Gremaud & Hall Win Beijing Big Air, GBR Wins SBX Mixed Team in Les 2 Alpes
It was an electrifying afternoon of action at the 2022 Olympic venue in Shougang Park on Saturday, where Mathilde Gremaud (SUI) and Alex Hall landed on the top of the podium with standout performances at the Beijing big air World Cup.
The site of some of incredible memories at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games just a little less than two years ago, the iconic Shougang big air venue is regarded as the best in the world, and the level of competition at Saturday’s competition hammered home that fact once again as we witnessed some groundbreaking performances in both the women’s and the men’s competitions.
While Gremaud walked away the winner based on qualification results after finals at both of the first two FIS Freeski competitions of the 2023/24 season were cancelled due to weather, on Saturday she showed that she could get the job done in a proper finals showdown, as well.
Gremaud started strong, getting things going on run one with what would be the highest scoring trick of the women’s competition, a carved left double cork 1260 tail grab for 90.25 points.
However, the 23-year-old put herself behind the 8-ball on run two when she had a heavy hand touch on the landing of her switch left double cork 1080 safety, leaving her one last opportunity in run three to make it a perfect three-for-three in World Cup competitions thus far this season.
As she’s done so many times before, Gremaud seized the opportunity, stomping the switch left double cork 1080 safety cleanly for a jump score of 85.25 and a two-jump combined mark of 175.50, giving her her third win of the season and the 10th of her incredible career.
“Winning three in a row, yeah, it’s crazy, and with the week I had, it was super challenging,” said Gremaud after her win, “But getting to ski a finals on a day like today, it’s just amazing. It feels unreal. I’m feeling like I’m in the right place and I’m super happy with today’s results.”
Robbed of what would have been her first World Cup win by Gremaud’s third run heroics was Great Britain’s Kirsty Muir, as the 19-year-old put down a right double cork 1080 safety in run one and a left double cork 1440 cindy in run two for a two jump score of 167.25 and third World Cup podium of her career.
Rounding out the podium was the reigning big air Junior World Champion Flora Tabanelli of Italy, who earned the first podium of her very young World Cup career, nabbing third place in her third World Cup start with a two jump score of 160.75 for her left double cork 1260 safety on run two and her switch left bio 900 mute on run three.
For the men it was Alex Hall finishing off what had been an extremely interesting week of skiing by doing what he does best, lacing together his trademark combination of technical mindbendery and silky smooth style to earn his first World Cup big air win in nearly four years.
The men’s qualifications on Thursday saw the type of trick variety that many in the freeski world have been clamouring for in recent years, with a wide range of butters, bring-backs, and Tokyo drifts often garnering scores equal or better than some of the 1800s that have become the outrageous standard on the contest circuit.
Luckily for Alex Hall, he pretty much wrote the book on the that type of thing, and on Saturday afternoon he put his powers on full display.
Run one was a heater, with A-Hall stomping a right double 1080 bring-back to 900 safety for a 91.75 and the early lead into run two.
In run two he stepped it up a notch, putting together a switch left tailbutter double cork 1440 opposite Japan that, though it scored slightly less than his first hit, would still put him into the 90s with a 90.25 and would give him a score of 182.00 and a strong lead heading into the third and final run.
Run three started with eight of the 10 men in finals still within reach of top spot, meaning that we saw some absolute bangers as the guys threw everything they had at the massive Beijing jump.
Best of the bunch in run three was Andri Ragettli, who put down a switch left double bio 1800 mute for a score of 92.75 which, when added with his second run score of a 90.50 for his left double 1800 cuban gave him a combined score of 181.75 and a piece of the podium.
However, Ragettli’s piece of the podium would end up being a third place, as Canada’s Edouard Therriault put together what was arguably the most explosive performance of the afternoon, stomping a left triple cork 1980 safety on run two and a switch left double bio 1800 mute in run three - just like Ragettli, to finish with a total score of 181.75 for second place and his first career big air World Cup podium.
Despite all the assaults launched on top spot, Hall’s score would stand throughout the final runs, allowing him to drop a smooth left 360 in his victory lap run three as he skied out to his first big air World Cup victory in almost four years.
“The jump was the best it’s been all week and it’s like t-shirt weather out here, nice and slushy,” Hall said from the finish area, “I wasn’t originally planning on coming to this event but I decided I would just come here, enjoy myself, experience China and enjoy the country and just do the tricks I wanted to do without any pressure. It ended up working out, which I’m really stoked about.”
With Beijing in the books the FIS Freeski World Cup stays on in China and moves to the northwest, visiting our second former Olympic venue in two weeks as we return to Secret Garden for the first halfpipe World Cup of the season, going down from 07-09 December, 2023.
Charlotte Bankes again proved her class as Mixed Team world champions Great Britain came out on top in a sensational climax to the opening Snowboard Cross action of the new FIS World Cup season.
On a day of racing which had everything, the two-time Crystal Globe winner used all of her experience as worsening conditions on a technical course meant only the Brit and home rider Chloe Trespeuch (FRA) finished the women’s heat of the Big Final.
The result in Les Deux Alpes brings a welcome first World Cup victory in the team event for Bankes alongside partner Huw Nightingale (GBR).
“It was really fun out there, Huw and I did a really good race and I’m really happy with that,” Bankes said.
“It’s been a challenging few days stuck in the hotel, I don’t like that but they’ve put on a great race. They made a massive effort to get it on today and put in a lot of work last night and this morning for us to race."
With strong winds and heavy snowfalls wiping out all qualifying runs on Friday, the Team Event was brought forward to Saturday with the expectation of another clear day on Sunday to run the individual.
The reschedule meant all riders were similarly short of practice runs as they took to the mountain for the first time in competition on Saturday afternoon – and it soon became a case of who could cope best with the biting cold conditions.
Nightingale was among those to struggle - finishing fourth, third and fourth again in his races on Saturday - and he was grateful for the form of Bankes, who made up a two-second deficit to go from back-to-front in the final.
“I’m hyped on that,” Nightingale said. “All through the race it was very cold up at the start and then now just at the end the visibility went, so it became a lot tougher on that last run.
“That last heat definitely didn’t show the best of races for me, and then I couldn’t even watch Charlotte, but she still came through and we’re still undefeated, baby.”
The 100 World Cup points had initially looked destined for Australia after Adam Lambert (AUS) built on his earlier solid performances, holding off Jake Vedder (USA) and Loan Bozzolo (FRA) in the final to put teammate Josie Baff in pole position at the top of the deciding women’s run.
The 20-year-old Baff – who won the individual event on the same track last December - got off to a flyer of her own before falling under her own steam as rolling cloud made the early features difficult to pick up.
Sensing an opening with third place now guaranteed, Olympic champion Lindsey Jacobellis (USA) tried the inside route around Trespeuch, only to lose her balance and follow Baff out of the race. Riding the clear snow behind, Bankes had stayed out of trouble and completed a dramatic turnaround by taking Trespeuch over the final stages of a cloud-covered bottom section.
“It was pretty tight,” Bozzolo said. “At the finish line with the other guys we didn’t know who was going to win the race, I was just waiting for Chloe but then there was some crashes maybe because of the visibility.”
Although she fell on the course, Jacobellis was happy to have kept both feet on the podium alongside Vedder – 13 years her junior.
“It was a great way to start off this season,” she said. “The team event is a little bit of a different vibe and energy between us so our strategy at the top and how to break through those first race jitters of the season – it was great to have the young buck with me to reinforce what I already know.”
It was a day of mixed emotions for the host nation, with two of their three pairs eliminated at the quarterfinal stage of the mixed team competition. Merlin Surget (FRA) converted a lead into last place in his heat, while Manon Petit Lenoir (FRA) crashed out after hitting a roller on landing.
The riders will now turn their attentions to the individual event planned for Sunday afternoon, and following several days confined to her hotel, Bankes appeared in no mood to rest on her podium-topping performance.
“It’s been a good day and it proves that we’re in the mix,” she said. “That’s what we need to keep up, we’ll give it our best tomorrow now.”
