Ledeux and Svancer shine brightest in thrilling season-opener at the Big Air Chur

Ledeux’s second jump knocked Swiss fan-favourite Sarah Hoefflin off of top spot, where she had been sitting after stomping a switch right dub 1080 mute that earned her a score of 93.25. Hoefflin would finish in second place for her 11th career World Cup podium and the lone top-3 result of the evening for the host squad.

“This is such a cool event,” said Hoefflin from the finish area, “To be here in Switzerland on home turf in front of so many people, it means so much for me to be able to show the sport to people like this.

“When I landed my second hit it was just like, wow, I can’t even explain how happy I was. I’m so proud to ski with these awesome girls and to see the level we saw today. We’re really showing the world that we can really push ourselves. There’s so much more to come.”

Third place, meanwhile, went to Canada’s Elena Gaskell, whose switch left bio 1080 mute got her a score of 91.00 for the fourth World Cup podium of her career.

SVANCER ALMOST PERFECT WITH FINAL HIT 99.00 FOR VICTORY

Over on the men’s side of things we witnessed a finale the likes of which you usually only see in the movies, with 17-year-old Matej Svancer dropping in as the last skier of the Big Air Chur competition and stomping a nosebutter double cork 1800 safety for a near-perfect score of 99.00 points and the first World Cup victory of his career.

It could not have been a better start to the season and the next phase of his career for Svancer, who just switched national teams from the Czech Republic (where he was born) to Austria (where he has lived most of his life).

It also couldn’t have been a better ending to an epic Big Air Chur freeski competition, where the vibe was as high as you could have imaged at the first World Cup with fans in attendance in almost two years.

“I cannot believe it,” a wide-eyed Svancer said after the scores had come in, “It feels like a dream. I still don’t get it. It felt so crazy and I was just so hyped to land the trick. Just the feeling and the hype of landing that trick was unbelievable, and to win is just crazy.”