Atkin wins Silvaplana Freeski Halfpipe World Cup to clinch Crystal Globe as Harrold claims maiden victory
Mar 29, 2026·Freeski Park & Pipe:format(webp):focal(1470x407:1471x408))
Reigning women’s Freeski Halfpipe World Champion Zoe Atkin (GBR) won the final World Cup of the 2025/26 season in Silvaplana (SUI) on Sunday to claim the second Crystal Globe of her career.
In the men’s Freeski Halfpipe final, New Zealand’s Luke Harrold topped the field while Estonia’s Henry Sildaru clinched the men’s overall Crystal Globe after finishing second behind Harrold.
Atkin was the top qualifier going into Sunday’s 10-woman final and did not leave the top spot after posting a first-run score of 86.75.
New Zealand’s Mischa Thomas was runner-up on 80.75 while Aleksandra Glazkova (AIN) was third on 80.00, both of whom registered their first World Cup podium finishes with Sunday’s result.
The 23-year-old Atkin began her winning run with her signature left 540 high mute, then a right 720 leading tailgrab, a switch left 360 Japan, a right 540 leading tailgrab, a right alley-oop 360 Japan, to end with a switch right cork 720 safety on her final hit.
Silvaplana marks Atkin’s second victory this season after she won the Copper World Cup in December. The reigning World Champion also secured bronze at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in February.
“It’s really special. Obviously conditions today were pretty tough, it was pretty windy so we were going a little smaller than usual,” Atkin said.
“But I’m really glad that I was able to put one down in the conditions.”
With Sunday’s victory, Atkin leapfrogged Australian Indra Brown in the women’s Freeski Halfpipe standings to top the season standings on 360 points.
It comes after Atkin shared last season’s Crystal Globe with China’s Li Fanghui after the pair wrapped up the 2024/25 season with an identical set of results.
“Capping off a really great season. I’m really happy. I’m really stoked.”
Brown was sixth on Sunday, which is the 16-year-old’s lowest result from her five Freeski Halfpipe starts in her rookie FIS FIS Freeski Park and Pipe season.
Brown wore the tour leader’s yellow bib going into Sunday’s final, with the teenager tipped to claim the Crystal Globe if she finished second or higher.
For runner-up Mischa Thomas, her performance on Sunday marked the 18-year-old’s first World Cup podium during her rookie Freeski Park and Pipe season where she also finished eighth at Milano Cortina 2026.
Glazkova’s third-place result in Silvaplana was the Russian-born skier’s first international competition since the Beijing 2022 Games.
In the men’s final, New Zealander Luke Harrold knocked Estonia’s Henry Sildaru from the top spot with his second-run score of 93.25.
Sildaru, the Milano Cortina 2026 Freeski Halfpipe silver medalist, looked set to take his first World Cup victory on Sunday before 17-year-old Harrold overtook him.
After posting 80.25 in his first run, Harrold upped the ante in his second run with a switch right alley oop double 900 critical grab, a switch left alley-oop double 900 mute, then a switch left cork 720 Japan, a right dub 1260 mute, to end on a massive left double 1620 safety on the last hit.
Harrold’s score of 93.25 pushed Sildaru’s 88.00 into second place, while Finland’s Jon Sallinen was third on 85.25 in his first World Cup competition in two years.
“I was at the top, I was trying to have as much fun as possible. Just wanting to try to give everything I had in this last run, last run of the year. Just gave it my all and it worked out, so I’m super happy,” said the 17-year-old.
Before Sunday, Harrold’s best career result was as runner-up at Secret Garden (CHN) in December, which was his second World Cup podium after previously finishing second at the same venue in 2023.
The 17-year-old also made his Olympic Winter Games debut at Milano Cortina 2026, where he did not progress to the finals.
Harrold said he was glad he could close out the 2025/26 season with a career-first World Cup victory.
Fellow New Zealander and men’s Freeski Halfpipe World Champion Finley Melville Ives claimed the men’s Freeski Halfpipe Globe on Sunday with 280 points despite not competing in Silvaplana.
The 19-year-old’s points total came courtesy of his two World Cup victories in Secret Garden (CHN) and Buttermilk (USA) in December and January respectively before he broke his collarbone at Milano Cortina 2026 in February.
With his runner-up finish on Sunday, Sildaru topped the men’s overall Freeski Park and Pipe standings on 342 points, four points ahead of 2025/26 Freeski Slopestyle Globe winner Birk Ruud (NOR).
By claiming the FIS Freeski Overall Crystal Globe, Sildaru became the first Estonian man in any FIS discipline to walk away with a World Cup season title.
"I'm just speechless," said Sildaru. "I didn't expect to be getting the overall Globe. But then yesterday, after Slopestyle, Birk Ruud told me 'you might have a chance, check the standings, it's possible'. So very, very awesome to get it."
Sunday’s result also marked Sildaru’s second podium in Silvaplana this weekend after the 19-year-old was runner-up in Freeski Slopestyle on Saturday. That too was an achievement, as the only other freeskier in FIS history to podium in both slopestyle and halfpipe at the same World Cup was Gus Kenworthy, in 2015.
The women’s overall Freeski Park and Pipe Globe went to Great Britain’s Kirsty Muir after the 21-year-old was second at the Silvaplana Freeski Slopestyle World Cup on Saturday to top the discipline standings. Muir also finished third on the Big Air World Cup standings.
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"I'm just so, so so stoked," said Muir.
"It's been a crazy season, but I’m just so excited about my skiing and how it's gone. It’s a long season, lots of comps, but the girls (on the World Cup) are so fun to be around and it makes it so worth it."
The Silvaplana Freeski Halfpipe World Cup on Sunday was the last of 14 events during the 2025/26 FIS Freeski Park and Pipe season between November and March.
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