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This past Saturday, the city of Oslo hosted X Games Norway, where Big Air was the only skiing competition. In a single-day, free-for-all format, skiers dropped into the 40-meter big air feature for a best-of-two combined score. American Alex Hall and France’s Tess Ledeux walked away from the competition champions.
Unlike any other big air feature on an X Games stage, skiers started above and outside of the Telenor Arena roof, dropping through a hole into the arena via a scaffolding ramp to the giant kicker inside. An elimination round in the morning preceded the finals, where each athlete had three attempts to land their tricks in two different directions.
On the ladies’ side, Tess Ledeux scored a 48 out of 50–the highest mark of the entire competition–for her double cork 1260 mute grab. A switch left 900 Japan grab on her second run secured her win before she even took her last attempt. Swiss skiers Giulia Tanno and Mathilde Gremaud also stood atop the day’s podium in second and third, respectively. On her first run, Tanno pulled out a double cork 1080 safety and backed it up with a right side 900 tail grab to earn her the silver medal. Gremaud grabbed the bronze thanks to a left double cork 1260 safety and a switch left 720.
The only American on the start list, Alex Hall stomped his way to the top of the men’s competition with a double cork 1260 seatbelt grab and a switch double cork 1440 seatbelt. Henrik Harlaut, just two weeks back on-snow after knee surgery, busted out a switch triple “orbital” 1620 mute and a double flatspin 1260 safety to earn him the silver medal. Now with 11 X Games medals, Harlaut is tied with Tanner Hall as the most medaled ski athlete in X Games history. Canadian and Aspen 2019 Big Air silver medalist Alex Bealieu-Marchand rounded out the men’s podium with a massive switch triple cork 12 safety and a double bio 1080 safety to cuban.
