Big Air World Cup returns to Steamboat after four years
Dec 11, 2025·Freeski Park & Pipe)
The last FIS Freeski Big Air World Cup before the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games is going down this weekend at Colorado’s Steamboat Resort, as the pressure ramps up and the possibilities for Olympic qualification get narrower with less than two months to go before the Games.
The Visa Big Air World Cup presented by Toyota begins in Steamboat on 11 December, and marks the second time the Colorado resort has hosted an Olympic qualifying event after it hosted one back in 2021 ahead of the Beijing 2022 Games.
Rell Harwood (USA) is among six U.S. skiers in the women’s field of 26 in Steamboat. Harwood is yet to begin her 2025/26 World Cup season after the 24-year-old claimed two Slopestyle podium finishes in 2024/25 with third place in Aspen (USA) and Stoneham (CAN) respectively. Her Big Air results last season include fourth place in Tignes (FRA) and two eight-place finishes in Chur (SUI) and Aspen. Harwood has also claimed an X Games medal of each colour, with gold in knuckle huck in 2025 after silver in the same event in 2024, as well as bronze in that year’s Big Air event.
Last week’s winner in Beijing Anni Karava (FIN) is not competing in Steamboat. Karava is currently tied with Great Britain’s Kirsty Muir on 150 points with each skier recording one win and one fourth-place finish from two World Cup starts. Muir and Karava swapped places in Beijing last week after the Scottish skier won the season opener in Secret Garden while Karava was fourth.
Canada’s Naomi Urness and Chinese skier Liu Mengting also swapped podium places in Beijing last week, with Liu in second place after previously finishing third behind Urness in Secret Garden in November. The pair will be keen to continue their podium streak in Steamboat, with Urness now boasting two podium finishes in just four World Cup starts after the 21-year-old Canadian made her tour debut in February.
Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud and Sarah Hoefflin are not competing in Steamboat, with Gremaud failing to qualify for the final in Beijing while Hoefflin finished last in the eight-woman final in Secret Garden. Swiss skier Giulia Tanno was fifth in Secret Garden, while Anouk Andraska was the only Swiss skier to qualify for the Beijing final and finished seventh.
On the men’s side, Beijing 2022 Slopestyle gold medalist Alex Hall is among a contingent of 13 U.S. men competing in Steamboat. After men’s competition at the FIS Freeski season-opener in Stubai (AUT) was cancelled, this week’s action in Steamboat will mark Hall’s first event of the 2025/26 World Cup season, while teammate Troy Podmilsak returns to competition in Steamboat after winning the Big Air season opener in Secret Garden. Podmilsak and Hall are joined by 2025 World Championships Slopestyle silver medalist Mac Forehand, who finished fourth in Secret Garden, as well as Colby Stevenson, who won the Stubai Slopestyle World Cup last season and was runner-up behind Hall at the Aspen World Cup.
Last season’s Big Air Crystal Globe winner Luca Harrington (NZL) comes to Steamboat after back-to-back podium finishes of second and third place at Beijing and Secret Garden respectively. The 21-year-old Engadin 2025 Big Air World Champion has already qualified for Milano Cortina 2026 but will be aiming to build on his World Cup momentum in Steamboat this week.
Norway’s Ulrik Samnoey comes to Steamboat buoyed by his maiden World Cup victory in Beijing last week. Before Beijing, the 23-year-old last stepped onto a World Cup podium in 2020, in Destne (CZE). His 15-year-old team-mate Frank Wahlstroem is also one to watch in Steamboat after the teenager finished fourth in Beijing and topped qualifications en route to the final. Wahlstroem’s performance in Beijing also marked his second World Cup start since making his tour debut in Secret Garden in November.
Italy’s Miro Tabanelli and Norwegian skier Tormod Frostad will be aiming to improve on their performances in Steamboat after they did not qualify for the final in Beijing. Frostad was eighth in the season opener in Secret Garden, while Tabanelli’s 16th place in Beijing followed his 51st finish in Secret Garden.
Competition in Steamboat will begin on Thursday 11 December with men’s qualifications from 9:20 Mountain Standard Time (MST), followed by women’s qualifications at 13:50 MST. The finals on Saturday 13 December begin at 10:30 MST.
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