Freeski season hits the homestretch with Tignes slopestyle
Mar 16, 2023·Freeski Park & Pipe
The 2022/23 FIS Freeski World Cup moves into the homestretch this weekend, with the penultimate competition of the season set to take to the storied slopes of Tignes (FRA) for slopestyle action beginning with women’s qualifications on Thursday, followed by men’s qualifications on Friday, with finals for both women and men set for Saturday beginning at 11:00 CET.
After a little break and recharge following the Bakuriani 2023 World Championships, a strong field of the world’s finest slopestyle skiers is on hand here in Tignes and ready to throw down on the revamped slopestyle course. With a favourable-looking weather forecast in place for the days ahead and only two competitions left in the World Cup season (Tignes this weekend, Silvaplana (SUI) next weekend), we’re expecting big things at one of the World Cup’s most historic venues in the coming days.
After the women’s competition was cancelled completely and the men were only able to complete qualifications at last season’s Tignes event due to the weather, we’re looking forward to completing the full pull this week at a venue that has been hosting FIS Freestyle and FIS Freeski competitions for over 43 years now.
KILLI LOOKING LIKE A LOCK FOR FIRST CAREER CRYSTAL GLOBE
Leading the charge on the women’s side of things this week is Norway’s Johanne Killi, the slopestyle World Cup leader and second-ranked Freeski overall woman who has done nothing but win when it comes to the slopestyle World Cup this season.
Killi is a perfect three-for-three in World Cup slopestyle starts in 2022/23, and the 25-year-old also has a Bakuriani 2023 World Championships slopestyle bronze medal to her credit from Georgia. With a huge 140 point lead on the slopestyle rankings and only 20 points to go to catch halfpipe ace Rachael Karker (CAN) on the overall standings, Killi is all but assured of claiming at least one crystal globe by season end in Silvaplana next weekend.
Killi and the rest of the women are going to have to reckon with France’s own Tess Ledeux here in Tignes, as the 21-year-old has been dominant on home soil throughout her career. Ledeux has four victories in five starts in France in her career, and she comes into Tignes on a high after claiming Bakuriani 2023 big air gold on March 4th. Ledeux has proven time and again that she steps her game up for home soil competitions, and we expect to see more of the same this weekend.
Then there’s Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland, who is fresh off of becoming the first freeskier to simultaneously hold Olympic and World Championships gold medals in slopestyle after winning in Bakuriani. While Gremaud has been somewhat quiet on the World Cup this season with just one podium to her credit, she proved again in Bakuriani that when she’s in the mood for throwing down there are few in the world who can match her.
And of course don’t forget Megan Oldham (CAN), the X Games 2023 double champion who also grabbed a pair of medals in Bakuriani, earning slopestyle silver and big air bronze. Oldham has taken a huge leap this season, and while she’s not in the running for any globes, she’s a good bet to be in the podium mix for the last couple competitions of the winter.
Lara Wolf (AUT), Sarah Hoefflin (SUI) and Sandra Eie (NOR) should all also be in the conversation come finals time in Tignes for the women.
RUUD AND RAGETTLI IN HEAVYWEIGHT BATTLE FOR MEN’S TITLE
For the men it’s going to be all eyes on Norway’s Birk Ruud in the coming days, as the slopestyle and Freeski overall World Cup leader looks to keep going with one of the most remarkable streaks we’ve ever seen in men’s FIS Freeski competition.
Ruud has podiums in every FIS competition he’s entered this season, including four wins and a third place finish in five World Cup starts, as well as Bakuriani 2023 slopestyle gold and big air bronze.
In fact, if you run it back to the end of the 2019/20 season, Ruud has only missed the podium ONCE in 12 World Cup starts. At this point it’s pretty much inevitable that when the 22-year-old drops in on a competition run he’s going to do something that few others in the world can even come close to, and he’s been doing it week-in and week-out for nearly three seasons now. Factor in that Ruud was also the winner here in Tignes last season based on his top qualification score, and it becomes pretty clear who the favourite is once again this week.
Trailing Ruud by just 20 points on the slopestyle World Cup rankings and also having himself yet another excellent season is Switzerland’s Andri Ragettli, who has a win, a runner-up and third place finish in slopestyle competition this season - as well as Bakuriani 2023 slopestyle bronze.
Up until this year Ragettli owned the most FIS Freeski World Cup wins in history, but was passed by Ruud when the Norwegian took top spot in Mammoth Mountain (USA) back in February for his 12th career victory. With just Tignes and Silvaplana (SUI) competitions left in the 2022/23 season, you know the uber-competitive Ragettli will be looking to go two-for-two and gain top spot back before we close the books on another World Cup winter.
While the battles for both the slopestyle and overall globes are down to just Ruud and Ragettli at this point, there’s a long list of others on the men’s side of things capable of making some noise in finals on Saturday, including Ruud’s teammates Christian Nummedal and Sebastian Schjerve.
Nummedal had a triumphant showing at Bakuriani, earning slopestyle silver just behind Ruud and finishing seventh in the big air, while Schjerve has earned the first two podiums of his World Cup career this season with a big air third at Copper Mountain (USA) and a slopestyle second at Mammoth.
Canada’s Max Moffat, who finished second behind Ruud in Tignes last season and just missed the slopestyle podium with a fourth-place finish at the World Championships should also be watched here in Tignes, especially with some exciting rail sections in the course that suit his creative style.
The USA’s Hunter Henderson looked especially strong in Wednesday’s training and he, along with young big air World Champion Troy Podmilsak and Cody Laplante are a few of the other American contenders.
Sweden’s Jesper Tjader finisher third in last season’s shortened Tignes competition, and the rail skiing visionary should also be well-suited to the Tignes course once again this season.
Ben Barclay (NZL), Fabian Boesch (SUI), Lukas Muellauer (AUT) and France’s own Timothy Sivignon are a few other names to keep an eye on in the coming days.
Stay tuned to our social media pages for where-to-watch and livestream info before finals.
QUICK LINKS
Tignes data page (start lists, livescoring results)
YouTube livestream (with geo restrictions)
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