Slopestyle home snow victory for Forehand in Aspen as Muir tops women’s field again
Jan 09, 2026·Freeski Park & Pipe
Scottish skier Kirsty Muir topped the Aspen Freeski Slopestyle World Cup on Friday to record her second victory of the 2025/26 season as U.S. skier Mac Forehand won the men’s event.
Muir’s victory on Saturday comes after the 21-year-old won the Freeski Big Air season opener in Secret Garden (CHN) in November, which followed her maiden World Cup victory at last season’s Slopestyle finale in Tignes (FRA).
Meanwhile, Forehand’s victory in the men’s event helps put the 24-year-old one step closer to qualifying for the U.S. Olympic ski team. It also marks his fourth overall World Cup victory and his third Slopestyle win from 27 starts in this discipline.
After snow and flat light conditions delayed the start of Friday’s finals by 30 minutes, Muir was the first skier to claim victory after posting a run one score of 80.62 that put her more than seven points clear of runner-up Megan Oldham (CAN) on 73.02.
Fellow Canadian Elena Gaskell was third on 72.90, while Switzerland’s Giulia Tanno was fourth.
Oldham’s result on Friday follows her fourth place finish at the Slopestyle season opener in Stubai (AUT) in November. It is also Oldham’s ninth Slopestyle World Cup top-three result, while Gaskell’s third place is her second Slopestyle podium and fifth overall top-three World Cup finish.
Muir was the top qualifier going into Friday's and proved she was the woman to beat after landing a left 270 continuing 270 on the first rail, then a switch left 270 continuing 270, a right double cork 1080 safety, a left 720 tailgrab, and a right slide front 630 on the third and final rail in her first run.
Muir’s top score of 80.62 remained unbeaten as the rest of the field struggled to put down top-to-bottom runs in their second attempt, and the 21-year-old finished the day with a victory lap.
“This morning it was pretty dark and snowy and as soon as it was finals, the actual runs started to clear up which was a bit of a positive. It was nice to see. So yeah, pretty stoked about how it turned out," she said.
Muir’s winning performance on Friday follows her ninth place Big Air finish at Steamboat (USA) before the Christmas break. The Scottish skier also narrowly missed out on the Big Air podium in Beijing at the second event of the season after her season opening win in Secret Garden.
In the men’s final, most of the 16-man field had completed their first run before Forehand set a benchmark score of 77.38.
Forehand’s winning first run began with a left slide back swap continuing 270, then a switch right lipslide pretzel 450, a right double cork 1620 tailgrab, a switch left double cork 1620 leading Cuban, then a left 270 continuing cork 630 safety on the last rail.
Estonia’s Henry Sildaru was runner-up on 75.90 as the 19-year-old claimed his first World Cup podium finish, while Norway’s Ulrik Samnoey was third on 74.64.
Samnoey’s third place on Friday comes after the 23-year-old Norwegian secured his maiden World Cup victory in December in Big Air in Beijing (CHN). Prior to this season, Samnoey had one Big Air victory to his name from 2020.
For 24-year-old Forehand, Friday’s victory puts him in prime position to qualify for the U.S. Olympic ski team for the upcoming Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games beginning in February.
“The Olympics is always in everyone’s head and all I’ve been thinking about these past couple of months and I haven’t had the results that I’ve wanted to do and today it just all clicked and I am so happy.”
Forehand was one of six U.S. finalists in the men’s final alongside reigning Olympic champion Alex Hall, who has already qualified for Milano Cortina.
Forehand admitted he did not expect to perform better in his first Slopestyle event of the 2025/26 season after finishing fourth and 28th place in Big Air at Secret Garden (CHN) and Steamboat (USA) respectively in December.
“After Steamboat I didn’t make the (Big Air) final, I fell in qualifying … missing the final in that was just really tough,” said Forehand.
“I felt like I could have done better at Big Air than I could have in Slope this year, but I don’t know, it just clicked for me today and it worked on the Slope course, so I’m hyped.”
U.S. teammate Ralph Konnor finished fourth on Friday while Hall was the lowest ranked U.S. skier of the day in 14th place after failing to land his two runs.
Other big names to finish outside of the men’s top five on Friday included Big Air World Champion Luca Harrington (NZL) in eighth place and four-time Slopestyle Crystal Globe winner Andri Ragettli (SUI) in 11th place.
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