Brendan Mackay Claims 1st Place in FIS Freeski World Cup

Way to bring the heat to New Zealand! Monster Energy congratulates team rider Brendan Mackay on claiming first place in Men’s Freeski Halfpipe at the FIS Freeski Halfpipe World Cup presented by La Roche Posay & Cardrona Alpine Resort. 

In the season opening event of the 2024/25 FIS Freeski World Cup Season, the 27-year-old from Alberta, Canada, rose all the way to the top in a contested final.

From August 28 to September 9, 2024, the Winter Games NZ event kicked off the 2025 FIS Freeski and Snowboard World Cup season at Cardrona Alpine Resort in New Zealand. Sanctioned by the World Ski Federation (FIS), the biggest snowboard event in the Southern hemisphere marked the first qualification for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games. 

In the Men’s Freeski Halfpipe final, 27-year-old Brendan Mackay dropped in with a score to settle after barely scraping into the final as the tenth-place qualifier. Adding to the challenge, riders had to deal with ongoing snowfall and poor visibility on the halfpipe during final runs. But when it came time to Unleash the Beast under pressure, the Canadian Olympic athlete edged out the victory in a close final session.

On his second run, Mackay put together a flawless routine featuring switch left alley-oop double 900 critical, switch left double 1080 safety grab, right side double cork 1260 safety, and left side double cork 1260 safety for a score of 90.00 points and first place.

“It feels amazing to put down the run I wanted. A massive shout-out to all riders in those challenging conditions. The wind definitely made it scarier, but when it’s like that you’ve just got to push through and trust what you can do on skis and let it rip,” said Monster Energy’s Mackay after claiming the win in Cardrona.