Ledeux, Tjader and Norwegians Killi and Ruud big winners at Silvaplana slopestyle season-ender
Mar 25, 2023·Freeski Park & Pipe
The 2022/23 FIS Freestyle and Freeski season came to a close on Saturday morning in Switzerland in a massive day of action at the Silvaplana slopestyle World Cup season finale at Corvatsch 3303, where Tess Ledeux (FRA) and Jesper Tjader (SWE) ruled the day, and where the Norwegian tandem of Johanne Killi and Birk Ruud walked away as the season’s biggest winners by each claiming both the slopestyle and the FIS Freeski overall crystal globes after capping off outstanding seasons with one more podium each.
After an attempt at running men’s snowboard qualifications in Silvaplana was called off on Friday due to fog and wind, Saturday dawned sunny and bright at Corvatsch, and for the most part the weather was perfect through the morning’s freeski finals. Throw in a pristine Corvatsch Park course that’s widely agreed to be one of the absolute best of the season, and a stacked field of the world’s very best on the finals startlist, and you had all the ingredients for an epic ender to what has been an exceptional season.
LEDEUX CAPS SEASON WITH VICTORY, KILLI CLAIMS DOUBLE GLOBES
For Tess Ledeux, however, it It has been an occasionally difficult slopestyle season, as the 2020/21 slopestyle and Freeski overall crystal globes winner has had only one third place result to speak of so far in this winter’s campaign. And, after a fall in her first run of the day, it was looking like the bad luck might be continuing for the 21-year-old French skier.
However, Ledeux had four-straight podiums in Silvaplana leading up to the season’s 10th edition of the iconic competition, and in her second and final run of the day she was able to tap back into that success and put down something special.
Leading things off with a blindside switch-up to front 270 out on the first rail, Ledeux then went switch right 270 to forward on the big red tube to close out the jib features, before going with a left double cork 1260 mute on hit one, into a switch left 720 safety on jump two, then a huge switch right 900 safety to stomp the kickers clean, and then finishing it all off with a tail grab and an alley-oop in the challenging final halfpipe feature for a score of 93.25 and a season-ending win.
“I’m just so happy to finish this season on the first place,” said Ledeux after locking down her third career Silvaplana win and her fifth total podium here, “It was a hard season for me in slopestyle, that’s why I’m so happy. I love this place - it’s my fifth podium here, that’s why I love this place. I’m so happy that we will have the World Championships here in two years.”
Second place on the day went to Switzerland’s own Sarah Hoefflin, who put down a storming second run that included switch left 720 safety and a switch right double cork 1080 mute on the final two jumps for a score of 90.25 and her second slopestyle podium of the World Cup season.
Claiming third place in Saturday’s competition with a score of 89.25 was Johanne Killi, as the 25-year-old Norwegian put an exclamation point on what was the greatest season of her career and one of the most impressive women’s slopestyle campaigns in recent memory.
Killi hit the podium in every event entered in 2022/23, leading the season off with three straight victories, finishing second last weekend in Tignes, and then wrapping it up here in Silvaplana with a third-place finish on her way to claiming both the slopestyle and the FIS Freeski overall crystal globes in dominant fashion. Throw in two Bakuriani 2023 World Championships medals and her winter becomes even more impressive.
Killi ended the slopestyle season with 380 points based on her best four slopestyle results, and 440 on the overall standings where every result of an athlete’s World Cup season is counted.
“Winning the overall crystal globe means a lot to me,” Killi said following the awards ceremony, “I’ve been working for this every season (of my career). I remember my first season here in Silvaplana in 2015 and I finished third overall, and since then I’ve really wanted to get the win overall. And then one season I finished just one point behind Sarah (Hoefflin). But now it’s finally mine and I can’t wait to bring it home to my parents.
“It’s a pretty heavy trophy…I almost lost it there on the podium when they handed it to me because I wasn’t expecting it, but it’s safe now (laughing).”
Hoefflin would finish the season in second overall on the slopestyle rankings with 280 points, while Ledeux, despite what she perceived to be a sub-par season, finishing third with 205 points.
On the women’s Freeski overall rankings Ledeux and Hoefflin would flip positions, with the French skier ending up with 385 point thanks to a typically strong big air season, and Hoefflin ending up with 340 for the season bronze medal.
TJADER EARNS SECOND CAREER VICTORY NINE YEARS AFTER FIRST, RUUD MATCHES KILLI WITH DOUBLE GLOBE SEASON
Over on the men’s side of things it was Jesper Tjader returning to the scene of his first - and up until Saturday, his only - World Cup win to end the season with second career World Cup victory almost exactly nine years since his he first stood atop the podium in Silvaplana.
After a standout second place finish last week in Tignes, it was clear Tjader has been skiing at his best at the end of 2022/23, and on Saturday he made good on the promise shown in France with a heater of a first run.
Leading things off with a switch 270 on to frontside 450 out on the convex rail, Tjader then went right 450 on to backside 630 out to close on the big red tube, before launching a right double cork 1620 tail on jump one, a outrageously stylish switch left double cork 900 japan bring-back to 720 on jump two, and then a switch right double cork 1620 mute on the big kicker before closing it out in the halfpipe with a left cork 900 safety, riding out to a score of 94.25.
“It feels so good to win today,” 28-year-old Tjader smiled from the finish area when the scores were all in the books, “The last time I won a World Cup it was in Silvaplana, too, nine years ago, so…I’m just so stoked on my run. It was actually more than I planned to do. I’m just stoked. I started the season strong in Stubai but it kind of got shaky in the middle of the season, I missed a few finals, but the last little while I’ve been feeling confident and feeling better than ever on my skis.”
Second place on the day was Canada’s Evan McEachran, who earned the fifth podium of his World Cup career with a heavy second run that included a right nosebutter 450 to switch on the first rail, a switch left 270 on to blindside switchup to front 450 out on the second rail, and a switch right 1800 safety on jump number two, and which earned him a score of 93.00 for his efforts.
Finally, earning third place and a FIS Freeski record-setting seventh podium of the World Cup season was the man of the year - Birk Ruud.
Ruud earned five victories (three slopestyle, two big air) and two third place finishes in 2022/23, giving him 560 Freeski overall points to put him almost 200 points clear of Andri Ragettli (SUI), his next closest competitor, who finished with 365. Halfpipe specialist Birk Irving rounded out the Freeski overall season podium in third with 320 points.
On the slopestyle rankings, Ruud’s four best results gave him a total of 360 points, with Ragettli following up with 300, and Tjader vaulting up into the top three with his win on Saturday to finish with 245.
After putting together perhaps the greatest season in FIS Freeski history - in which he also, like his teammate Killi, claimed two Bakuriani medals, including slopestyle gold - Ruud was his typically gracious self following Saturday’s competition.
“Wow, it’s been a great season, and I’m very happy to finish up on the podium,” he said after the awards ceremony, “It’s been the best season I’ve ever had and I’ve done nine podiums in a row when you count World Champs and World Cups. So I wanna say that I’m proud of myself but also proud of my team. It’s been a special season for us all.”
There was more hardware to give out after the individual awards on Saturday, including the FIS Freeski Nations Cup and the FIS Freestyle overall Nations Cup, which counts the best country across all of the slopestyle, halfpipe, big air, moguls aerials and ski cross events.
Taking home the Freeski Nations Cup was the always-strong USA, who finished with 1865 points to earn the honours.
The biggest team trophy of the season then went to the Canadians squad for the second season in a row, as a dominant 2022/23 saw them finish with a total of 7324 points, putting them 1760 points clear of second-place USA and their 5564 points.
We’ll have more to come as we look back in the coming weeks, but for now that’s a wrap on the 2022/23 FIS Freestyle and Freeski World Cup seasons, and we head out of another epic season-ender at Silvaplana’s Corvatsch resort with plenty more good memories to look back on through the summer months.
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