VIS snowboard halfpipe superstar Scotty James has delivered a career highlight performance under lights at the prestigious Laax Open in Switzerland, winning gold in the World Cup final and leading a memorable double‑podium result, with fellow Aussie and NSWIS rider Valentino Guseli claiming bronze.
 
In the best‑of‑two‑run night final, James opened with a score of 84.00 points on his opening run. He then produced one of the finest performances of his illustrious career, as the last rider of the night and needing a score better than 91 points to win. With a pure pressure performance, James soared to the top of the leaderboard with a spectacular second run scoring 98.75 points. The victory is the eleventh World Cup win of his career, and third consecutive Laax halfpipe title, and fifth triumph at the iconic venue.
 
James began his winning run with a switch frontside triple cork 1440 indy, then a frontside double cork 1260 stalefish, a backside double cork 1080 stalefish, a switch backside double cork 1440 mute, and ended with a backside double cork 1260 mute on the sixth and final hit. The final two trick combination had never been done in competition before.
 
Guseli secured his place on the podium with a strong opening‑run score of 80.25 points, earning the bronze medal, the twelfth World Cup podium of his career. It capped off a big week for Guseli, who balanced halfpipe preparations with a full training load and competition in the slopestyle discipline. Earlier in the day, he placed 17th in the slopestyle semi‑final, just missing the cut for the final.
 
The podium in Laax had a distinct ANZAC flavour, with New Zealand’s Campbell Melville Ives finishing between the two Australians in second place on 91.00 points.
 
“It’s honestly one of my favourite events on the calendar, huge shoutout to Laax, they are a visionary when it comes to freestyle, and they give us the platform to come here and ride every single year and do what we love, “said the 31-year-old James from Warrandyte in Victoria.
 
“To put it down in my last run is a bit of a dream come true and feeling good so I just have to keep it up.
 
“I have been working on some things, and this year is a tough year, its amazing competition, and I want to give a shout out to the ANZAC’s, two Aussies and a Kiwi on the podium which is unbelievable. The Japanese are also riding amazing, so you must put your best foot forward this year to try and get a chance or a sniff of the podium, and I am just grateful to be here, so I am pumped.
 
“We are probably going to be in for one of the most exciting, thrilling and competitive Olympics in history amongst the whole field in the halfpipe, it’s exciting for me and I hope it’s exciting for everyone, and I can’t wait to go to battle with everyone.”
 
Also competing for Australia in the women’s event in Laax were Emily Arthur, who finished 25th, Amelie Haskell in 26th, and Misaki Vaughan in 29th.
 
Next is the X-Games event in Aspen, USA, where James will be aiming to win an incredible fifth straight gold medal.

Men's podium in Laax (top) and Scotty James in qualifying
© David Tributsch & Chad Buchholz

NSWIS snowboard star Valentino Guseli came agonizingly close to a third consecutive World Cup podium in Aspen, USA, finishing fourth in the men’s halfpipe.
 
Guseli faced a packed schedule, competing in both halfpipe and slopestyle, and started strongly by winning the halfpipe qualification round with an impressive 92 points. In the best-of-two-run final, he delivered two solid performances, opening with 85.25 points and improving to 86.75 in his second run, securing fourth overall.
 
Victory went to Yuto Totsuka (Japan) with 90.50 points, followed by teammate Shuichiro on 90, and American Alessandro Barbieri rounding out the podium with 89.25.
 
Guseli now sits second in the World Cup standings with 210 points, trailing Totsuka by 50 points on 260, with three events remaining this season.
 
In the women’s event, teenager Amelie Haskell celebrated her 18th birthday in style, qualifying for her first World Cup halfpipe final and achieving a personal-best eighth place with a top score of 63 points.
 
The women’s podium featured Mitsuki Ono of Japan in first with 91 points, American Madeline Schaffrick second on 82.75, and Sena Tomita also of Japan in third with 80.75.
 
Also representing Australia but missing finals were Emily Arthur in 18th and Misaki Vaughan in 20th, who missed the finals.
 
The final Olympic qualification event for halfpipe will take place at the World Cup in Laax, Switzerland, on January 17.

IMAGE
Valentino Guseli showing his incredible amplitude in Aspen
© Chris Hocking

NSWIS snowboard World Championship medallist Valentino Guseli has claimed his first World Cup victory since February 2024, delivering a gold medal performance in Calgary, Canada. The victory capped a historic day for Australia’s winter sport youth movement, following 15-year-old Indra Brown’s breakthrough win in the women’s freeski halfpipe earlier in the day.

The 20-year-old from the NSW South Coast now boasts three World Cup wins, all on Canadian snow, two in Calgary’s halfpipe and one in big air at Edmonton.

Guseli carried his strong form from a podium finish at Copper Mountain, USA, into Calgary, qualifying first for the finals.

In the best-of-two-run night showdown, he opened with an unbeatable score of 87.75 points, securing the win before his second run and turning it into a celebratory “victory lap.”

His gold medal run featured a stylish backside alley-oop 360, cab double cork 1080, frontside 1260, backside 720 and switch backside 900, with all tricks completed with grabs. 

Swiss rider David Habluetzel finished second with 80 points, while Patrick Burgener of Brazil was third on 79.25.

“It was great, it was the most fun run I have had it this pipe all week, so happy to end my time in this pipe off like that,” said Guseli after completing his victory lap final run.

“I am stoked, Calgary has always treated me very nicely, and I was really happy to be back in Canada after a two-year hiatus. Feels good to be back on the top step and looking forward to pushing for more. “

“There are so many Aussies in Canada, so I really feel the Aussie love here, but also everyone in Canada is so nice, so thank you.”

In the women’s snowboard halfpipe, Australians Emily Arthur finished 14th, Misaki Vaughan 15th, and Amelie Haskell 18th.

With four World Cup events remaining, Guseli now sits first on the halfpipe standings like Brown, and both will wear the yellow leader’s bib at the next event in Aspen, USA, on January 9.

Tess Coady has made a great return to competition, narrowly missing the podium in fourth place in her first World Cup of the season, a slopestyle event in Calgary, Canada.
 
The NSWIS 2022 Olympic medallist has been out of action since late last year and only resumed riding during January.
 
Coady started strongly in qualifying, advancing to the 12-woman final in third place with a best score of 70.26 in run one, the second highest score of the round.
 
In the best of two-run final, Coady opened with a score of 68.80
 
Coady was unable to improve on her score in the final run, losing speed on the landing of her backside 900 halfway through her run and not hit the remaining features.
 
Pulling into first place on the final run of the day was Mari Fukada of Japan on 77.58, Anika Morgan of Germany was second with 76.30 and Mia Brookes Great Britain, third on 74.08.
 
15-year-old NSWIS rider Ally Hickman was 24th in women’s qualifying and Jesse Parkinson was 26th in the men’s event, his highest slopestyle finish this season.
 
Coady commented on her social media after the event.
 
“Fourth place here in Calgary. Not my best riding ever but felt really good to get back in a bib after a year, dust off the cobwebs and land a run.
 
“Thanks to everyone who has supported me to get back to this point, it’s been a long journey!

“Excited to hang around Canada a bit longer before the next event!”
 
The final World Cup before the 2025 World Championships will be held in Absolut Park, Austria, on March 13-14.
 
Haskell 19th in Calgary Halfpipe
 
The final World Cup halfpipe event of the season took place in Calgary ahead of the World Championships, with Amelie Haskel, Misaki Vaughan, Emily Arthur and Sascha Elvy competing for Australia.
 
17-year-old Haskell was the best performed in 19th, followed by Vaughan in 20th, Arthur 23rd and Elvy 24th.
 
The World Championships halfpipe events will take place in St Moritz, Switzerland, from March 27-29.

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.