
 
The podium performance improved Harrigan’s final World Cup slopestyle ranking to 11th, while Thomas ii 17th. In the big air discipline, Thomas finished the season ranked 14th and Harrigan 21st.
 
The freeski season for Harrigan and Thomas concludes at the FIS World Championships in St Moritz, Switzerland. Slopestyle qualifications are on March 19, finals on March 20 then big air qualifications are March 27 and finals March 29.
 
Joey Ellis will also be competing in the men’s slopestyle qualifications on March 19 and finals March 22, followed by men’s big air qualifications on March 26 and finals March 29

Teenager Ally Hickman has finished tenth in an impressive World Cup debut at the Slopestyle World Cup event in Laax, Switzerland.
 
In the best of two run qualifying round, the 15-year-old NSWIS rider scored 44.66 on her first run, and then stepped it up in the second run to score 64.99, placing her tenth, narrowly missing out on advancing to the eight woman final.
 
Fellow NSWIS athletes Meila Stalker finished in 14th place with a best score of 58.78 in run two and Jesse Parkinson was 59th in the men’s event.
 
First place in the women’s event went to Mia Brookes of Great Britain and the men’s event went to Cameron Spalding of Canada.
 
Freeski Slopestyle
In the freeski slopestyle event in Laax, Abi Harrigan, Daisy Thomas and Kai Martin were all in action for Australia.
 
The highest placed finisher was NSWIS 2022 Olympian Abi Harrigan in 20th, Daisy Thomas was 25th and returning from injury in his first World Cup of the season was Kai Martin who finished 33rd.
 
Eileen Gu of China won the women’s event and Birk Ruud of Norway was victorious in the men’s.

The second straight big air event of the year has taken place in Austria, with skiers and snowboarders this time competing at Kreischberg, the Aussie highlight was teenage freeskier Daisy Thomas recording her best result of the season with an eight place finals finish.
 
Thomas placed fifth in qualifying to advance to her second career World Cup final. In the final, Thomas had a great first jump, with her left spinning double 1080 with grab scoring 82.75 points from the judges. Unfortunately the NSWIS skier wasn’t able to put down her second and third jumps, ending with a final two-jump score of 101.25.
 
It feels great to make finals” said the 17-year-old Youth Olympic big air silver medallist from Sydney.
 
“I’m just trying to be patient, gain some more competition experience and then let some results come in time.
 
“It was amazing, great crowd under the lights and everyone was happy and excited for each other.
 
“I was really happy with my skiing in qualifications and my first run in finals. Bit frustrated about the right double 1080, but after some more reps and practice I should be sweet.
 
“Next up is the Laax Open which I am super stoked for! It’s my first one and the course looks amazing.”
 
Also in action for Australia in the freeski event was Olympian Abi Harrigan in 19th and Joey Ellis in 28th.

Snowboard Big Air – PBs for Robertson-Hahn and Parkinson
 
In the snowboard big air, Joshua Robertson-Hahn and Jesse Parkinson both had personal best big air World Cup results, finishing in 15th and 20th places respectively.
 
Paige Jones made her World Cup debut in the women’s event, finishing in 21st place, and Meila Stalker was 27th.
 
Next weekend the prestigious Laax Open takes place in Switzerland, skiers and snowboarders are scheduled to compete in slopestyle and halfpipe from January 14-18.

NSWIS freeskiers Abi Harrigan and Daisy Thomas have commenced their Northern Hemisphere winter campaigns at the Stubai Slopestyle World Cup in Austria, with Harrigan recording a personal best seventh place finish and Thomas making her slopestyle World Cup debut in 17th.
 
Competitors were greeted with sunny conditions on Stubai Glacier, but high winds impacted the event forcing the qualification rounds to be used for the final results.
 
Harrigan’s best score came in the first run, receiving 64.75 points from the judges, putting her in seventh place, a personal best result eclipsing her previous best of 11th which she achieved twice in the 2023-2024 World Cup season. The seventh-place finish would have qualified her for the eight-woman final if it were able to proceed.
 
"It was tough conditions out there and very limited training due to weather, so I just had a goal of staying on the feet and keeping things clean. Super stoked with the outcome. Hopefully keep the ball rolling into the next competitions in January” said the 22-year-old Harrigan from Jindabyne in the NSW Snowy Mountains.
 
Making her World Cup slopestyle debut on the back of limited training heading into Stubai after completing her high school studies, 17-year-old Thomas scored 37.25 points on her first run, and 40.25 points on her second run.
 
“It was definitely tough with the weather and I had only had a few days on snow so for my first world cup slopestyle I can’t complain. I am now excited to enjoy some time on snow learning new tricks and getting my legs back to set me up for the rest of the season,” said Thomas.
 
Taking the win was Tess Ledeux of France, with Swiss skiers Mathilde Gremaud and Sarah Hoefflin in second and third.
 
The men’s event was won by American Colby Stevenson, with Andri Ragettli of Switzerland in second with Norwegian Tormod Frostad in third.

Snowboarder Matty Cox was flying the Australian flag at the Big Air World Cup event in Steamboat, Colorado, USA.

After a first run of 33.50, Cox improved to score 45.25 in his second run to finish 17th in his heat and a final ranking of 38th place overall.

Also in action in Steamboat competing In the Freeski Big Air event were Abi Harrigan (26th) and Cam Waddell (29th).