Freeski slopestyle set to drop in on 2024 Laax Open this week
Jan 16, 2024·Freeski Park & Pipe
The 2023/24 FIS Freeski slopestyle World Cup season restarts this week after an extended break, with a huge collection of the world’s very finest rippers on hand in Switzerland for freeski’s second time included in the legendary Laax Open.
Long one of the biggest and most well-respected competitions in snowboarding, the Laax Open added freeski slopestyle to the programme for the first time last season. While some challenging weather meant things didn’t go as smoothly as could have been hoped, with women’s finals cancelled due to the weather, it was still a strong showing for the skiers at what is perhaps the most renowned resort in European freestyle.
While weekend weather is looking ideal at this point, the forecast for the next couple of days is looking challenging, and organisers and officials have had to a bit of a reshuffle for the programme.
As it stands now, qualifications for both the men and then women are now slated to take place on Wednesday, 17 January, with men’s heat one leading things off at 9:10 CET, heat two at 11:40 and then the women at 14:10. However, there’s a strong possibility things could change on that front as the day progresses, so stay tuned to our social channels for updated info through the day.
From there, men’s semifinals are then on deck for Friday afternoon featuring the top 12 skiers from each heat, with finals for both women and men set to go on Sunday beginning at 13:15.
The 2023/24 slopestyle World Cup season got off to something of an inauspicious start back in November in Stubai (AUT), where a heavy early-winter storm forced the cancellation of finals and saw the podiums decided based upon qualification results.
While there’s nothing that extreme coming in for this week in Laax, the weather forecast means there may still be some adjustments as move through the week here, so stay tuned for updates on our social channels as they happen.
With a bit of lucky weather we’re looking forward to a livestream of finals available throughout the day tomorrow, running throughout the day HERE.
GU MAKES SLOPESTYLE RETURN TO CHALLENGE FAVOURITE GREMAUD
The top woman in Stubai was Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud, with that victory coming as the second of the three-straight that she claimed through the early part of the season, including with big air wins in Chur (SUI) and Beijing (CHN).
While Gremaud had to settle for a second-place finish at our most recent World Cup at the Visa Big Air Copper Mountain (USA), the 23-year-old still sits comfortably atop the women’s Freeski overall World Cup rankings ahead of her home-country competition this week and should be highly motivated for one of the top-3 spots here in Laax.
Gremaud’s toughest challenges for top spot this week are almost certain to come from two athletes - either from Tess Ledeux who, like Gremaud, has podiums in four-of-four starts so far this season, and sits in second place on the overall standings; or from the one and only Eileen Gu, who is set to drop in on her first slopestyle competition since the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games almost two years ago.
Ledeux finished just ahead of Gremaud in third place at last season’s Laax Open, and the 22-year-old has only missed the podium twice in her last 12 slopestyle World Cup appearances, making her far-and-away the most consistent slopestyle skier on the women’s World Cup. Betting on Ledeux for a top-3 is basically money in the bank, it’s just a matter of where exactly she slots in amongst those three.
Which brings us to Eileen Gu, who finished in sliver medal position behind Gremaud at Beijing 2022, missing out on her quest for triple Olympic gold by just .33 points.
While Gu hasn’t seen any slopestyle action since Beijing, she’s claimed wins in four-out-of-four halfpipe competitions entered over the last season and a half - with most of those wins coming in dominant fashion. However, slopestyle is an entirely different beast than halfpipe, and if the most famous athlete in snowsports is able to pull out the victory here in Laax in her return to the event it will be an another remarkable moment in a career that’s already overflowing with them.
A few of the others to watch out for on the women’s side of things include last year’s Laax Open runner-up Sarah Hoefflin (SUI), Hoefflin’s Swiss teammate Giulia Tanno, Sandra Eie of Norway and Ruby Star Andrews of New Zealand.
RAGETTLI LOOKING FOR HOME FIELD REPEAT
Over on the men’s side of things it’s again a Swiss star leading the charge into this week’s action, as Laax local Andri Ragettli rolls into competition as the reigning Laax Open winner looking for a repeat performance this time around.
While Ragettli finished just off the podium in fourth place at Stubai, those results were based on qualifications scores, and it’s certain that the 25-year-old would have had more to give there in Austria had the finals taken place. No one knows Laax better than Ragettli, and with the added motivation of his near-miss in Stubai he could be tough to beat this week.
Tops on the slopestyle rankings at this early point in the season is Canada’s Evan McEachran, who claimed his first World Cup victory there in Stubai. McEachran’s flow-y, intuitive style should translate well to the long and tricky Laax Open course, and he could well be in the top-3 mix again this week.
Second and third in Stubai went to the USA’s Mac Forehand and reigning Olympic gold medallist Alex Hall, respectively, and in those two the U.S. squad boasts a pair of the very finest freeskiers on the planet right now. Both Hall and Forehand have wins of their own this season - Hall at the Beijing big air and Forehand on home soil at the Copper Mountain big air - and Hall also has last season’s Laax Open second place finish to build on for his efforts this time around.
Throw in the fact that the U.S. team also boasts the likes of Colby Stevenson, Hunter Henderson and Cody Leplante, and they’re looking like a strong bet for at least one podium in the men’s competition here in Laax.
Then of course there’s the reigning slopestyle World Champion, 2022/23 double crystal globe winner and the winningest freeskier in World Cup history, Birk Ruud of Norway, who comes into Laax with a pair of big air podiums so far in 2023/24 but still looking for his first victory of the season. Ruud’s record-setting run of 12 straight FIS event podiums came to an end in Stubai, so expect him to be on a mission this week in Laax as he looks to return to the slopestyle podium.
With 63 skiers currently slated to drop in on Wednesday’s qualifications, there’s a whole lot more heavyweights who could shake things up over the next few days, including the likes of Ruud’s countryman Sebastian Schjerve, Max Moffat of Canada, New Zealand’s Luca Harrington, rising star Miro Tabanelli of Italy, and a handful of others.
QUICK LINKS
Laax Open data page (start lists, live scoring, results)
