Big Air Kreischberg in Austria this week is shaping up to be an intense battle for points between the world’s best big air skiers as they enter the second half of the 2024/25 FIS Freeski World Cup season.
Beginning Thursday, a total of 73 skiers will compete at Big Air Kreischberg in Austria’s Gurktal Alps, the fourth big air competition of the FIS Freeski World Cup calendar with another two left to determine who will win the Crystal Globe.
Competition will begin with the women’s qualifications at 10:30 Central European Time (CET) on Thursday, led by Italian teenager Flora Tabanelli.
The 17-year-old currently leads the Big Air World Cup standings after taking second place at Big Air Klagenfurt last week, her third podium finish of the season after third and second place in Beijing and Chur respectively.
Tabanelli is trailed by last season’s overall Crystal Globe winner Mathilde Gremaud (SUI), who finished at the bottom of the finalists in Klagenfurt but is currently ranked second in the overall women’s Park and Pipe behind halfpipe specialist Eileen Gu (CHN).
Gremaud finished just outside the podium at the final big air event of 2024 in Beijing in December after opening her big air season in October with victory in front of a home crowd in Chur. Gremaud was also runner-up in slopestyle in Stubai in November.
Fellow Swiss skier Sarah Hoefflin finished one spot ahead of Gremaud last week in Klagenfurt, in seventh place. Both Swiss skiers will be hoping to make up for their Klagenfurt performances in Kreischberg.
Hoefflin, 34, was runner-up in Beijing in December behind French skier Tess Ledeux, who is not competing in Kreischberg and was also absent from Klagenfurt. The 23-year-old’s victory in Beijing marked her 16th World Cup win, and her absence in Klagenfurt last week ultimately provided an opportunity for other skiers to move into the top three, with the women’s podium featuring skiers all aged below 21, including Klagenfurt winner Liu Mengting (CHN).
The 20-year-old claimed victory just 0.20 points in front of runner-up Tabanelli and was Liu’s first World Cup podium. It was also just the second big air victory ever for a Chinese freeskier after Eileen Gu won the Steamboat (USA) big air in 2020/21. Liu is currently third on the big air standings.
German teenager Muriel Mohr will also be eyeing her third podium of the season in Kreischberg after the 18-year-old finished third in Klagenfurt. The result marked Mohr’s second podium finish of her World Cup career after also taking third place at the big air season opener in Chur in October.
On the men’s side, Norway’s Tormod Frostad leads a field of 52 men which features a total of seven Norweigans, including Birk Ruud who has amassed the most men’s Big Air World Cup podiums with 12, including six victories. Frostad ended 2024 with a win in Beijing after he was runner-up in Chur, with third place in slopestyle in Stubai in between those two events.
Twenty-year-old Svancer claimed third place last week in Klagenfurt, to add to his season-opening win at Big Air Chur in October.
Miro Tabanelli (ITA) did not qualify for the Klagenfurt final but is also another skier to watch. The older half of the Tabanelli brother-sister power duo claimed second place in Beijing in December and was last season’s third-overall finisher on the FIS Freeski Big Air World Cup rankings. Tabanelli is currently fifth in the discipline rankings and similar to Frostad, the Italian will be hoping to make up for his Klagenfurt points shortfall in Kreischberg this week.
New Zealand’s Luca Harrington comes to Kreischberg fresh off his high-scoring victory in Klagenfurt. The Kiwi was awarded the highest score of the finals with 94.80 for his first run, which featured a switch right triple 1620 esco double grab, to become the first New Zealander to stand atop a big air World Cup podium and just the second to earn a World Cup big air top-3.
French skier Timothe Sivignon was runner-up behind Harrington, and the 21-year-old will be in Kreischberg buoyed by his second World Cup podium of his career.
Switzerland’s Andri Ragettli finished fourth in Klagenfurt, and previously finished fifth in Beijing in December. The 26-year-old was the slopestyle runner-up in Stubai in November and will be looking to break into the big air top three in Kreischberg.
The men’s competition will begin with qualifications on Saturday morning, followed by men’s and women’s finals from 18:00 CET.
