Race for slopestyle Crystal Globe enters home stretch at second-last World Cup in Stoneham
Feb 19, 2025·Freeski Park & Pipe)
The race for the slopestyle Crystal Globe is entering the home stretch as the world’s top skiers set their sights on the penultimate slopestyle contest of the 2024/25 FIS Freeski World Cup season in Stoneham this week.
Competition in Stoneham (CAN) will begin with women’s qualifications on Thursday 20 February from 11:00 Eastern Standard Time (EST).
The men’s qualifications will take place on Friday, with heat one slated to begin at 10:30 EST, followed by heat two at 12:30 EST.
French skier Tess Ledeux is currently top of the women’s slopestyle World Cup rankings but is not competing in Stoneham, where second-ranked Megan Oldham (CAN) leads the field of 22 women.
The 23-year-old Canadian standout will be keen to leapfrog Ledeux ahead of the slopestyle World Cup season finale in Tignes (FRA), with Oldham currently just 11 points back of Ledeux, holding 189 points to the 200 of her French counterpart.
Oldham was runner-up behind Ledeux at the most recent slopestyle World Cup in Aspen (USA) on 1 February, which she followed up with an outright victory in big air days later, while Ledeux finished fifth.
The Canadian skier was also runner-up at the Laax Open (SUI) in January, one spot ahead of Swiss skier Mathilde Gremaud, who was last season’s winner of three Crystal Globes across slopestyle, big air and the overall Park & Pipe standings. Gremaud is not competing in Stoneham and currently trails Oldham in the slopestyle standings in third place on 140 points.
Gremaud and Ledeux’s absence in Stoneham, however, will be an opportunity for the likes of Anni Karava (FIN) and Germany’s Muriel Mohr to move into the top three. Karava narrowly missed out on the podium with fourth place in Aspen, and previously finished 10th and sixth at Laax and Stubai (AUT) respectively.
Rell Harwood (USA) will also be keen to carry the momentum from her third-place finish in Aspen through to Stoneham this week. Harwood qualified second behind Ledeux in Aspen, then claimed the last podium spot in the final for the first top-three result of her World Cup career.
Italian teenager Flora Tabanelli leads the overall Park & Pipe World Cup standings, but in slopestyle she has only qualified for one final this season, in Laax, where she finished fourth.
It will be interesting to see whether the 17-year-old can apply her success from big air – where Tabanelli is already more than 100 points clear of her closest big air rival – to slopestyle in Stoneham this week.
In the men’s competition, only nine points separates slopestyle standings leader Colby Stevenson (USA) and Norway’s Birk Ruud, who is the reigning slopestyle World Champion. Stevenson sits on 209 points after he was runner-up in Aspen, ninth at Laax in January, and won the slopestyle season-opener in Stubai in November.
Meanwhile, Ruud trails Stevenson on 200 points after finishing third behind Stevenson in Aspen and previously topping the field in Laax. However, the gap between Ruud and Stevenson is sure to widen this week as Ruud sits out the Stoneham competition.
Other top contenders in Stoneham are U.S. skier Alex Hall and Switzerland's Andri Ragettli. The pair will be within striking distance of the Crystal Globe if they can close the gap in Stoneham this week, with Hall ranked third in the slopestyle World Cup standings on 172 points, followed by Ragettli in fourth place on 170 points.
Hall comes to Stoneham fresh off his recent victory in Aspen, which followed his third place finish in Laax. The 26-year-old did not qualify for the final in Stubai.
Ragettli, on the other hand, was runner-up in Stubai and came close to a top-three finish in Laax and Aspen with sixth and fourth place respectively. Of his eight World Cup starts this season across slopestyle and big air, Ragettli has finished within the top six at seven of those contests.
Also among the men’s field of 41 is last season’s slopestyle Crystal Globe winner Mac Forehand (USA), who managed to turn around his World Cup season with second place in Laax but finished ninth in Aspen. The 23-year-old also narrowly missed out on a podium in Stubai with fourth place.
Norway’s Tormod Frostad finished one spot ahead of Forehand in Stubai, but that third place is the 22-year-old’s only slopestyle podium thus far this season, compared to his two top-three finishes in big air. Frostad did not compete in Aspen, and finished seventh at his most recent slopestyle World Cup in Laax.
Another name to keep a close eye on in the men’s field is New Zealand’s Luca Harrington, who currently sits ninth on the slopestyle World Cup rankings, but second on the overall men’s Park & Pipe standings with three competitions left to go in the World Cup season. With current leader Alex Ferreira (USA) finishing his halfpipe season last weekend in Calgary, the door is wide open for Harrington to take control of the standings here in Stoneham.
For the host Canadians, look to the likes of Max Moffat, Evan McEachran, and Jeremy Gagne to make some noise this weekend.
The top eight women and the top 16 men from qualifications will compete in the finals beginning at 10:00 EST on Saturday 22 February.
SLOPESTYLE FACTS & FIGURES
Tess Ledeux (FRA) leads the all-time slopestyle World Cup wins record with 13. 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.
Colby Stevenson (USA) has 12 top-three World Cup finishes, including four wins.
QUICK LINKS
Stoneham Slopestyle World Cup data page (start lists, live scoring, results)
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