Japanese men dominate Secret Garden Halfpipe, Choi wins World Cup opener
Dec 12, 2025·Snowboard Park & Pipe)
Reigning men’s Olympic Halfpipe champion Ayumu Hirano led a Japanese podium sweep in Secret Garden on Friday as Korean teenager Gaon Choi topped the women’s field.
Seventeen-year-old Choi was in seventh position going into her second and final run on Friday before putting it all together to secure a high score of 92.75 and claim her second World Cup career victory nearly two years after her first career win.
Saving the best for last, Choi started her winning run with a switch backside 720 stalefish, followed by a backside 900 stalefish, a frontside 1080 melon, a switch frontside 720 drunk driver, and a frontside 720 indy on her last hit.
After leading for most of the competition on the strength of an 88.00 in run one, and then following that up with a 90.25 on her second run, 16-year-old Rise Kudo (JPN) would have to settle for her first World Cup podium coming in the form of a second place finish.
Meanwhile, the rider with the most podiums in FIS Snowboard Park & Pipe history Cai Xuetong (CHN) added to her record total on home soil on Friday, claiming third place and her 34th career World Cup top-three with a score of 80.50.
Choi’s win on Friday marks the teenager’s second World Cup victory after previously winning in Copper in 2023, and her fourth career podium out of five World Cup starts. Choi’s sixth place at Laax in January 2024 is the only time the teenager has not finished within the top five.
“I’m so happy. First run was so scary … but the second run was so good,” she said.
Many of Friday’s finalists struggled with the flat light and snowy conditions in the Secret Garden Olympic halfpipe from the Beijing 2022 Games, with runner-up Kudo the only female snowboarder not to fall during the first run.
On the men’s side, Beijing 2022 men’s Halfpipe gold medalist Ayumu Hirano took an early lead with a first run score of 93.50 which no other rider was able to beat.
The 27-year-old’s winning run began with a new addition to his pipe repertoire — a switch backside double 1260 nosegrab — which he followed up with a cab double 1440 mute, a frontside double 1260 Japan, a backside double 1260 mute, and a frontside double 1440 tailgrab.
While Hirano was unsuccessful in his attempt to up the ante with a triple cork 1440 on the final hit of his second run, his first run effort had given him more than enough to earn his eighth World Cup victory in his 17th start.
Even though he wasn’t able to win the Secret Garden competition on Friday, runner-up Yuto Totsuka (JPN) still made history by surpassing Ross Powers (USA) for the most podiums in FIS Snowboard Park & Pipe history with 22. Earning a score of 90.25 for his first run, Totsuka would put himself alone atop the men’s all-time top-3s list with a superb effort in the tough conditions.
Keeping himself just one podium behind Totsuka on that all-time list was three-time reigning Crystal Globe winner Ruka Hirano, who stepped things up with the pressure on in his final run to earn a score of 89.00 and a third-place finish.
Ruka Hirano’s score relegated Brazil’s Patrick Burgener to fourth place on 81.25. Burgener’s performance on Friday also marked the first time a Brazilian has featured in a men’s Halfpipe final.
Four-time World Champion Scotty James uncharacteristically finished 10th in the 14-man final after going down in the all-important second run following a first run score of 50.00.
James was among several riders in the men’s field who pulled back on their fifth tricks during their first run after running out of room in the pipe.
Japan’s podium sweep on Friday extends the nation’s podium streak to 29 events, with Japanese men reaching the podium in every Halfpipe World Cup event in the last seven years. The last time a men’s Halfpipe World Cup podium did not feature a Japanese rider dates back to 8 December 2018.
This week’s World Cup marks the first of seven Halfpipe events in the 2025/26 Snowboard Park & Pipe World Cup season. The next Halfpipe World Cup takes place in Copper (USA) between 17 and 19 December.
)
)
)
