Freeski Five Things to Watch

3) Matej “The Unicorn” Svancer and the sprint to Beijing

Your favourite skier’s new favourite skier, Matej Svancer before this season changed national teams from the Czech Republic (where he was born) to Austria (where he has lived for most of his life). While the 2020 Youth Olympic Games big air gold medallist and 2021 slopestyle Junior World Champion is now rocking the red and white stripes with pride, he’s in a full-on sprint over the next few months to collect enough FIS points to qualify for the Olympics, as his stats were essentially reset when he changed national representation.

Chur is Svancer’s first step on a new path, and you can expect the explosive 17-year-old to step up in a big way during competition on Friday.

4) Old dogs/new tricks?

Skiers like Henrik Harlaut (SWE), James Woods (GBR), Nick Goepper (USA), Jesper Tjader (SWE), Sarah Hoefflin (SUI) and Silvia Bertagna (ITA) have been in the upper echelon of the freeski world for well over a minute now, and remain some of the most recognised and well-loved players in the game. However, the game gets heavier – and younger – every year, and the start lists in Chur now have just as many 2000s birthdays as 1990s.

With that being said, last season Bertagna showed that progression doesn’t have to stop even as the clock clicks over into your 30s, as the 34-year-old dropped the first double cork of her competition career at the World Champs to qualify in second place before finishing sixth when all was said and done. As a bunch of legends move towards what may be their final Olympic opportunities it’s going to be interesting to see if they can follow Bertagna’s lead, pushing forward with new tricks to keep up with the hungry young ‘uns looking to snatch their crowns.