Freeski heavyweights Gremaud and Hall finally add crystal globes to their collections

“I’m super stoked, even a little emotional” said the the typically stoic Gremaud after the crystal globe award ceremony, “It’s been a lot of years on the World Cup circuit already and I’ve never had one of these. So yeah, it feels good.

“The organiser here in Tignes killed it. Having so many people out here like this is always good. Having a night finals like this, under the lights, the music’s going, it’s the way it should be.”

While there are still two slopestyle competitions left on the World Cup season – on Saturday in Tignes and then next week in Silvaplana – Gremaud holds a 168 point lead on the slopestyle standings over Jay Riccomini, who did not qualify for Saturday’s finals. Essentially, this means that Gremaud needs to bank only 32 points over the next two events to ensure that she’ll become the first woman’s FIS Freeski competitor to win three globes in one season, and just the eighth skier in FIS Freestyle history to accomplish that feat.

Second place for the women went to China’s Liu Mengting, who earned her first career World Cup podium and the first big air World Cup podium for a Chinese freeskier not named Eileen Gu. Dropping a right double cork 1080 safety on run two and mirroring that with a left double cork 1080 safety on run three, Liu would earn a score of 170.75 and her maiden World Cup podium.

Rounding out the podium in third place – and also finishing in third on the women’s 2023/24 big air rankings – was 16-year-old Flora Tabanelli of Italy, who went with a switch left bio 900 mute on run two and a left double cork 1260 safety on run three for a score of 170.25 and her second career World Cup podium in just five starts.

While Ledeux wouldn’t hit the top-3 for Friday night’s competition in Tignes, she would hold on to finish second overall on the 2023/24 big air rankings behind Gremaud.

HALL’S FIRST GLOBE COMES IN HEAVY HITTING MEN’S COMPETITION

On the men’s side of things it was a slugfest, with hammer after hammer being dropped by skiers from top to bottom of the start lists throughout the evening.

In the end it would be Hall’s blend of inimitable technical precision and to-the-bolts landings that would separate him from the incredibly talented pack, as he recovered from a washout in run one to stomp a right 1080 bring-back to 900 safety on run, and then a mind-blowing switch left tailbutter 1800 opposite Japan on run two, earning himself a two-jump score of 186.50, his third victory of the 2023/24 season, and the first crystal globe of his stories career.