The Freestyle Rundown - June 11, 2020

Howdy everyone, and happy Thursday to you. We hope you've brought a big plate and your appetite, because once again we're bringing you the sweet smorgasbord of ski content that is the Freestyle Rundown. This week we'll be taking you from an impromptu ice bath in Austria, to an inspiring story of cross-event mentorship in the US, to a sweet, sweet moment of zen in Canada and a whole lotta tasty snacks in between. Grab your forks and let's get to it!

First up once again is our latest #ClassicsLive poll, which features a doozy of a showdown between two exceptional moguls competitions from FIS Freestyle past - Moscow 2015/16, and La Plagne 2013/14. With the likes of Perrine Laffont (FRA) and Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) on top in Moscow, and Hannah Kearney (USA) and Alex Bilodeau (CAN) taking top spot in La Plagne, this one features some of the biggest names in moguls history. Get voting now!

It's been a while since we've seen some solid ski cross action gracing the ol' timeline, but luckily Swiss young gun Saskja Jack came along to scratch that itch last week with this sweet drone shot from a hard-fought heat at the Reiteralm Europa Cup. Getting that first podium sure feels sweeter when you get there through battles like this...

One of the key facets of a good recovery after a tough day battling it on the slopes is a little time in the ice bath. Of course, typically you would want to take your skis and boots off before hitting the chilly water, but Lukas Muellauer and his homie Jan Palma had a bit of a different approach over the weekend in Kitzsteinhorn...

Also doing-it-wrong for our entertainment this week was French phenom Antoine Adelisse, who yesterday celebrated his 24th birthday with what was very nearly a seriously uncomfortable mistake...😬

HBD, Antoine! May all the rest of your slides this year be smooth...

Lastly up for this week's "Doing it Wrong" category is reigning ski cross Olympic gold medallist Brady Leman, who had a little run-in with a tree while mountain biking back home in Canada at the end of May...yikes.

Heal up quick, Brady!

However, in the "Doing it RIGHT" category for this week, we've gotta give a huge shout-out to Eileen Gu, who became the first individual in the history of her high school to graduate early - giving her the all clear to do nothing but ski between now and the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games and giving all the other women on tour something to worry about...

Also in the "Doing it Right" category? This story about 2x Olympic halfpipe gold medallist David Wise and his newly-formed Mental Giants programme, through which he's currently working with US moguls team member Olivia Giacco to pass along some of his deep knowledge of what it takes to excel in the pressure cooker at the top of the ski world. Awesome stuff...

Instagram was instagramming hard this past week, with a whole lotta pretty, pretty photos coming down the line. So, let's hit a little rapidfire photo round here with a few of the best, beginning with the first lady of Swiss ski cross Fanny Smith, who manged to find a half-decent backdrop for this hiking shot...

Although to be honest it kind of seems like taking photos in the Swiss Alps is just cheating when it comes to making it primo for the 'gram. Even with Carol Bouvard trying to block out as much of the scenery as possible it's still pretty much postcard-perfect...

Then there was German ski cross up-and-comer Celia Funkler, who figured this lake scene in Berchtesgaden was a good spot for a little yoga...

2x slopestyle crystal globe winner Sarah Hoefflin of Switzerland put on her flowery summer finest and grabbed her globes for this garden photoshoot...

Meanwhile, Tyler Wallasch and his muscles celebrated his 26th birthday in this half-decent setting on the edge of Yosemite. Happy b-day, TJ!

And hey why not throw a couple quick-hit shots of some not-bad-on-the-eyes shredding while we're here, firstly with 2019/20 halfpipe crystal globe winner Valeriya Demidova...

And next to Nico Porteous, who's getting hyped for the immanent opening of Cardrona back home in New Zealand...

Alright, time for a little live-action...action. The flow of fresh ski clips slowed down a little in the past week (as you would expect, moving well into June as we are and everything), but we saw a few standouts coming down the pipeline. Number one on our list from the past week comes from big air crystal globe winner Giulia Tanno and this edit from her time at the Swiss ski supersession in Crans Montana. We highly recommend you watch to the end...

Then there was Czech freeski dawg Simon Bartik, who threw it back to last fall with this hyperstylish line from the Stubai Zoo...

And then we'll head back to Kitzsteinhorn, where Melanie Meilinger was getting a little bump action on this perfect-looking training slope over the weekend...

And, finally, let's finish things off for this week on the Freestyle Rundown with a moment of pure zen, courtesy of Canada's Max Moffatt...

Thanks for reading, everybody! Have a good weekend and we'll see ya back here next Thursday...or Friday. Hopefully Thursday though.

😉🤙