THE FREESKI TOP-10 OF 2023

With a couple weeks still to go before we get back to FIS Freeski World Cup action from 17-21 January with slopestyle competition at the Laax Open, we’re taking a minute here in the early going of 2024 to look back at the year that was in 2023.

Picking the top-10 World Cup and World Championships performances from the past 12 months is no simple task, and we’re sure not everyone will agree with the list below. However, love it or hate, this look back at the year in competition for 2023 offers a pretty good snapshot of where we’re at with FIS Freeskiing heading into 2024.

Read on for our chronological look back at the Best of 2023 before we turn our focus to making 2024 even bigger, badder and radder…

JAN 19 & 21, Calgary (CAN) - Eileen Gu (CHN) goes back-to-back to claim her career's fourth and fifth victories just in Calgary, putting her ahead of Connie Kissling (SUI) and behind only Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) for total wins at the second-longest running venue in FIS Freestyle history.

JAN 22, Laax (SUI) - Andri Ragettli (SUI) becomes the first freeskier in World Cup history with 10 career slopestyle victories, taking the win on home soil in Laax at the first-ever Laax Open FIS Freeski World Cup. With the win, Ragettli adds to his FIS Freeski podium record, which sits at 28 top-3s in 53 career starts as of the time of this writing.

MAR 4, Bakuriani (GEO) - In what would turn out to be the single most remarkable day of 2023 for FIS Freeski, Brendan Mackay (CAN) starts things off for us by turning up the drama in the final run of the men’s halfpipe World Championships. Dropping in last, Mackay laces one of the most thrilling and remarkable pipe runs in World Champs history - including back-to-back 1620s on his final two hits - to win gold.

MAR 4, Bakuriani (GEO) - Tess Ledeux (FRA) lands a left dub 1620 on run one, falls on run two, and then pulls out a switch left dub 1260 safety when the pressure is on in run three to win her third World Championships gold medal, tying her for the most in FIS Freeski history.

MAR 4, Bakuriani (GEO) - Troy Podmilsak (USA) lands a world’s-first first forward triple cork 2160. However, Podmilsak stomps it so smoothly that the judges momentarily think it’s just an 1800, and score him accordingly. An inkling of doubt in the judges’ booth leads to a review of the run, a realisation of the mis-call on the trick, a re-score, and a big air World Championships gold medal for the 18-year-old.

FEB 4, Mammoth Mountain (USA) - Johanne Killi (NOR) claims what will turn out to be the final World Cup win of her incredible career. With three victories and podiums in five out of five slopestyle World Cups in 2022/23, Killi will finish the season with both the slopestyle and the freeski overall crystal globes in hand (as well as a bronze medal from slopestyle at the Bakuriani 2023 World Championships), before retiring in the off-season.

MAR 25, Silvaplana (SUI) - Somewhat surprisingly, Jesper Tjader (SWE) - almost universally agreed to be one of the greatest freeskiers of all-time - approached the end of the 2022/23 season with only one World Cup victory to his name, which came all the way back in 2014. At the season finale in Silvaplana he doubled that count, earning his second career World Cup win almost nine years to the day after his first at the very same venue.

DEC 12, Beijing (CHN) - One of the more memorable big air competitions in recent history takes to the world’s first, best and only permanent big air jump in Beijing, where Alex Hall (USA) brings just the right blend of technical prowess and the steeze-of-the-moment to claim his first BA win in four years at the 2022 Olympic venue.

DEC 15, Copper Mountain (USA) - Eileen Gu (CHN) wins her ninth-straight halfpipe World Cup, extending her record victory streak and becoming the winningest halfpipe World Cup skier of all time in the process. Gu also sets the mark for most women’s wins in FIS Freeski World Cup history with 12, only to be tied by Tess Ledeux the very next day when the French skier claimed the Copper big air win. Gu and Ledeux now sit one back of Birk Ruud for the most FIS Freeski wins, women or men, period.