Freeski and Snowboard Athletes Take Podium Sweeps and Victories at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix in Aspen
Monster Energy Riders claim full podium sweep in Men's Freeski Slopestyle and Women's Snowboard Slopestyle in Aspen.
The battle for Crystal Globes heats up! Monster Energy congratulates freeski and snowboard team riders on claiming victories and podium finishes in key disciplines at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix in Aspen. In the official World Cup event sanctioned by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), the team swept the entire podium in Saturday’s Men’s Freeski Slopestyle event: 26-year-old Alex Hall from Park City, Utah, takes first place, 27-year-old Colby Stevenson from Park City, Utah, second place and 24-year-old Birk Ruud from Oslo, Norway, third place. The Women’s Freeski Slopestyle final saw 23-year-old Megan Oldham from Parry Sound, Canada, take second place.
Also on Saturday, the Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe event finished with 24-year-old Chloe Kim from Los Angeles in first place. Kim was joined on the podium by 16-year-old Gaon Choi from Seoul, South Korea, in second place. In the Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe final, 26-year-old Ayumu Hirano from Murakami, Japan, took second place.
On Sunday, the Monster Energy team swept the entire Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle podium: 23-year-old Zoi Sadowski-Synnott from Wānaka, New Zealand, took the win, joined by 20-year-old Kokomo Murase from Gifu, Japan, in second place and 18-year-old Mia Brookes from Sandbach, United Kingdom, in third place.
From January 30 to February 6, the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix & Visa Big Air in Aspen features the world’s leading freeskiers and snowboarders at Buttermilk Mountain. The official World Cup event sanctioned by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) showcased competitions in Slopestyle, Halfpipe, and Big Air disciplines.
Here’s how the action unfolded for Team Monster Energy at the Aspen FIS World Cup 2025 this weekend:
Freeski Slopestyle
The Men’s Freeski Slopestyle contest concluded with Monster Energy riders claiming the top three spots in the highly competitive final. When all was said and done, Alex Hall claimed first place and crucial points in the overall FIS World Cup season rankings.
“It was a pretty risky run for myself, especially rails, taking a lot of risks. So it just felt good to put it down and be up there with the boys,” said Monster Energy’s Hall upon taking the win at Aspen.
On the strength of Saturday’s victory, Hall now commands third place in FIS Freeski Slopestyle World Cup season rankings with 172 points.
Also rising to the podium, Colby Stevenson took second place only fractions of a point behind Hall. Putting together a rightside 450 disaster pretzel 270 and switch left 270 back swap front 450 in the rails and left nosebutter double 1620 leading Japan, switch right double 1440 mute and switch left double 1800 leading tail earned 87.15 points.
On the strength of Saturday’s victory, Stevenson takes the lead and holds first place in the Slopestyle season rankings with 209 points.
Completing the podium sweep Birk Ruud dropped in as the reigning slopestyle World Champion fresh off a win at the LAAX OPEN in January. Ruud finished in third place after landing a left 450 pretzel 270, switch left 450 continuing 450, and rightside 450 transfer pretzel 270 the rails, followed by a switch right double 1620 safety, left double 1620 mute, and switch left double 1800 tailgrab for 85.10 points.
Ruud now ranks second in the FIS Slopestyle World Cup rankings with 200 points.
The Women’s Freeski Slopestyle final saw Megan Oldham take second place. After finishing last week’s X Games slopestyle discipline closely outside the podium in fourth place, Oldham returned to top form with a perfect run.
Stacking together a perfect line on her second run, Oldham landed right front 450 and left 450 back 270 in the rails, as well as left double 1080 safety, right cork 900 tailgrab, and switch left double 900 Japan for 86.93 points and second place.
Oldham now ranks second in the FIS Slopestyle World Cup rankings with 189 points.
Snowboard Halfpipe
Also, on Saturday, the fourth halfpipe event of the 2024/25 FIS Snowboard World Cup season brought the best vertical snowboarders on the circuit to the Aspen superpipe. In the Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe event Chloe Kim from Los Angeles dropped in as the favorite after winning the most recent World Cup event in Laax, Switzerland, and taking gold at X Games Aspen 2025 the previous weekend.
In her best run of the day, Kim secured the victory by landing a backside 720 Indy, switch method, Cab double 1080 stalefish, frontside 900 tailgrab, and backside 900 Weddle on the last wall for 91.75 points.
Speaking on her victory, Kim addressed the difficult snow conditions and poor visibility during the contest: “You have to rely on muscle memory at this point. It’s really hard to see, so things start to feel a bit different, the snow starts to change a bit, so you kind of just have to go with the flow and see what happens.”
Kim now holds second place in the Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup season standings with 250 points.
Kim was joined on the podium by Gaon Choi in second place. A flawless run featuring a switch backside 900 Weddle, Cab 720 stalefish, switch straight air, backside 900 stalefish, and a frontside 900 on the last wall earned Choi 88.75 points.
This marks the second podium of the 2024/25 FIS Snowboard World Cup season for Choi and her third career podium.
The Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe final concluded with 26-year-old Ayumu Hirano from Murakami, Japan, claiming a podium spot. In a perfect line on his third run, Hirano landed his signature triple cork 1440 Weddle, Cab 1440 Weddle, frontside double cork 1260 frontside grab, backside double cork 1260 Weddle, and frontside double cork 1080 for 89.50 points and second place.
Based on Saturday’s result, Hirano leads the Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe discipline standings with 290 points. This is his third podium of the season after claiming third place in Laax and winning the Copper World Cup in December.
Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle
The third slopestyle event of the 2024/25 FIS Snowboard World Cup season concluded with a full podium sweep for Team Monster Energy on Sunday. The Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle competition saw recent X Games gold medalist Zoi Sadowski-Synnott take first place with a perfect run.
On her second and last attempt, the kiwi ripper secured her victory by landing switch frontside boardslide 270 out, Cab 270 boardslide 450 out, switch boardslide to 50-50 backside 180 out in the rails, followed by switch backside 900 Weddle, frontside double cork 1080 Weddle, and backside double cork 1080 melon in the jumps for 87.80 points.
“We pulled up this morning, and it was so icy and flat light. It got a bit softer as the day went on, though, so I’m stoked that everyone made it through all good and put down some good runs,” said Monster Energy’s Sadowski-Synnott after claiming the win in Aspen on Sunday.
After Sunday’s victory, Sadowski-Synnott now ranks third in Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup standings with 212 points. This marks her first slopestyle World Cup victory in two years. “I’m just so happy to be back,” said Sadowski-Synnott.
In second place Kokomo Murase posted her highest score on Run 2 and briefly held the top spot before Sadowski-Synnott’s victory run. Putting together a boardslide pretzel out from down the rail, Cab 270 boardslide 270 out, frontside boardslide 450, Cab double cork 900 Weddle, frontside double cork 1080 truck driver, and backside double cork 1080 Weddle earned Murase 79.00 points and second place.
Rounding out the podium sweep Mia Brookes finished in third place. Her highest scoring run consisted of a backside 180 50-50 Cab 360, half Cab 50-50 backside 360 out of the high flat bar, backside tap 270, frontside 720 melon, backside 900 Indy, and Cab 1080 stalefish for 74.70 points.
Brookes and Murase now rank in first place in the Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup rankings, in a tie at 240 points.
