Freeski’s finest kickstart U.S. Grand Prix in Aspen with slopestyle
Jan 29, 2025·Freeski Park & Pipe)
French freeskier Tess Ledeux and Norway’s Birk Ruud are among a stellar cast of athletes who will battle it out on Aspen’s renowned slopestyle course when the 2024/25 FIS Freeski World Cup tour resumes with the U.S. Grand Prix this week.
Twenty-three-year-old Ledeux's presence in Aspen marks her return to the World Cup circuit after she took a break from World Cup competition following her big air victory in Beijing in December. Ledeux also won the slopestyle season-opener in Stubai (AUT) in November.
Aspen has already proven to be a fruitful venue for Ledeux, who won her 12th X Games medal with gold in slopestyle at the X Games Aspen 2025 on 25 January. Ledeux also has a slopestyle victory in Aspen from the 2020/21 World Cup season.
The women’s slopestyle field of 28 skiers on Thursday, however, will be short a couple of big names after Chinese skier and overall women’s Park & Pipe leader Eileen Gu withdrew from competition following a crash during training on Tuesday.
Swiss skier and current slopestyle World Cup leader Mathilde Gremaud will also be absent when qualifications begin on Thursday.
Gu and Gremaud both claimed first and third place respectively at the most recent slopestyle World Cup in Laax (SUI) on 17 January.
Canada’s Megan Oldham was runner-up to Gu in Laax and will be hoping to claim another World Cup podium in Aspen this week. At the recent X Games 2025, Oldham finished just outside the women’s slopestyle podium in fourth place.
Finland’s Anni Karava claimed bronze ahead of Oldham at the X Games, and her World Cup performances this season have ranged from second place at Big Air Kreischberg earlier in January, to 10th place in slopestyle at Laax, and sixth place in Stubai (AUT) in November, also in slopestyle.
Aspen will also be an opportunity for Italian teenager Flora Tabanelli to add to her already impressive World Cup season, with four podiums out of six starts thus far and all four top-three finishes in big air.
The 17-year-old also came close to a slopestyle World Cup podium in Laax, finishing fourth behind Gremaud. Tabanelli comes to Aspen trailing Gu in the overall Park & Pipe rankings by just 20 points with 380 points compared to Gu’s 400 points.
At the recent X Games 2025, Tabanelli won big air gold ahead of the USA’s Grace Henderson and third-placed Ledeux.
Another name to look out for in Aspen is Sarah Hoefflin (SUI), who claimed her 12th slopestyle World Cup podium at Stubai in November with third place.
Norway’s Birk Ruud leads the men’s field of 64 skiers in Aspen after the reigning slopestyle World Champion topped the Laax Open podium earlier in January.
Trailing Ruud in the slopestyle World Cup standings is the USA’s Mac Forehand, whose second place finish in Laax and fourth place in Stubai puts him on 130 points, compared to Ruud’s 140 points.
Forehand recently claimed bronze in slopestyle at the X Games 2025 behind runner-up Andri Ragettli (SUI) and gold medallist Luca Harrington (NZL).
Twenty-year-old Harrington will be hoping to continue that slopestyle momentum on the World Cup tour and improve on his performance at Laax, where he did not qualify for the final. Before Laax, Harrington had back-to-back big air victories in Klagenfurt and Kreischberg.
Ragettli’s recent X Games silver medal could act as a good luck charm for the Swiss skier’s World Cup season. Of his six World Cup starts thus far this season, the 26-year-old has finished within the top six five times, including second place in Stubai.
Meanwhile, the USA’s Colby Stevenson will be keen to return to the slopestyle podium in Aspen following his ninth place finish at the Laax Open, in contrast to the 27-year-old’s season-opening slopestyle victory in Stubai.
Despite finishing outside the top five at the three most recent World Cup events, Norway’s Tormod Frostad currently leads the overall men’s Park & Pipe standings.
The 22-year-old started his World Cup season with second place in big air in Chur, followed by third in slopestyle in Stubai, and victory in big air in Beijing in December.
The third slopestyle event of the 2024/25 FIS Freeski World Cup season will begin with women’s qualifications at 9:00 Mountain Standard Time (MST) on Thursday 30 January, followed by men’s qualifications at 11:30 MST.
The finals will begin at 9:30 MST on Saturday 1 February.
SLOPESTYLE FACTS & FIGURES
Tess Ledeux (FRA) leads the all-time slopestyle World Cup wins record with 12. Her closest rival, Andri Ragettli (SUI), has 11 victories.
Ragettli leads the all-time slopestyle World Cup podium rankings with 23 in total: 11 victories, seven in second place, five in third place.
Ledeux has amassed 16 top-three World Cup finishes in slopestyle: 12 wins, three in second place, one in third place.
Colby Stevenson (USA) has 11 top-three World Cup finishes, including four wins.
Birk Ruud (NOR) has 11 World Cup slopestyle podiums: nine wins, two in third place.
QUICK LINKS
Aspen U.S. Grand Prix Slopestyle World Cup data page (start lists, live scoring, results)
