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Stifel U.S. Freeski Team athlete and Olympic champion Alex Hall secured the win in big air at Beijing, the same location where he clinched his Olympic victory in slopestyle at the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games.
This marks Hall’s 11th World Cup career podium, coming just a week after his 10th podium — a third-place finish in slopestyle in Stubai, Austria.
The jump was stiff, slow and hard in the Shougang Industrial Park, but Hall emerged as the top qualifier on Thursday, giving him some confidence going into Saturday’s event. During his first finals run, Hall executed a rightside double cork 900 bringback, solidifying his position at the top.
He ended his run spraying snow all over the camera and showing off his MAGMA shirt — an homage to “MAGMA 3,” the recently released third installment of his backcountry jumps and street skiing movie, in collaboration with Stifel U.S. Freeski Team athlete Hunter Hess.
In his second run, Hall maintained his position with a switch left tail butter 1440 opposite Japan, keeping his No. 1 spot. With a score of 182 points after two runs, Hall comfortably took a victory lap in the third run and ultimately claimed the first-place finish. As the current men’s freeski World Cup points leader, he will now don the coveted yellow bib.
“The jump was the best it’s been all week, which was sick,” said the Park City athlete. “It’s like T-shirt weather out here, so it got slushy, and it was really fun. I wasn’t necessarily going to come to this event, but then I figured I’d come and just enjoy myself — come to China, enjoy the country, and do the tricks I wanted to do without any pressure. It ended up working out, which I’m really stoked about.”
Edouard Therriault of Canada and Andri Ragettli of Switzerland rounded out the podium in spots two and three.
Stifel U.S. Freeski Team athletes Mac Forehand, James Kanzler, Cody LaPlante, Troy Podmilsak, Konnor Ralph and Rell Harwood were also in China for the competition but did not reach the finals.
Up next, the team heads to the first domestic freeski event of the season in Copper Mountain for the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix and Visa Big Air presented by Toyota Dec. 13 – 16.
RESULTS
Men’s big air
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