Cover Photo: Buchholz/@fisfreestyle

After two cancelled finals, we finally got a Big Air showdown at the World Cup in Beijing. Riders, all using poles, threw down at the infamous city big air in Shougang. Amongst the backdrop of cooling towers, the dystopian venue kicked off in calm weather, a novelty for the season so far.

The qualifiers saw creativity rewarded with Matej Svancer's Tokyo drift rodeo bring-back shenanigans being rewarded highly. Could this be a sign of FIS changing with the times and big air moving away from its spin to win origins? Well, finals showed us that it has, in part, but it's still the same meat-hucking fest it's always been. Let's get down to business and check out the highlights.

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Women

The ever-stylish Anni Karava kicked things off with a smooth left dub 10 safety, with great amplitude and pretty bolts landing. Opening the scoring with 74.50. Mengting Liu of China dropped next and squeaked around a right dub 10 safety, this lost points over Anni's as she just made it over the knuckle, 61.50. Sandra Eie went huge on a dub 10 and washed out, it looked like she may have been reaching for the dub Japan grab, but a scratch to kick things off. Flora Tabanelli sent a left dub 12 safety, also going a little big, and was unable to hold on even with a hand drag on the landing. Kirsty Muir put down a very clean right dub 10 safety, the landing was bolts, cleaner than Anni's and was rewarded as such for a score of 80.00. Giulia Tanno put down a left dub 10 safety, the grab was a little bootish and she went a touch big, losing some control on landing. 71.00. Mathilde Gremaud, in the gold bib, put down a left dub 12 blunt, the first of the riders to grab somewhere other than safety or Japan, this was the first big score of the day at 90.25. Tess Ledeux went down hard on her signature left double 1620 attempt, she went a little too large and lost a shoe on landing. Gremaud, Muir, Karava had the podium after Run 1.

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Anni Karava opened with a switch left 9 lead blunt, she let go a little early and didn't have the amplitude of her first hit, but still laced it cleanly, a modest 68.00. Mengting put down a bolts left dub 10 but a boot grab undid her score. Sandra Eie got redemption on her right dub 10 Japan getting her first proper score on the board, the signage noted that she carved it. Maybe another nod to style points from FIS. A left double 1260 safety was Flora's trick of choice landed this time for 82.25. Kirsty dropped a left dub 10 tindy, with her signature flippy axis, it was stomped. The lack of technicality hurt her score a little but an 87.25 was a welcomed second score. Guilia Tanno sent a right cork 9 double blunt but failed to stick the landing. Mathilde dropped switch for her second hit, a switch left dub 10 safety, going a little big, the double handdrag stopped her score doing any real damage. Tess Ledeux fell for a second time, trying her left dub 16, she didn't have the pop or rotation off the lip and came up well short, effectively ending her chances to podium. Muir sat in the top spot after two followed by Karava and Gremaud.

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In run three, Tess landed a safety run and Sandra Eie put down a loose dub 12, not troubling the podium. Flora put down a clean switch 9 and took a preliminary second. Guilia Tanno put down her right cork 9 dub tail, a super clean hit, the judges deliberated for a while and she scored a 79.25 and got bumped into third. Mengting Liu washed out of her right dub 10, it probably doesn't help to be riding such short skis... but she did get the biggest noise of the day from the home crowd. Mathilde cleaned up her switch dub 10 safety, she liked it, giving a pole swing - another benefit of them being mandatory I suppose - the 85.25 put her in the top spot with Anni dropping next. With signature style Anni put down a switch left 10 lead blunt, landing with afterbang for days. However, a 73.75 wasn't enough. Kirty Muir had the last throw of the dice to shake things, sitting in second behind Mathilde. Unfortunately, she couldn't hold onto the left 14 blunt meaning Mathilde took her third W in a row, Kirtsy Muir came in second and Flora Tabanelli took home the bronze.

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Results

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Men

Kim Gubser opened things with a left-side triple 16 high mute, he couldn't quite squat out the deep landing so would scratch the score. Gen Fuji sent a left triple 18, he held onto the landing but it was sketchy and a missed grab tanked his score too. Oliwer Magnusson left double 18 blunt, which he capped, and earned the first big score of the day for the men. Miro Taberneli dropped switch, and laced a left double 19 blunt, he rode it out with authority - 91.50. Andri Ragettli followed with switch dub bio 16 double lead blunt, he stomped the piss out of it and was awarded 90.00. Jesper Tjader put down a double misty 1080 Japan brought back to 9. Only earning an 89.00 keeping the top few riders bunched up. Matej tried to put down a switch double 18 safety but didn't quite get the last 180 round, washing his score out. Edjoy followed with a switch double bio 1800 mute grab that was locked in, there was a feather of a hand touch that took his score out of contention. Eilias Syrja went flavor over spins with a switch Tokyo drift flat 3 safety, this was ludicrous, a little squirrelly on the landing for FIS, scoring only 81.25, but showing the judges are learning to reward creativity as well as spins. Alex Hall dropped his classic right dub 10 that gets brought back to 9, he held the safety forever and stomped it perfectly. he shouted out MAGMA at the bottom, saying "go watch it!" Oh and scored a 91.75, claiming first for now.

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Kim Gubser couldn't land his left triple 16 high mute, again being unable to hold the deep landing, like Tess, this would end his contention. Gen Fuji went massive on a left triple 18, he held on to the landing, just, but the safety grab and iffy landing was the undoing of the score here, 61.00. Oliwer Magnusson was also undone when it came to the landing gear on his switch left dub 18, he got caught up and taken down. The first big trick of the second run came from Miro with his left double 18 lead blunt, capped perfectly, and stomped it. 88.00, putting him at the top. Andri followed with a left dub 18 lead Cuban, stomped in classic robotic style 87.00 put him in second. Jesper went for a switch left dub 9 brought back to 7 with the Japan, again, cat like and clean, he was awarded 90.00 and put into podium contention. Matej took the road less travelled on the inrun, finding a wallride in there somehwere. He did his Tokyo drift flat 270 bring back bullshit, off the very edge of the takeoff, held the shit out of the Japan and stomped it clean. This earned the highest single-run score of the day, 92.75. The overlords are learning.... Edjoy threw a left triple 1980 safety. Squatting out and bossing the switch landing, 90.50. Eilias Syrja put down left dub flat 7 brought back to 5, again landing a little less than square which hindered the score. Alex Hall did a switch butter dub 14 opp Japan for his second run, guys an alien. Scoring a 90.25 and taking the top spot.

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Kim Gubser, with no strong scores put down a 'chill' switch left dub 9 brought back to 7 with a lead mute. A super nice trick earning him an impressive 89.75 but not enough to do any damage. Gen Fuji, who looks promising as an up-and-comer couldn't hold onto the massive triple in the third round. Oliwer Magnusson put down a heavy switch left dub 18 blunt. Matej had a chance to push to the top spot with his third run and he brought it! He sent a switch left double 1440 with the buttery revert, he took two attempts to get the mute grab and this docked a few points, scoring in the 70s and not troubling the podium. On a side note, is he getting a pro model? Edjoy is truly becoming one of the best big air skiers in the world, his switch left dub bio 1800 mute gave him a 91.25 bumping him into second to watch as the remaining riders determined his fate. Andri cleaned up his first run switch left dub bio 18 dub lead tail, his 92.75 was a huge score but paired with 'only' an 87.25 it wasn't enough to trouble Edjoy or A Hall. Jesper proved that maybe he isn't a cat after all, not landing on his feet on his final throw run and Miro couldn't clean up his left dub 18 and would just miss the podium. A Hall dropped for a victory lap, a cork 3. After the dust settled, Edjoy took second and Andri came away with third with A Hall claiming first.

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