Stifel U.S. Freeski Team athlete and Olympic champion Alex Hall secured the win in big air Beijing, the same location where he clinched his Olympic victory in slopestyle at the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games. This marks Hall’s 11th World Cup career podium, coming just a week after his 10th podium—a third-place finish in slopestyle in Stubai, Austria.

The jump was stiff, slow and hard in the Shougang Industrial Park, but Hall emerged as the top qualifier on Thursday, giving him some confidence going into today's event. During his first finals run, Hall executed a rightside double cork 900 bringback, solidifying his position at the top. He ended his run with style, spraying snow all over the camera and proudly showing off his MAGMA shirt—an homage to MAGMA 3, the recently released third installment of his backcountry jumps and street skiing movie, in collaboration with Stifel U.S. Freeski Team athlete Hunter Hess.

In his second run, Hall maintained his position with a switch left tail butter 1440 opposite Japan, keeping his number one spot. With an impressive score of 182 points after two runs, Hall comfortably took a victory lap in the third run and ultimately claimed the first-place finish. As the current men's freeski World Cup points leader, he will now don the coveted yellow bib.

“The jump was the best it’s been all week, which was sick,” said Hall. “It’s like T-shirt weather out here, so it got slushy, and it was really fun. I wasn’t necessarily going to come to this event, but then I figured I’d come and just enjoy myself—come to China, enjoy the country, and do the tricks I wanted to do without any pressure. It ended up working out, which I’m really stoked about.”

Edouard Therriault of Canada and Andri Ragettli of Switzerland rounded out the podium in spots two and three. 

Stifel U.S. Freeski Team athletes Mac Forehand, James Kanzler, Cody LaPlante, Troy Podmilsak, Konnor Ralph and Rell Harwood were also in China for the competition but did not make finals. 

Up next, the team heads to the first domestic freeski event of the season in Copper Mountain for the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix and Visa Big Air presented by Toyota Dec. 13 - 16. 

RESULTS 
Men’s big air

Stifel U.S. Freeski Team slopestyle team athletes Mac Forehand and Alex Hall podiumed in the first slopestyle World Cup of the season, taking home second and third respectively.

Due to tough weather conditions, qualifiers were rescheduled from Friday to Thursday with hope of finals on Friday. However, due to the forecast predicting extreme winds and heavy snowfall, the finals were ultimately canceled. Results were determined based on qualifications, making this the second freeski World Cup to do so this season, after last month's Big Air Chur event was cut short due to weather. 

Taking advantage of the qualifiers and knowing cancelations were possible, Forehand and Hall executed unique, stylish and technically difficult jump runs. Forehand put down a switch left double 1620 lead stale grab to right double 900 lock with a mute grab. In Hall's creative third-place finish, he executed a right double 900 pretzel with a safety grab to switch left tail butter double 1260 mute grab, a run that would secure his 10th career World Cup podium. 

Canada's Evan McEachran took home his first slopestyle World Cup win ever. 

Stifel U.S. Freeski Team slope team athletes Cody LaPlante, Konnor Ralph and Troy Podmilksak also delivered excellent runs, earning scores that would have given them a chance to compete in finals. On the women's side, Rell Harwood secured a spot in the finals as well. 

"Very proud of the whole team yesterday," said Stifel U.S. Freeski Team pro slope team head coach Dave Euler. "We've had lots of bad weather at recent training camps. It was amazing to have a perfect competition day, which allowed the athletes to showcase their incredible skills. Having Mac and Alex on the podium, along with six athletes making finals, makes it even better! Great kickoff to the slopestyle season, and I am excited to keep the momentum building into Beijing and Copper big airs."

Up next, the Stifel U.S. Freeski Team slope team travels to Beijing, China, the host of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, for a big air World Cup event Dec. 1-2. 

Results
Men’s Slopestyle
Women’s Slopestyle 

Use the table below to stay updated on 2023-24 FIS Freeski World Cup events and how you can watch.

As an overview: 

• All international races (minus Austria) will be live and on-demand on skiandsnowboard.live 
• Events in Austria will be live and on-demand on Peacock
• All domestic races will be live on Outside (for free) and on-demand (behind a paywall). NBC, CNBC and Peacock will be also showing some domestic events.

Learn more on How to Watch HERE. 

Full Freeski World Cup schedule below.