Aerialists gear up for new heights at Secret Garden World Cup
Dec 19, 2025·Freestyle)
For skiers eyeing sport’s biggest prize at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games, the next stop on the FIS Freestyle World Cup holds special significance.
Secret Garden in China hosted freestyle competition at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, and will also be the site of the 2029 World Championships.
Aerialists’ next venture on the World Cup will take place on the hills of Zhangjiakou from 20-21 December, although Moguls competition is on a break and will resume in the new year.
On top of individual events, mixed team aerials will also be contested at Secret Garden.
China’s world-class aerialists will certainly be relishing the chance to succeed at home, perhaps none more than reigning Olympic champions Qi Guangpu (CHN) and Xu Mengtao.
Qi’s World Cup season did not begin as hoped when he did not progress from the qualification round in Ruka. The 35-year-old will be looking to regroup on home snow and the location of his greatest triumph.
He said: “This is the first time I’m back here after the 2022 Olympic Games. It feels so familiar, like it was just yesterday that I won gold. I’ve adjusted very quickly, and I hope to put in a good showing during competition.”
Xu, meanwhile, opened her season with victory in Ruka and will be keen to ride on that momentum.
The 35-year-old said: “The full-full-full in Ruka was my first this season. But everyone is doing a very good job, and competition is very difficult. We’re ready to put in some hard work.
“The Olympic gold medal is my goal, but now, I just want to be able to do my best job, step by step. Secret Garden is very important for Team China, because we want to have more practice in competition and have more team communication.”
But they will both have to contend with rivals who are skiing into Olympic momentum.
For Qi, that includes his own teammates who form a deep squad of top-level aerialists such as Li Tianma (CHN) and Sun Jiaxu (CHN). In other teams, Christopher Lillis (USA), Quinn Dehlinger (USA) and Pirmin Werner (SUI) all showed in Ruka that they are in top form.
For Xu, her biggest test will come in the form of Laura Peel (AUS). The 2024/25 Crystal Globe winner did not make the superfinal in Ruka, but is nonetheless capable of triples that will set her apart from the rest.
Reigning world champion Kaila Kuhn (USA), as well as teammate Winter Vinecki (USA), will be others to watch.
In the women’s field, there will also be an added element of anticipation, with Hanna Huskova (AIN) in the mix this time. The 2018 Olympic champion, who took silver at Beijing 2022, may not have been regularly competing on the circuit in recent years, but should definitely not be written off.
In the mixed team event, the United States will be looking to repeat their gold success from Beijing 2022. Christopher Lillis leads that charge, hoping to keep China’s stellar team at bay.
Competition on Saturday (20 Dec) will begin with women’s qualifications at 09:15 local time, followed by men’s qualifications at 11:45. Finals will take place from 14:00.
On Sunday, team competition starts at 14:00.
WATCH LIVE
TV broadcasts will be available for fans to follow the action live, while there will also be live streaming on FIS TV.
Here are the links and information about geo-restrictions –
Saturday, 20 December
Sunday, 21 December
Please note that due to broadcasting rights restrictions, live streaming availability may be limited in certain regions.
However, the livestream for the finals is accessible in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Singapore, and South Korea. For the qualifications, the livestream is available globally, with the exception of geo-restrictions in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
QUICK LINKS
Secret Garden World Cup FIS data page (start lists, results, etc)
