Freeski slopestyle set to make historic Laax Open debut
Jan 18, 2023·Freeski Park & Pipe
The 2022/23 FIS Freeski slopestyle World Cup picks back up this week after an extended break for what is something of a historic occasion, as for the first time ever the event has been added to the programme at the Laax Open in Switzerland.
While Laax was a longtime host of the European Freeski Open, from 2006-11 and again from 2014-16, this week will be the first time the skiers will be on site at the same time as the snowboarders for World Cup competition under the Laax Open banner.
Needless to say, with Laax’s unimpeachable pedigree as a top-tier host and venue, and with the very best snowsports athletes from around the globe on site in one of greatest bastions of freestyle anywhere on the globe, vibes and expectations are for the action to go down this week are high.
After the cancellation of the Font Romeu (FRA) World Cup that was slated to take place last week, this week’s competition in Laax marks the second slopestyle World Cup of the season and the first to take place since the season opened in Stubai back in November. With such an extended layoff between events, the full collection of the the world’s best on hand here in Laax are fired up to get underway with the first competition of 2023.
Qualifications in Laax kick off with the men on Thursday, 19 January, followed by the women’s semifinals on Friday, and then a break on Saturday before women’s and men’s finals close out a huge week of action on Laax’s Crap Sogn Gion venues on Sunday, 21 January.
KILLI LOOKS FOR REPEAT OF 2014 EUROPEAN OPEN WIN
Coming into Laax it’s Johanne Killi of Norway sitting atop the women’s FIS Freeski slopestyle World Cup leaderboard after her win in Stubai. Interestingly, Killi is also the lone women in the field with podium history in Laax, having won the European Open here back in 2014 when she was just 16 years old.
Killi has been selective in her starts so far this season, skipping the big airs and focusing on the slopestyle competitions. If her energy-saving approach pays off once again in Laax she could put herself in strong position for a crystal globe after several near-misses in her career.
Of course, there’s a whole lot of talented skiers between her and another win this week, with reigning Beijing 2022 slopestyle gold medallist Mathilde Gremaud foremost on that list.
Gremaud didn’t compete in Stubai, but was on hand for both big air World Cups this season, scoring a third place finish in Chur (SUI) and a second in Copper Mountain (USA). After earning her gold in Beijing last year Gremaud seems to skiing with a sense of freedom that is translating well to results so far in 2022/23, and a home-soil victory for the 22-year-old this week would not be a surprise.
France’s Tess Ledeux is another skier high on the heavy-hitters list, as the 2021 slopestyle crystal globe winner and Beijing 2022 big air silver medallist gets set to drop in on her first slopestlye competition of the season. After a win at the Big Air Chur back in October and qualifying in first at the Copper big air World Cup (where she finished 6th) Ledeux has shown she’s on point in 2022/23, and could be tough to beat here in Laax.
PyeongChang 2018 Olympic gold medallist Sarah Hoefflin and Giulia Tanna returning to competition for the first time since knee surgery will also be strong contenders for the host Swiss, while Kirsty Muir (GBR), Lara Wolf (AUT) and Olivia Asselin (CAN) while be few of the international rippers on hand to watch out for on the women’s side.
RUUD SEEKS TO KEEP PERFECT 2022/23 RECORD INTACT
In men’s freeski there’s one name standing above all others right now, and that’s Birk Ruud of Norway, who has been on an absolute mission in 2022/23, walking away with the win in three out of three World Cups entered so far this season: Chur, Stubai and Copper.
With his win in Copper being the 11th of his career, Ruud has taken over top spot on the all-time World Cup rankings for freeskiers, and it seems likely that number will be even higher by season’s end. The Beijing 2022 big air Olympic gold medallist is able to elevate his game in a simply unmatchable manner right now, and everyone else in the world is just playing catch up.
Having said that, every other upper-echelon freeskier in the world is pretty much here right now in Laax, and Ruud’s likely to see his toughest challenge so far this season as he seeks to keep his streak going.
You can basically throw a dart at the men’s startlist and hit a name with something strong to offer this week, but perhaps tops amongst them is Matej Svancer (AUT), who has seemed to thrive on the Laax course thus far through training. Completely unpredictable and endlessly creative, Svancer seems due for his first slopestyle World Cup podium after scoring two big air top-3’s last season.
The host Swiss team, meanwhile, will have Andri Ragettli leading the way. While Ragettli was the one passed by Ruud on the all-time wins list in Copper, the 24-year-old remains the most successful World Cup freeskier ever with his 24 podiums and five crystal globe wins, and should be counted on to push for a podium in any event he drops in on - especially on home soil.
And, with the likes of Fabien Boesch, Kim Gubser, and the Wili brothers Thierry and Colin also repping the white cross, the Swiss will have some muscle to back Ragettli up in the coming days.
The U.S. team is launching a whole army of elite skiers here in Laax, including Beijing 2022 slopestyle gold medallist Alex Hall, big air silver medallist Colby Stevenson, 2018/19 slopestyle crystal globe winner Mac Forehand, Big Air Chur third place finisher Troy Podmilsak…the list goes on and on.
Canada’s Max Moffat and Evan McEachran, Javier Lliso and Thibault Magnin of Spain, and Beijing 2022 slopestyle bronze medallist Jesper Tjader and Oliwer Magnusson of Sweden are few more names that pop off the start list.
We’ll finish off with the nation where we started the this look at the men’s field, as along with Ruud the Norwegians have perhaps the strongest top-to-bottom slopestyle squad on site here in Laax. With Sebastian Schjerve, Tormod Frostad, Eirik Saetoroey and Christian Nummedal all set to drop in, team Norge is looking strong indeed.
QUICK LINKS
Laax Open official website (including finals LIVESTREAM)
Laax Open FIS Freeski slopestyle World Cup data page (startlists, livescoring, results)
)
)
)
