Following both the X Games and Toyota U.S. Grand Prix in Aspen over the last couple of weeks, the Visa Big Air finals wrapped up on Thursday, Feb. 6, at Buttermilk Mountain.
These competitions are the initial qualifiers for the U.S. Olympic team in preparation for the 2026 Winter Games in Milano Cortina, Italy.
Finals for the women’s freeski big air finished first. This is a freestyle event where snowsports athletes complete tricks in the air, trying to jump as far and as high as possible while sticking the landing.
For the women’s final, Canada’s Megan Oldham grabbed gold with 183.75 points, Italy’s Flora Tabanelli took silver with 175.25 points and Finland’s Anni Karava took bronze with 157.5.
Switzerland’s Anouk Andraska placed fourth with 170.45 points, and France’s Tess Ledeaux placed fifth with 122 points.
For the men’s freeski big air final, Austria’s Matej Svancer’s 95.25 points secured a first place finish. New Zealand’s Luca Harrington followed in second with 94.25 points, and Montana’s Konnor Ralph followed in third with 183.75 points.
Switzerland’s Andri Ruggetli finished in fourth with 183 points, and France’s Timothe Sivignon finished in fifth with 174.75 points.
Similar to freeski big air, snowboard big air athletes complete aerial tricks after launching from a large jump.
For the women’s snowboard big air finals, New Zealand’s Zoi Synnott Sadowski took first with 172.25 points. This comes after an X Games win in the women’s snowboard slopestyle event.
In second for the snowboard big air finals was Japan’s Kokomo Murase with 170.25 points and Momo Susuki followed with 150 points.
Colorado’s Lily Dhawornvej took fourth with 145.5 points, and California’s Hahna Norman took fifth with 144.25 points.
For the men’s snowboard big air finals, Canada’s Eli Bouchard got gold with 189 points. And Japan’s Taiga Hasegawa got silver with 184.5 points, and Yuto Miyamura got bronze with 171.25 points.
In fourth was Colorado’s Oliver Martin with 170.75 points, and in fifth was Redmond Gerard with 168 points.
Last weekend, the 2025 Toyota U.S. Grand Prix women and men’s freeski slopestyle finals wrapped up in Aspen at Buttermilk.
Slopestyle skiing is a snowsport where athletes complete tricks on an obstacle course-like venue that includes jumps and rails. This type of skiing focuses on technical skill rather than speed.
France’s Tess Ledeux took gold with 88.06 points on Saturday, Feb. 1 in the women’s freeski slopestyle. She won the same event at the X Games in Aspen the week prior.
Canada’s Megan Oldham secured silver with 86.93 points. She took gold during the women’s big air ski event at the X Games.
Utah’s Rell Harwood secured bronze with 77.53 points. She took gold during the women’s ski knuckle huck event at the X Games.
Finland’s Anni Karava placed fourth with 74.38 points, and Germany’s Muriel Mohr placed fifth with 73.75 points.
For the men’s freeski slopestyle, Utah’s Alex Hall was at the top of the podium with 88.21 points.
Utah’s Colby Stevenson took second place on the podium with 87.15 points. He won the inaugural ski street style event at the X Games the week before.
Norway’s Birk Ruud took third place with 85.10 points, Switzerland’s Andri Ragetti took fourth place with 83.8 points and Canada’s Evan McEachran took fifth place with 81.55 points.
The next event, the snowboard halfpipe, is a U-shaped course made of snow where snowsports athletes perform tricks. This event is popular at the X Games and the Winter Olympics.
For the women’s snowboard halfpipe, California’s Chloe Kim’s 91.75 points ensured the top spot. This comes after her record breaking X Games run, where she won her seventh gold in the women’s snowboard halfpipe, breaking her tie with Kelly Clark for the most in history.
Korea’s Gaon Choi’s 88.75 points got her second, Japan’s Sara Shimzu’s 85.25 points got her third, California’s Maddie Mastro’s 84 points for her fourth, and California’s Sonora Alba’s 66.75 points secured her fifth.
Japan swept the top four spots in the men’s snowboard halfpipe. Ruka Hirano was on the gold podium with 93.25 points, Ayuma Hirano was on the silver podium with 89.5 points and Ryusei Yamada was on the bronze podium with 88.25 points.
Yuto Totsuka was fourth with 87.5 points, and Australia’s Scotty James was fifth with 85.75 points. This comes after the Australian snowboarder made history at the X Games, landing the first triple cork 1440 and tying Shaun White for the most X Games medals of any men’s halfpipe snowboarder.
On Sunday, Feb. 2, the finals continued with the women’s snowboard slopestyle.
Similar to slopestyle skiing, slopestyle snowboarding requires athletes to perform tricks on an obstacle course venue with jumps and rails. This type of snowboarding also focuses on technical skill over speed.
New Zealand’s Zoi Synnott Sadowski took first with 87.8 points. She, too, made history at the X Games in Aspen when she became the first woman to land a backside triple cork 1440 on Buttermilk, earning gold in the women’s snowboard slopestyle event.
Second and third place at the Grand Prix did not leave Aspen without some gold of their own.
Kokomo Murase took second with 79 points. This follows her gold medal in the women’s snowboard knuckle huck at X Games 2025.
Great Britain’s Mia Brooks took third with 74.7 points. She took gold in the women’s snowboard slopestyle at X Games.
Germany’s Annika Morgan took fourth with 56.58 points. And Japan’s Mari Fukada took fifth with 37.28 points.
For the men’s snowboard slopestyle, Canada’s Francis Jobin took first with 79.3 points. He also got gold in the snowboard street style event at X Games.
China’s Yiming Su took second with 78.36 points, Oregon’s Sean Fitzsimons took third with 77.43 points, New Zealand’s Zane Menzies took fourth place with 70.68 points and Canada’s Liam Brearley took fifth with 70.1 points.
Just like the snowboard halfpipe, freeski halfpipe also takes place on a U-shaped course made of snow where tricks are performed. This event is also popular at the X Games and the Winter Olympics.
For the women’s freeski halfpipe, Great Britain’s Zoe Atkin scored 90 points to secure gold, China's Fanghui Li scored 88.5 points to secure silver and Canada’s Amy Fraser scored 86.75 points to secure bronze.
Colorado’s Svea Irving placed fourth with 84.5 points, and Canada’s Cassie Sharpe placed fifth with 81.75 points.
For the men’s freeski halfpipe, Aspen’s hometown hero Alex Fierriera took gold with 95.75 points.
Following his lead was Indiana’s Nick Goepper’s 94 points for silver and New York’s Matthew Labaugh’s 93 points for bronze.
Oregon’s Hunter Hess took fourth with 92.5 points, and New Zealand’s Luke Harrold took fifth with 92.25 points.
