Urness wraps up rookie World Cup season with Freeski Big Air Crystal Globe
Mar 20, 2026·Freeski Park & Pipe:format(webp):focal(2034x856:2035x857))
It was a big Friday night under the lights for Canada’s Naomi Urness as she won the Freeski Big Air World Cup season finale in Tignes (FRA) to take the women’s Crystal Globe in her rookie season.
In the men’s final, Milano Cortina 2026 Freeski Big Air champion Tormod Frostad (NOR) claimed victory as U.S. skier Troy Podmilsak finished third to take the men’s Globe.
Urness topped the eight-woman final on Friday night with a winning score of 166.75 after landing a right double cork 1080 safety in her second run for which the judges awarded her 84.50.
Urness followed up with a switch right bio 1080 mute in her third and last jump, bumping up her score by 82.25 to the winning total of 166.75.
Finland’s Anni Karava was second on 166.00 – just 0.75 points behind Urness – after her third run helped her move from third to second place.
Switzerland’s Giulia Tanno was third on 160.00.
Urness put down her high-scoring second and third runs after posting 24.25 in her first attempt.
“It’s crazy. It’s been an insane night. I couldn’t be happier to land two runs,” she said.
Friday’s win marks the Canadian’s fourth consecutive Freeski Big Air World Cup podium of the 2025/26 season and her second win after claiming her maiden victory at the Steamboat World Cup in December.
The 21-year-old said her rookie World Cup season has exceeded her expectations.
By winning the final on Friday, Urness also maintained her position atop of the Freeski Big Air World Cup to win the discipline’s Crystal Globe on 340 points – 100 points clear of season runner-up Karava on 230 points.
Urness began the 2025/26 Freeski Big Air season with a second-place finish in Secret Garden (CHN) in November, followed by third place in Beijing in December. The Canadian then ended 2025 with a maiden victory in her third World Cup start at Steamboat (USA).
Urness said she never expected to end her first FIS Freeski Park and Pipe season with the Globe.
“It was definitely not my goal. This is my first year on the circuit. I think my goal was just to land my tricks," she said.
For Karava, her second-place result in Tignes on Friday marks her second Freeski Big Air podium finish this season after she claimed her first World Cup victory in Beijing in December.
The 25-year-old also began the FIS 2025/26 Freeski Park and Pipe season with third place at the Freeski Slopestyle season opener in Stubai (AUT) in November.
Swiss skier Giulia Tanno’s third-place finish marks her 15th career World Cup podium. Her last top-three finish dates back to January 2021 when she topped the Big Air Kreishberg World Cup
Recently crowned Freeski Halfpipe Junior World Champion Indra Brown (AUS) finished fourth behind Tanno in what was the16-year-old’s first Big Air World Cup start.
Similar to Urness, Brown has also enjoyed a streak of podium finishes in her first FIS Freeski Park and Pipe season with three Freeski Halfpipe podiums – including one victory – between December and January.
In the men’s final, Norway’s Tormod Frostad posted two of the highest scores of the evening to take the win on 186.50, more than 15 points clear of runner-up and fellow Norwegian Leo Landroe’s score of 171.00.
U.S. skier Troy Podmilsak was third on 170.50, adding to his back-to-back victories in November and December to give him the men’s Crystal Globe.
Frostad took an early lead in Friday’s final with his first-run score of 95.25 for a right nose butter double bio 1440 safety.
In his second run, Frostad landed a switch right tail butter double bio 1440 safety for which the judges awarded him 91.25.
With victory already in hand as the last skier to drop, Frostad attempted a front flip in his third run but clipped the knuckle with his skis.
“I wish I didn't land on the knuckle, I wanted to fly and put on an amazing show for the crowd,” said Frostad.
The 23-year-old Olympic champion said he enjoyed the season finale in Tignes.
Friday’s result marks Frostad’s second World Cup win after he topped the Beijing World Cup in 2024, while Landroe’s second-place finish is the 20-year-old’s third career World Cup top-three result.
Podmilsak’s Crystal Globe comes after the 21-year-old finished just outside of the Milano Cortina 2026 Freeski Big Air podium in fourth place in February.
Before the 2025/26 season, the U.S. skier had only recorded one World Cup podium in Chur (SUI) in 2022 before claiming back-to-back victories in Secret Garden and Steamboat in November and December respectively.
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