2020/21 FIS Freeski slopestyle World Cup season preview

The 2020/21 FIS Freeski World Cup season is set to get underway on 20-21 November in Stubai (AUT) where slopestyle competition will get the ball rolling on a season unlike any we’ve ever seen before. While extensive covid-19 safety protocols in place at all venues on this season’s tour mean we won’t be seeing much in the way of spectators on site, we’re confident that the action we’ll be able to bring through TV broadcasts, livestream, and social media will be just as exciting, compelling, and progressive as in any campaign in years past.

The 2020/21 FIS Freeski World Cup slopestyle season is slated to see six competitions go down between now and the end of March, beginning in Stubai and then picking up again in the New Year in Font Romeu (FRA), from 21-23 January. From there, it’s Stateside to Mammoth Mountain (USA) from 03-06 February, before the World Cup breaks for the Zhangjiakuo 2020 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle & Freeski World Championships in China from 18-28 February.

Then it’s back to North America for two weeks of competition in Calgary (CAN) from 05-14 March, before we finish things off back in Europe at Silvaplana (SUI) from 25-27 March.

Full 20/21 FIS Freeski World Cup calendar

Zhangjiakuo 2020 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle & Freeski World Championships schedule

Takeaways from 2019/20:

The Swiss Freeski team made a big statement last season by claiming both the women’s and men’s slopestyle crystal globes, with Sarah Hoefflin taking her second career trophy (and becoming the first woman ever to win the slopestyle globe twice), and Andri Ragettli claiming his third career slopestyle globe which, along with his big air globe from 2018/19, gives him the most World Cup season titles for any freeskier in World Cup history.

Along with Hoefflin and Ragettli’s wins, the Swiss also saw Mathilde Gremaud and Giulia Tanno finish in the top-5 on the women’s final rankings, while Fabian Boesch finished third overall on the men’s side of things. To say it was a good year for the Swiss might be an understatement.

Others of note on the women’s side include Marin Hamill of the USA who made a huge leap from 18th overall in 2018/19 to second overall last season, and the ever-consistent Johanne Killi of Norway, whose third overall performance no means she’s finished in the slopestyle top-3 in four out of her six seasons of World Cup competition.

On the wild world of men’s slopestyle there were a few power pendulum swings that went on through the season, but aside from Ragettli and Boesch the main figure all over the FIS Freeski World Cup was Birk Ruud (NOR), who finished fourth overall in slopestyle, claimed the big air crystal globe, and finished 13th overall in halfpipe - despite entering only two of the season’s five competitions.

Second-overall on the 2019/20 season went to Colby Stevenson (USA), who also claimed X Games gold at Aspen in 2020, and the smooth 23 year-old can be counted on to build on that momentum this season and make a push for what would be his first career crystal globe title.

Mark Hendrickson (CAN) rounded out the men’s top-5 on the strength of his first career victory in Font Romeu (FRA), but the 22 year-old was inconsistent through the rest of the season, with his next-best result a 10th in Mammoth.

Final 2019/20 World Cup slopestyle standings

All 2019/20 World Cup slopestyle results

An interview with 2019/20 slopestyle crystal globe winner Andri Ragettli (SUI)

Watch out for in 2020/21:

With no new venues set to be featured this season, it’s all about the athletes and what they can do at a variety of well-established slopestyle World Cup stops over the next four months of action.

With 17 year-old Eileen Gu finishing high school a year early last spring and ready to dedicate herself full-time to skiing over the next couple of season, the rest of the world better watch out. Gu closed out last year’s World Cup by winning the halfpipe and slopestyle competitions on back-to-back days in Calgary (becoming the first Freeski World Cup athlete to accomplish the two-events-in-two-days double) and should be a force to be reckoned with in all three Freeski events this season.

Expect last season’s top five of Hoefflin, Hamill, Killi, Gremaud and Tanno to continue their strong presences on the women’s side of things in 2020/21, while the likes of Tess Ledeux (FRA), Jennie-Lee Burmansson (SWE) and Maggie Voisin (USA) can all be looked to for a bigger impact on this Olympic-qualifying season.

In a statement we’re likely to repeat in our halfpipe and big air season previews as well, the wildcard on the women’s side of things this season is Kelly Sildaru (EST). Last season Sildaru claimed X Games slopestyle gold as well as gold at the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Games, but the 18 year-old has appeared infrequently on the World Cup tour for the past couple of winters.

For the men, it’s really anyone’s guess who may emerge to challenge Ragettli’s claim to the throne. With Olympic qualifying kicking into high-gear, watch for some of the heavy-hitting veteran names to be more involved in 20/21, with athletes like Oeystein Braaten (NOR), Henrik Harlaut (SWE), Alex Beaulieu-Marchand (CAN), Jesper Tjader (SWE), Alex Hall (USA), Nick Geopper (USA) and a slew of others all likely to very much more in the mix.

And there’s the 20-and-under crowd, with the afore-mentioned Birk Ruud leading the way, and skiers like the stylish Cody Laplante (USA), Thibault Magnin (ESP) and a handful of others looking to further challenge the old guard.

If you’re looking for a wildcard on the men’s side, look no further than Gus Kenworthy (GBR). Now skiing for Great Britain after being a leader on the US team for the better part of a decade, Kenworthy will be looking to retake a spot among the world’s elite as he works his way towards what is almost certain to be his last Olympic Winter Games as a competitor, at Beijing 2022.

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