Results: Day 3 of Aspen World Cup sees Americans Alex Hall, Chloe Kim wearing gold
Photo courtesy of U.S. Ski and Snowboard
The first day of finals for the Aspen World Cup and U.S. Grand Prix went down on Saturday at Buttermilk Ski Area. The lineup included men’s and women’s slopestyle skiing, and men’s and women’s halfpipe snowboarding.
The contests are the first official U.S. Olympic team qualifiers ahead of next winter’s Games in Italy.
Here’s the rundown on how the contests went:
Men’s slopestyle skiing
Utah freeskiers Alex Hall and Colby Stevenson continue to standout in men’s slopestyle skiing, which hardly lacks competitive depth. The duo finished 1-2 atop the podium on Saturday, all but securing their spot in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The 16-man final saw all athletes get two runs, and it was Hall’s 88.21 on his first run that secured him the gold. It was the fifth World Cup slopestyle win for him, who also happens to be the reigning Olympic gold medalist.
Stevenson scored 87.15 on his second run to secure his 12th World Cup podium. He won Olympic silver in big air at the 2022 Games, while taking seventh in slopestyle.
Norway’s Birk Ruud (85.1) won bronze on Saturday, while Switzerland’s Andri Ragettli (83.8) just missed the podium in fourth. Konnor Ralph was the third-placed American, finishing sixth overall, while Mac Forehand was the fourth-placed American, finished ninth overall. A fifth American, Cody LaPlante, was 15th overall.
Women’s slopestyle skiing
France’s Tess Ledeux continued her recent dominance in freesking by winning the women’s slopestyle final on Saturday. She scored 88.06 in the eight-woman finale to hold off Canada’s Megan Oldham, who was second with 86.93.
There was a sizeable gap between Oldham and Utah’s Rell Harwood, who snagged bronze with 77.53, a podium finish that puts her in the driver’s seat to make the 2026 Olympic team. Finland’s Anni Karava was fourth with 74.38.
The only other American in finals was Killington’s Eleanor Andrews, who was sixth with 68.26.
Men’s halfpipe snowboarding
While Australian Scotty James has gotten the best of the Japanese riders in most recent cases, it was a different story on Saturday. Japan took the top four spots in the men’s halfpipe snowboarding final, flipping the script from James’ four-peat win in the same halfpipe at X Games a week prior.
Taking the win on Saturday was Ruka Hirano with 93.25, scored on his third and final run of the 10-rider finale. Olympic champion Ayumu Hirano (no relation to Ruka) was second with 89.5, and Ryusei Yamada took bronze with 88.25. Just off the podium was former X Games champion Yuto Totsuka with 87.5.
James, who is still chasing that elusive Olympic gold (he has a bronze and silver to date), was fifth with 85.75.
The two Americans in finals finished sixth and seventh. Telluride’s Lucas Foster can easily be argued as the top men’s U.S. halfpipe snowboarder at the moment, his 80.25 keeping him slightly ahead of Idaho’s Chase Josey, who scored 75.25. Both Foster and Josey are sitting in a good spot to make the U.S. Olympic team.
Women’s halfpipe snowboarding
Rinse and repeat for California’s Chloe Kim.
The Olympic champion and snowboarding superstar again found herself atop the podium, winning Saturday’s eight-woman, three-run final with 91.75. She scored that on her first run and didn’t need to improve anything from there. She also won X Games for the eighth time last week.
With her Olympic team nomination essentially written in Sharpie, fellow Californian Maddie Mastro finished fourth overall with 84 and another Californian, young Sonny Alba, was fifth overall with 66.75.
Korean phenom Gaon Choi was second to Kim with 88.75, and Japan’s Sara Shimizu won bronze with 85.25.
Looking ahead to Sunday
The final day of the U.S. Grand Prix at Buttermilk includes men’s and women’s slopestyle snowboarding (9:30 a.m. start), and men’s and women’s halfpipe skiing (1 p.m. start).
The men’s halfpipe ski final includes two Aspen locals in Alex Ferreira and Tristan Feinberg, who will battle it out against fellow Americans Nick Goepper, Birk Irving, Hunter Hess, and Matthew Labaugh in the finale.
Svea Irving and Kathryn Gray are the lone Americans in the women’s halfpipe ski final.
There are two riders in the men’s snowboard slopestyle final that have Aspen ties in Chris Corning and Jake Canter. They’ll battle with many of the discipline’s heaviest hitters, including Canada’s Mark McMorris.
Spectating is free from the base of Buttermilk. A free livestream is available via Outside TV.
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