Birk Ruud Wins Men’s Freeski Big Air Chur

The 2022/23 snow sports season is officially underway with Birk Ruud on taking the victory in Men’s Freeski Big Air at the FIS World Cup in Chur, Switzerland, this weekend. In the season-opening event sanctioned by the International Ski Federation (FIS), the 22-year-old from Baerum, Norway, claimed the win with a flawless performance in the final.

From October 21-22, 2022, the world’s leading freestyle skiers and snowboarders descended upon the famous resort town of Chur in the Swiss Alps. As the official 2022/23 FIS Snowboard and Freeski World Cup season opener, Big Air Chur Festival featured groundbreaking snow aerials on the giant Big Air jump alongside stage performances by musical acts such as Deichkind, Kraftclub, and Stress.

On Friday night, the Men’s Freeski Big Air Final got underway under the floodlights in a festival atmosphere. Monster Energy’s Birk Ruud stepped to the Big Air ramp as the reigning Olympic champion in the discipline.

Continuing his run of dominant performances, he stomped a perfect left double bio 1800 mute – the Norwegian’s signature trick – for an early lead at 93.00 points on the first attempt.

For his second attempt, Ruud had a special never-been-done-in-competition trick up his sleeve: A switch double 900 with a tricky pretzel rotation earned the Scandinavian the highest score of the night session at 95.75 points and first place in the event.

“It’s amazing to do that trick and win here. You can feel that the crowd is really with you, and it’s exciting. I’m so happy for Chur to be able to have this event. It’s really a pleasure for all of the skiers and snowboarders to be here, so thank you, Chur,” said Monster Energy’s Ruud after winning the Big Air contest.

One of the most decorated athletes on the circuit, Monster Energy’s Ruud earned the Olympic gold medal in Men’s Ski Big Air at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and owns four X Games medals (2 gold, 2 silver).