The final event of the Aspen Park and Pipe World Cup have been completed, with Aussie skiers and snowboarders competing in the big air discipline.
 
17-year-old NSWIS skier Daisy Thomas was the best placed in 11th, just missing out on the eight-woman final after scoring 79.95 on her left double cork 1080 in the first run, falling just short of advancing by just 1.8 points..
 
In snowboard big air, Paige Jones, Ally Hickman and Jesse Parkinson all finished in the top-30, Jones 21st and Hickman 22nd in the women’s event and Parkinson placed 29th in the men’s.
 
Next weekend in Calgary, Canada, World Cup events will take place in halfpipe and slopestyle, where Olympic medallist Tess Coady is expected to return to competition for the first time this season after recovering from injury.

Daisy Thomas flying high in Aspen
© Chris Hocking

Two-time Olympic medallist and seven-time X-Games champion Scotty James has placed fifth in the World Cup event in Aspen, USA, as competitors found the flat light challenging in the halfpipe.
 
Competing in the Aspen halfpipe where the VIS snowboarder claimed a record fourth straight X-Games gold the week before, James delivered an impressive performance dominating heat number two by achieving the highest score among all competitors with an outstanding 92 points.
 
In the best of three run final, James came close to putting down a medal winning performance in his second and third runs, but a few small mistakes resulted in an 85.75 in run two and 85 in run three, giving him a final ranking of fifth.
 
Japan swept the first four positions in the men’s event, with Ruka Hirano first on 93.25, Ayumu Hirano second 89.50, Ryusei Yamada third 88.25 and Yuto Totsuka fourth 87.5.

After four World Cup events, James is ranked fourth on 275 points, trailing Japanese riders Ayumu Hirano on 290, Ruka Hirano 285, and Totsuka 280.
 
In the women’s event Amelie Haskell was 13th, Misaki Vaughan 26th and two-time Olympic champion Chloe Kim of the USA took the win.
 
Freeski & Snowboard Slopestyle
 
Australia’s best performed in the slopestyle was NSWIS freeskier Daisy Thomas who finished in 16th place and in the snowboard slopestyle Paige Jones was 25th, Allie Hickman 28th and Jesse Parkinson 32nd.  
 
World Cup big air events will take place in Aspen this week, freeski qualifying on February 4, snowboard on February 5 and the final for both disciplines on February 6.

VIS Snowboarder Scotty James has become the only man to win four straight X-Games halfpipe gold medals, winning his seventh career X-Games gold medal under lights in Aspen, USA, surpassing the legendary Shaun White after commanding playoff and final round performances.
 
James now has won an incredible ten career medals in the prestigious invitation only event featuring the world’s best halfpipe riders, equalling White’s halfpipe total.
 
In a flawless performance, James won the playoff round to advance to the top-four final with a score of 93 points.
 
In the best of two-run final, James went even better scoring a huge 96.33 points on his first run which included his signature switch McTwist first hit, cab triple cork 1440, frontside 1260, backside 1080 and switch back 1200.
 
With no rider able to match James, he was able to complete a “victory lap” in the second and final run celebrating on his way down the Aspen superpipe.
 
Joining James on the podium were Japanese riders Yuto Totsuka in second with a best score of 93.66 points, with Ayumu Hirano in third on 92.33.
 
“Just winning a gold medal is amazing here at X-Games, and to do four in a row, I am absolutely speechless” said the 30-year-old from Warrandyte in Victoria.
 
“The triple cork is the one, it’s the trick I feel you have to have in the mix to have any intention of making any damage on the podium, so to put it in my run and do it switch and try and put in my own flare at the start to feels good for the soul.”
 
James will remain in Aspen for a World Cup competition this week, with the halfpipe event on February 1.

Snowboarder Scotty James has produced one of the best runs of his impressive career, to claim the gold medal at the Laax Open in Switzerland, the tenth World Cup victory of his career and fourth win at the prestigious Swiss event.
 
In the best of two run night final, the two-time Olympic medallist opened with a score of 88.75 points, then stepped it up in the final run to put down a spectacular performance that included a massive switch frontside triple cork 1440 on his way to a huge score of 95.75.
 
James took the win ahead of Japanese rider Ruka Hirano’s score of 93.75, while compatriot and reigning Olympic champion Ayumu Hirano was third with 87.00 points.
 
“I think it might be one of the best moments of my competitive career” said the 30-year-old VIS athlete from Warrandyte in Victoria.
 
“It’s always challenging to win, but this year I feel like I have been put on the ropes quite a bit from the other competitors, especially the Japanese, they are riding incredible.
 
“Not for a second did I think it was a done deal until the last rider went because any rider could have won.
 
“It’s always been a super important detail for me to spin in every direction, and try and keep a bit of soul in there with the switch McTwist at the start before it gets into a lot of spinning, really happy to get the triple in there this year as well which was a big goal of mine.
 
“It’s one of the best pipes in the world, there are no excuses but to go 110% on this thing, so you’ve got to bring your best if you want to stand on top, or even on the podium for that matter.”
 
The victory puts James move into equal first place on the World Cup standings alongside Yuto Totsuka of Japan on 230 points.
 
Competing in the women’s event for Australia was two-time Olympian Emily Arthur, who finished in 24th place.
 
American riders took the top two places in the women’s final with two-time Olympic gold medallist Chloe Kim victorious ahead of Maddie Mastro in second and Gaon Choi of Korea in third.
 
James will now head to Aspen, USA, to compete in the X-Games on January 23, where he will be aiming to win an incredible fourth straight and seventh career X-Games gold medal.

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 freeskier Daisy Thomas has just missed out on qualifying for finals at the first FIS World Cup Big Air event of the new year in a stadium event in Klagenfurt, Austria, finishing 11th.
 
Competing in Woerthersee Stadium in Klagenfurt, the 17-year-old Youth Olympic Games medallist performed two double backflip 1080’s spinning in both directions, her first jump scoring 68.60 points, and second jump 54.40.

Her two jump total came to 123 points and a ranking of 11th, just missing out on the eight-woman final by 14.8 points.
 
Also in action for Australia was Abi Harrigan in 14th, and Joey Ellis who was 42nd in the men’s event.
 
Thomas reflected on her performance after the event.
 
“It’s a very different and new setup for me in Austria.
 
“First time hitting a city big air and first time training and competing at nighttime. The jump was definitely a bit sketchy compared to what I’m used to but I’m happy that I was able to put down both ways double 10s in a contest.
 
“Despite not skiing my best, I am feeling really confident leading into the next Big Air competition in Kreischberg. I’m hoping to clean up my tricks and really show everyone my potential in the next few competitions.

Stalker 15th in Snowboard Big Air

NSWIS snowboarders also competed in Klagenfurt, with Meila Stalker and Jesse Parkinson in action.
 
Stalker finished 15th in the women’s event which was won by Mia Brookes of Great Britain, and Parkinson placed 31st in the men’s event won by Taiga Hasegawa of Japan.
 
The next event will also take place in Austria, moving to Kreischberg for freeski big air on January 10 and snowboard big air January 11.

VIS two-time Olympic Medallist Scotty James has narrowly missed the podium at the World Cup event in Copper Mountain, USA, finishing in fourth place, after the top-four finishers recorded their best score of the day in the final run in a dramatic final run (of three) shoot out.
 
The 30-year-old from Warrandyte in Victoria started well, qualifying for finals in second place.
 
In finals, James scored 87.75 in his first run, had a fall in his second run and put down a great final run, unlucky to miss the podium with a score of 92.75 points for the judges.
 
Japanese riders clean swept the podium with 2022 Olympic gold medallist Ayumu Hirano first on 97 points, Yuto Totsuka second with 94.75 and Ruka Hirano in third place on 92.75.
 
After two events, James is ranked third on the World Cup standings.
 
In the women’s event Emily Arthur was Australia’s highest place finisher in 23rd with Misaki Vaughan 24th and Amelie Haskell 35th in her World Cup debut.
 
The next event halfpipe event is in Laax, Switzerland, on January 18.

Scotty James up close in the men's snowboard halfpipe final
© fisparkandpipe

Scotty James has claimed silver in the opening FIS Snowboard World Cup Halfpipe event of the season at Secret Garden, China, giving the 30-year-old from Warrandyte in Victoria the 16th World Cup medal of his decorated career.

Competing on the Beijing 2022 site where James won the second Olympic medal of his career, the VIS rider qualified for finals in third place.

Under sunny skies in the best of three run final, the triple World Champion was unable to put a clean run down in his first two runs, but saved his best for last, with a spectacular final run which included a cab triple cork 1440, scoring 88.25 points from the judges to move into second place.

Taking the win with the two highest scoring runs of the event was Japanese rider Yuto Totsuka of Japan with a best score of 95.50 in his last run, with another Japanese rider Ryusei Yamada in third on 87.75.

Competing for Australia in the women’s event was Misaki Vaughan, who finished in 23rd place in her World Cup debut.

American Maddie Mastro was victorious in the women’s final ahead of Xuetong Cai of China in second with another American Madeline Schaffrick rounding out the podium in third.

Copper Mountain in Colorado, USA, will host the next FIS World Cup halfpipe event on December 20.

Teen Snowboard star Valentino Guseli has revealed on social media that he has sadly injured his knee at the World Cup Big Air event in Beijing last week and is set for a lengthy period on the sidelines.

Guseli has since returned to Australia to have a corrective ACL surgery.

Click below to see Guseli's full post and video.

The Snowboard and Freeski Park & Pipe tour has headed to China for two weeks of World Cup competition, with a big air first up over the weekend in Beijing and then a halfpipe event in Secret Garden next weekend.

In the snowboard big air, Meila Stalker recorded her best ever result in the discipline with a tenth-place finish, narrowly missing out on the top-eight women’s final.

Joshua Robertson-Hahn also had his best ever World Cup finish, placing 17th, with Jesse Parkinson also achieving his highest ever finish in big air, placing 25th.

In the men’s freeski big air, Joey Ellis made his World Cup debut finishing in 40th place.

Next weekend VIS snowboard superstar Scotty James will make his season debut competing back in the 2022 Olympic Halfpipe at the Secret Garden resort, where he claimed the silver medal at the Olympics, and has won two World Cup events from two starts.

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.

Australian teen snowboard prodigy Valentino Guseli has recorded his first slopestyle podium of the season at the perfect time, with a bronze medal performance on the final day of the season dramatically snatching the overall park and pipe Crystal Globe in Silvaplana, Switzerland.

The overall park and pipe Crytal Globe includes results from halfpipe, big air and slopestyle and heading into the final day of competition for the season, Guseli needed to finish well ahead of Japanese rider Ryoma Kimata who had a significant lead in the standings, to defend the historic title he won last year as a 17-year-old.

In qualifying, Kimata had his worst performance of the season finishing in 50th, with Gueli advancing to the final in first place, which meant he would need to finish in fourth place or better to move into first place and take the Crystal Globe.
In the best of two fun final, Guseli was consistent on both runs, opening with a score of 77.31, and then improved in the second run, receiving a score of 83.77 points from the judges to give him third place and enough points to secure back-to-back overall Crystal Globes.

Ahead of Guseli on the podium was Canadian Liam Brearley in second on 88.10 points and Taiga Hasegawa of Japan with the best score of 88.52 points.

Guseli now has nine career World Cup medals competing in the three park and pipe disciplines of halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air, and three Crystal Globes.

“I am super stoked with the way today went, in my second run I landed one of the best runs of my life” said the 18-year-old from Dalmeny on the NSW South Coast.

“Got on the podium and got the globe, which was my main goal, and from my side I don’t think today could have gone much better, I am super proud of my performance.”

“To win the overall, which means to be the most consistent out of all three freestyle disciplines, I am honoured to have won it for the second year in a row.”

“This season has been an interesting one, there has been lots of ups and downs, but I definitely feel like I have learned a lot this year, and I am super happy with where my snowboarding is right now.”

Also competing for Australia in Silvaplana was Joshua Robertson-Hahn in 36th and Meila Stalker 18th in the women's slopestyle event.

In the freeski slopestyle, Abi Harrigan finished in 11th matching her World Cup personal best, and in the men's competition Kai Martin was 34th and Cameron Waddell 51st.

Silvaplana and nearby St Moritz will host the 2025 Snowboard and Freestyle World Championships in March next year, as the major lead up event to the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games in February 2026. less than two years away.

Over the weekend in Tignes, France, a World Cup slopestyle (snowboard and freeski) and big air event (freeski) took place, with NSWIS rider Meila Stalker the best performed Australian finishing in ninth place. Stalker qualified for finals in tenth place and in the best of two-run final had her highest score in run one with 50.25, giving her a ninth place ranking.

2023 World Cup Overall Park & Pipe champion Valentino Guseli was drawn in heat number two in the qualification round and finished in ninth place, just missing out on the top-eight needed to advance to the final. In the final rankings Guseli was 24th once scored were used to rank riders from both heats. Guseli is currently ranked third in the overall park & pipe standings, after finishing the season ranked second in halfpipe, 12th in big air and with one event remaining is 27thin slopestyle.

In the freeski events, Kai Martin had a personal best World Cup performance, finishing 23rd in the slopestyle and in the big air finished in 43rd. Cam Waddell finished 55th in slopestyle and 45th in big air. 2022 Olympian Abi Harrigan was the sole competitor for Australia in the women’s freeski slopestyle and big air, placing 12th in both events.

Next weekend the skiers and boarders will compete in Silvaplana, Switzerland, for the final event of the season on March 23 for snowboard and March 24 for freeski.

Australian teen snowboard prodigy Valentino Guseli has recorded his first career victory in the halfpipe event, with an impressive gold medal performance in Calgary, Canada.

In the best of three fun final, the 18-year-old Guseli lead from start to finish, with the highest scoring opening round run with 89.25 points, and then went even better in the second run increasing his score to 91.50.

When no other riders were able to match Guseli’s scores from the first two runs, Guseli was able to complete a “victory lap” in the third and final run celebrating with the large crowd on his way down the Calgary halfpipe.

Behind Guseli on the podium were Japanese riders Ruka Hirano in second place with a best score of 88.25 points, and Shuichiro Shigeno in third on 86.75 points.

Guseli now has eight career World Cup medals competing in the three park and pipe disciplines of halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air, with one victory so far in each of the halfpipe and big air disciplines.

“I really do like Canada, the two wins I have had in a World Cup are in Canada, and I am super happy,” said the 2023 World Championship medallist from Dalmeny on the NSW South Coast.

“The pipe was great, the snow was great, and the crowd was great, my favourite thing is when there is a massive crowd out to support us.”

“Today was a good day, I landed all of my runs, and I am happy.”

Dual Olympic medallist and triple World Champion Scotty James tweaked his knee during training at the event and withdrew before the qualifying round.

The final World Cup halfpipe rankings for the season has Hirano of Japan in first place on 300 points, Guseli second on 230, and James one point behind in third on 229.

In the women’s event two-time Olympian Emily Arthur finished eighth in the final.

Guseli will now turn his attention to the slopestyle discipline, with World Cup events taking place in Spindleruv Mlyn in the Czech Republic on March 16 and Silvaplana in St Moritz, Switzerland, on March 23.

NSWIS snowboarder Emily Arthur has narrowly missed out on the ten-woman finals field at the World Cup halfpipe event in Mammoth Mountain, USA, finishing in 11th place.In the best of two-run qualifying round, Arthur's best score came in her first run with 49.75 points from the judges.

Arthur was the only Australian to compete in Mammoth, with teen-sensation Valentino Guseli having to withdraw due to a rib injury suffered in training for the X-Games the previous week in Aspen
.
A World Cup halfpipe competition will take place on February 10 in Calgary, Canada, with Scotty James, Valentino Guseli, Emily Arthur all in action. Snow Australia rider Sascha Elvy will also be competing, in her first World Cup of the season following a 12th last week at the Youth Olympic Games in Korea.

Scotty James has joined legendary snowboarder Shaun White as the only men to win three straight X-Games halfpipe gold medals, after winning his sixth career X-Games gold medal under lights in Aspen, USA.

James has now won an incredible six X-Games golds and has nine career medals in the prestigious invitation only event featuring the world’s best halfpipe riders.

In the best of three fun final, James lead from start to finish, with the highest scoring opening round run with a score of 88 points, and then increased his jump package in the second run with a switch-back-1260 on the final hit to boost his score and receive 93 points from the judges.

With no rider able to match James, he was able to complete a “victory lap” in the third and final run celebrating on his way down the Aspen superpipe.

Joining James on the podium were Japanese riders Ruka Hirano in second with a best score of 87, with Kaishu Hirano in third on 86.33 points.

“Thank you Aspen, absolutely amazing event, it was so great to ride in front of everyone tonight,” said the 29-year-old from Warrandyte in Victoria.

“I am really stoked, and I just feel like a little kid again riding, and that’s showing though which has been really fun, and I am enjoying snowboarding so much.”

“To join that record with Shaun is pretty nice.”

In the women's event NSWIS rider Emily Arthur made her X-Games debut finishing in seventh place.

Unfortunately snowboard teen sensation Valentino Gueli and 2022 Olympic medallist Tess Coady who won their first career medals at the X-Games last year, were both unable to compete after sustaining an injury in training.

In a historic night for Australian snowboarding, Scotty James and Valentino Guseli have claimed gold and silver in the halfpipe event in Laax, Switzerland, the first time Australia has taken out the top two spots in the sport.

In a spectacular final under lights, both James and Guseli put down two great runs with both riders displaying huge amplitude, style and super difficult tricks.

James best score in the two run-final came in his first run, where the VIS rider scored 94 points to record the ninth World Cup win of his impressive career and third victory in the Laax halfpipe.

NSWIS rider Guseli scored 90 points on his first run, and then in the final round stepped it up performing a trick that had never been landed in competition, landing a frontside 1620 tailgrab to score 92.25 points and finish in second place.

Rounding out the podium was Ruka Hirano of Japan who registered 90 points on his final run.

“I feel pretty damm good, it’s tough to win this event so tonight I had to bring my best and it feels amazing to stand on top of the podium” said James the two-time Olympic medallist and triple World Champion from Warrandyte in Victoria.

“Laax feels like a home away from home, it’s always such an incredible the event, the fans and the crowd and the atmosphere is always really special here and unmatched.”

James on his impressive switch McTwist pullback to regular jump.

“It’s something I brought in this year, and I really try to push creativity and technicality in snowboarding, and of course you can’t really do these things without a lot of amplitude and execution, so tonight it was thankfully a combination of all those things which is really nice.”

For Guseli, the podium performance is the seventh World Cup medal of his career, and first in the Laax halfpipe. “To get to the bottom of two runs and having stomped them both, and I think they are some of the best runs I have done, so I am really happy and stoked to have some momentum rolling into the season,” said the 18-year-old teen snowboard prodigy from Dalmeny on the NSW South Coast.

“He (Scotty James) is amazing, coming from Australia we actually don’t have a 22-foot halfpipe anywhere in the whole country, and it’s pretty crazy being second to one of the guys that is the best to ever do it and we are both from the same country and can hold our flag up really high which is a beautiful thing.”

In the women's event two-time Olympian Emily Arthur finished in 20th place.

James and Guseli have now travelled to Aspen, USA, for the X-Games on January 26.

2022 Olympic bronze medallist Tess Coady has started the new year in strong form, just missing the podium in fourth place in the slopestyle event in Laax, Switzerland.

Coady was in excellent form during qualifying for the star studded eight-woman final, landing in second place.
In the best of two run final under sunny skies, the NSWIS rider unfortunately fell on her first run, but put down a solid second run scoring 66.13 points to move into third place with one rider remaining.

But the last rider of the day Annika Morgan of Germany handled the pressure to score 80.75 points and finish in second place, which bumped Coady down into fourth.

Taking the win was American Julia Marino on a best score of 83.08 points, with two-time Olympic gold medallist Anna Gasser of Austria in third with 75.93.

Also in action for Australia was fellow NSWIS rider Meila Stalker who finished in 14th place and Valentino Guseli who had the two events in two different disciplines in 20th place.

In the men’s freeski slopestyle, Snow Australia skiers Cameron Waddell finished in 45th place and Kai Martin in 55th.
Coady is now in Aspen, USA, for the X-Games which will take place this weekend.

Valentino Guseli also took part in the big air event in Copper Mountain, which was the fourth and final big air World Cup of the season.

Guseli put down two impressive jumps with 1800 degree spins, scoring 87 points for jump one and 90.50 for jump two, but he missed by one place on qualifying for the 10-man final, finishing in 11th.

Also in action for Australia was Joshua Robertson-Hahn who was 18th in qualifying in his heat, giving him a ranking of 33rd place.

On the final big air standings, Guseli finished the season ranked 12th, with Robertson-Hahn in 40th. Laax, Switzerland, will host the next slopestyle and halfpipe World Cup events scheduled for January 17-20.

NSWIS snowboard super teen Valentino Guseli has narrowly missed out on the podium at the World Cup snowboard halfpipe event in Copper Mountain, USA, finishing in fourth place.

Competing in his first halfpipe event of the season, the 18-year-old qualified for the final in equal first place, after scoring 95.25 points in heat two.

VIS three-time World Champion Scotty James also qualified for the final in first place, scoring a massive 95.50 in heat one.

In the best of three run final, many riders struggled to put runs down without errors, but in the third round several competitors rose to the occasion and put down clean runs.

Guseli was unlucky not to land on the podium after an impressive final run, receiving a score of 77.25 points from the judges missing the podium by just 0.75 points.

In first place was 2022 Olympic Champion Ayumu Hirano of Japan who scored 91 points, with Korean Chaeun Lee in second with 80 points and rounding out the podium in third was Yuto Totsuka on 78 points.

Scotty James had a rare bad final, unable to put a clean run down, finishing in ninth place.

In the women’s event, two-time NSWIS Olympian Emily Arthur just missed the eight-woman final finishing in ninth place.

Scotty James has started the season in the best possible way, taking home a gold medal in the opening snowboard halfpipe World Cup in Secret, Garden, China, his eighth career World Cup win, and the third most by any male snowboard halfpipe rider.
 
Competing on the 2022 Olympic course where he claimed the silver medal, James led all qualifiers, and came out firing in the first round of finals scoring 91.25 points from the judges to put him in first place.
 
All riders had three runs in finals, and none came close to James first run score, ensuring the 29-year-old from Warrandyte could perform a “victory lap” on his final run, knowing his score could not be bettered as the final competitor.
 
Behind James on the podium was Japanese rider Ruka Hirano with a best score of 88.25 points, and rounding out the podium in third was Korean Chaeun Lee with 87.50.
 
“Feels like a bit of redemption for sure from the Olympic Games, but I have always had a good time in Secret Garden and the halfpipe is incredible and honestly today was as heavy as a show as the Olympics” said the two-time Olympic medallist and triple World Champion.
 
“Everyone really brought it and I had to bring my best, really awesome to share the podium with these boys and it’s been a fine day for sure.”
 
“I came unstuck last season at the World Championships which was frustrating, and funnily enough the frontside 1400 that I landed today was a bit of a testament for me, as that was what I crashed at my last event, so I wanted to come out and land it today and put that run together, it felt really nice and super happy overall.”
 
James will next be in action competing at the World Cup event in Copper Mountain, USA, next weekend on December 16.
 
Australia’s teen snowboard sensation Valentino Guseli did not compete in the halfpipe in China as the event clashed with the big air snowboard city event this weekend in Edmonton, Canada, where Guseli will be aiming to repeat his victory from last year at the Canadian city venue.

It has been an incredible start to the 2023-2024 northern hemisphere winter for Australia with a gold medal overnight to mogul skier Jakara Anthony in Ruka, Finland, and a silver medal in the big air in Beijing, China, for snowboarder Tess Coady.

It was the opening event of the season for the 2022 Olympic medallists, with Anthony winning for the second consecutive time to start the season in Ruka and for Coady the second place finish was the best big air result of her World Cup career.

In the first FIS World Cup event in China since the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, Tess Coady had the best big air finish of her career, taking home a silver medal in the city night event.

Competing in the three run final with your best two jumps counting, Coady scored 84.75 points in her opening back double 1080 melon jump, and then stepped it up in the final round with 86.25 points for her front 1080 double tail grab jump, giving her a two jump combined score of 171 points.

Recording victory was two-time Olympic big air champion Anna Gaser of Austria with 174 points, with Japanese rider Miyabi Onitsuka rounding out the podium scoring 170.50.

“Super happy with how this competition went in China, I love the jump, it’s one on the best city big airs in the world” said the 23-year-old Coady from Melbourne.

“It’s been a really fun trip, it’s really cool to check out Beijing as last time we were here we didn’t get to see the city.”

Also in action for Australia was Valentino Guseli in 16th and Joshua Robertson-Hahn in 22nd.

Coady will now return home to Australia, with Guseli and Robertson-Hahn heading to Edmonton for the next big air World Cup event, where Guseli will be aiming to make it back-to-back victories at the Canadian city venue.