Blouin back on top as Canter claims maiden Slopestyle World Cup victory in Aspen
Jan 10, 2026·Snowboard Park & Pipe
U.S. snowboarder Jake Canter saved the best until last to claim his maiden Slopestyle World Cup victory on home snow in Aspen (USA) as Canada’s Laurie Blouin returned to the top of the women’s podium for the first time in four years.
The 29-year-old Canadian took the win on Saturday after bouncing back from her low-scoring first run as several riders landed heavily during the early sections of their first attempts.
The judges awarded Blouin 81.21 for her second run which began with a 50-50 to front lipslide, then a boardslide to fakie, a cab double underflip 900 indy, a front double cork 1080 mute, and a 50-50 backflip on the final section.
Her high score pushed Japanese rider Mari Fukada’s first-run score of 77.26 into second place, while teammate Kokomo Murase was third on 75.36, followed by Momo Suzuki in fourth.
Blouin’s win on Saturday is her first World Cup victory since she topped the Bakuriani (GEO) podium in March 2022.
The Canadian said she came into Saturday’s final without placing any pressure on herself as many teams finalise qualification for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games beginning in February.
“I was just here to have fun and not have any pressure, and that’s what I did,” Blouin said.
“I’m pretty much qualified for the Olympics, so I came here to just get the nerve back.
For Blouin, the upcoming Milano Cortina 2026 Games will be her third Games after she finished fourth at the Beijing 2022 Games and claimed silver at her first Games in PyeongChang in 2018.
Further afield, Australia’s Meila Staker rounded out the women’s top five, while U.S. snowboarding icon and two-time Olympic Slopestyle gold medalist Jamie Anderson did not start her second run after falling during her first attempt.
In the men’s final, Canter took the win after overtaking Olympic Big Air champion Su Yiming (CHN) on the leaderboard with his second attempt score of 85.16.
Su looked set to add a third victory to his 2025/26 season with his second run score of 84.18 until Canter’s second attempt pushed Su into second place.
Su’s performance in Aspen comes after the 21-year-old began his 2025/26 season with back-to-back Big Air victories on home snow to claim the discipline’s Crystal Globe before the Christmas break.
Trailing Su on Saturday was New Zealand’s Dane Menzies in third place 83.68, while U.S. rider Justus Henkes was fourth.
As the second-last rider to drop into the course, Canter began his winning run with a 50-50 to front lipslide 270, then a back 270 on 270, a switch back 1260 nosegrab, back 1800 melon, and finally a switch noseslide 630 mute on the fifth section.
With the win, Canter is now all but assured a spot on the U.S. snowboard team for Milano Cortina 2026.
The 22-year-old said the pressure of qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team made Saturday’s win even more significant.
“Pressure is a privilege,” Canter said.
“Have as much fun as possible while you’ve got it. That’s all I’ve got to say.”
Fellow U.S. teammate and PyeongChang 2018 gold medalist Red Gerard finished sixth on Saturday. The 25-year-old has already qualified for Milano Cortina.
The Aspen Slopestyle World Cup marked the first stop of the 2025/26 Slopestyle tour, which was the last of the FIS Snowboard Park & Pipe disciplines to begin its season.
The next Slopestyle World Cup – and last event before the Milano Cortina 2026 Games – will begin on 16 January in Laax (SUI).
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