Women's Big Air is quickly becoming one of the best events to watch in skiing, with great vibes and insane progression it's always a fun one! Tess Ledeux and Mathilde Gremaud were looking to add to their respective stacks of X-Games medals, Mathilde hasn't missed a big air podium all year and Tess is rumoured to have a new double variation, defending gold medalist Megan Oldham would miss the event due to injury. Just as in the men's category, we would start with a 'style round' which makes little sense to most of us but here we are.
Anastasia Tatalina kicked things off with a right 9 Cuban worth an 8. My stream shit the bed and I missed much of the style runs. Tess took a bail on her final practice run but shook it off to come and put down a steezy Rodeo 7 Japan which was gorgeous and scored a perfect 10. Mathilde laced a lofty carved cork 5 lead blunt, she reached the penultimate line and scored a 9 - possibly for a hand touch.
Anastasia opened up the 'real' runs with a left dub 12 mute that was pretty flawless, 36. Rell Harwood put down a really dope switch right bio 10, she didn't quite lock the safety grab in which docked her score a little for a 26. Sandra Eie put a left dub 12 mute, she went a little bigger than Anastasia and clocked a 36 - combined with her 8 from the style runs put her in first with a 44. The Twitch streams continued to cause issues at this point. However, we got it back in time to see the replay of Tess' left dub 16 safety, this scored a 41 out of a possible 45 - preliminary first. Mathilde was looking for a 14 or possibly a 16, she came down hard on her hip but looked unphased.
Anastasia mirrored her 12 from the last run but went a bit big and blew up. Ruby put down a switch right 10 safety, she had been having some speed issues but didn't seem to struggle. Rell put down a left dub 12 earning a 36 and giving her a total score of 69... nice. Again, stream issues made me miss another run but it looked like Sandra took a big slam. Tess Ledeux 'went X Games mode' (hah.) putting down a switch left 1440 - an nbd? - worth a 39, this put Tess' score to 90 overall and have plenty of breathing room. Mathilde was looking for a dub 16 lead blunt but got undone yet again being unable to get out of the cork.
Anastasia stomped the shit out off her right dub 12 mute. Identical tricks for identical scores, another 36 - totalling 80. Ruby dropped next she didn't quite have enough speed to get to the sweet spot, the cork 9 blunt was steezy as all hell though. Rell Harwood is looking unstoppable putting down a left dub 12 lead mute - she took two attempts to lock the grab in, boosting her score to 38. Sandra went down again on a hard-carved right dub 12 attempt, struggling to uncork and taking a slam. Tess looked like she was trying to put a switch 14 down but buttered from 12, looking a bit like Matej but not improving on the score board. Mathilde's 16 didn't go yet again, it looked damn close but she couldn't quite get it done.
Final runs started to drop with Anastasia seeking a switch left dub 14 but not getting uncorked to land, Ruby still struggled with speed so didn't trouble the scoreboard - sorry Curt. Rell's final offering was an attempt to clean up her switch right bio 10 swapping her 26 for a 30 and creating some room for her in second. Sandra had a scary-looking bail but her cat-like reflexes kept her safe. Tess dropped for a victory lap as Mathilde had pulled out and also bailed.
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GOLD: Tess Ledeux
Silver: Anastasia Tatalina
Bronze: Rell Harwood
Replay:
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