Double globe days for Ledeux and Stevenson in Silvaplana
Mar 27, 2021·Freeski Park & Pipe
he final event of the FIS Freeski took to the slopes of Corvatsch 3303 resort on Saturday, and while proceedings were delayed in the morning by some adverse weather, eventually the skies cleared, the competition went on, and Tess Ledeux (FRA) and Colby Stevenson (USA) were able to stand tall as the day’s (and the season’s) big winners, both taking the Silvaplana slopestyle World Cup wins and both walking away with the 2020/21 slopestyle and FIS Freeski overall crystal globes.
Ledeux claims two globes with perfect slopestyle season
While there weren’t many slopestyle World Cup events in this pandemic-affected season, with just Stubai (AUT), Aspen (USA) and today’s Silvaplana competitions able to take place, in those events 19 year-old Ledeux was the clear standout time and again, winning all three competitions to finish with a perfect 300 points and two new trophies to add to her ever-going collection.
While she struggled on her first run, on her second attempt on Saturday in Silvaplana Ledeux was once again at her best - despite the delays in the day’s programme and some tough challenges by the dynamic duo of Sarah Hoefflin and Mathilde Gremaud from the host Swiss Freeski Team once competition got underway.
Kicking things off with a backside swap to forward on the first rail, Ledeux put down a left alley-oop tail grab on the quarterpipe, into a left backside 450 out on the second rail feature before dropping in on the Corvatsch course’s big jump line.
Through the jumps she then went switch left 720 mute, into a switch right bio 900 safety, then a left left cork 720 tail, before the final feature of the course, where she elected to hit the launch rail instead of the side hit and where she did a rightside slide to frontside 450 out to cap her winning run off with a score of 88.75.
“It’s been an incredible season,” Ledeux said after the competition, with her globes in hand, “It’s amazing to finish the season with the victory, and to win my very first globe - TWO globes - I couldn’t be happier.”
Along with her three slopestyle victories to claim the slopestyle crystal globe, Ledeux also took second-place at the Kreischberg big air World Cup in January to give her 380 points total and earn her the big Freeski overall globe as the top athlete of the season across all events.
Second place on the day for the women with a score of 86.50 went to Sarah Hoefflin (SUI), who fell just short in her bid to become the first Swiss woman to win on home soil here in Silvaplana. However, Hoefflin still did enough to finish the season with 119 slopestyle points and 151 total points, ranking her third on the slopestyle list behind Ledeux and Kirsty Muir of Great Britain, as well as third on the Freeski overall podium.
Third place in Saturday’s competition with a score of 83.75 went to Mathilde Gremaud (SUI) to cap off a strong weekend for the Swiss women. With what was her third career podium in Silvaplana, Gremaud was able to land in second place on the final 2020/21 FIS Freeski overall World Cup rankings with 159 points, putting her just ahead of her teammate Hoefflin.
Stevenson caps off 2020/21 with an exclamation point
Over on the men’s side of things it was 23 year-old Colby Stevenson on another level throughout the day, putting down two runs that would have been good enough to win the competition - the second of which scored him a near-perfect 96.75.
Already well-positioned before Saturday’s contest to claim both the slopestyle and Freeski overall crystal globes for the men with even a half-decent performance in Silvaplana, Stevenson made extra sure there wouldn’t be any come-from-behind drama from his closest competitors by putting down a run that he was caught on camera describing as the “craziest run of (his) life” in the finish area.
Stevenson started things off with a switch rightside 270 backslide to continuing 270 off on the first rail, into a right 720 mute on the quarter pipe, and then a switch left 270 backslide continuing 450 out to finish off the top sections.
Heading into the jumps Stevenson then went first with a switch rightside double cork 1440 safety, and then a switch left double 1620 Cuban, and finally a left double 1440 Japan to opposite Japan, rolling in hot to the final launch rail where he stomped a left side 810 tail grab out of his railslide and rode away to victory.
“I just kinda kept my head down all year and battled,” Stevenson said after securing the win and the hardware, “I had the covid back in October so my vibes were kinda off coming into the season. But I just stayed true and came out to ski because that’s what I love to do. Did that at every event, planned my best run and tried to put something down, and at the last two events (Silvaplana and Aspen) I put down runs I was really proud of. So to come out on top and come away with the globes is a dream come true. Always wanted to do that since I was a little kid, so here we are.”
Stevenson finished the season with 245 points total for top spot on the slopestyle and Freeski overall rankings.
Taking second place in Saturday’s competition with a score of 93.00, as well as second place in the slopestyle World Cup rankings, and second place on the Freeski overall standings with 172 total points was Norway’s Ferdinand Dahl.
Finishing behind Dahl in third on the slopestyle rankings would be his countryman Christian Nummedal with 118 points, while Sweden’s Oliwer Magnusson would round out the men’s Freeski overall podium with 155 points.
Third place on the day here in Silvaplana, meanwhile, went to Stevenson’s US teammate Alex Hall, who finished less than one point back of Dahl with a score 92.75 points.
And just like that, the 2020/21 FIS Freeski World Cup season is over, and though it may not have gone according to anyone’s plan, the competitions that did go down were exceptional, showing the resilience and determination of everyone involved in this sport to keep pushing things forward even in the face of some pretty incredible adversity.
We would like to thank the athletes, teams and staff from around the world for their positivity, adaptability, and commitment throughout the season, as well as the organisers, venue staff, and volunteers at our events for putting everything they had into making our World Cup competitions possible this season.
We’re already looking forward to next season and getting back up to full speed as we head towards Beijing 2022 next February.
TRICK LISTS
WOMEN
Tess Ledeux (FRA): backswap to forward, left alley-oop tail grab, left backside 450 off, switch left 720 mute, switch right bio 900 safety, left cork 720 tail, right frontside 450 out
Sarah Hoefflin (SUI): switch left lipslide 270 out, left alley-oop, right frontside 450 out, right 540 mute, switch right 720 mute, switch 540 safety, left 360 safety
Mathilde Gremaud (SUI): left 270 on, alley-oop seatbelt, left frontiside 450 out, left 720, right rodeo 900 safety, switch left 720 mute, switch right 540
MEN
Colby Stevenson (USA): switch right 270 on backslide continuing 270 out, right 720 mute, switch left 270 backslide continuing 450 out, switch right double 1440 safety, switch left double 1620 Cuban, left double 1440 Japan to opposite Japan, left back 810 tail out of the launch rail
Ferdinand Dahl (NOR): switch left lipslide 270 continuing 270, right cork 720 reverse mute, switch right 270 continuing 450 out, switch left double 1260 mute, right double bio 1260 Japan, switch right double bio 1260 mute, right bio frontside 810 out of the launch rail
Alex Hall: left backswap continuing 450 out, left alley-oop 720 tail tap, switch on front swap continuing 450 out, switch rightside double 1260 double Japan, switch left double 1260 mute poke, left double 1620 Buick, switch left 270 continuing 450 out
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