Big Air Breakthroughs; DePriest Fifth in Secret Garden
Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team athletes Lily Dhawornvej and Brooklyn DePriest joined American Judd Henkes in the first World Cup final of the 2025–26 snowboard big air season in Secret Garden, China.
The riders battled windy conditions and a worn-down jump left over from the rescheduled freeski finals earlier in the day but the Americans held strong and delivered an impressive performance to kick off the season.
In her first two jumps, Dhawornvej attempted to put down the same trick she stomped in qualifications — a back-10 drunk driver — but was unable to stick the landing and washed out on both attempts. An under-rotated front-10 drunk driver on her final run ended her chances of a podium finish, but the up-and-comer walked away with invaluable experience heading into a crucial 2025–26 season.
Japan swept the women’s podium with Mari Fukada taking first place, Reira Iwabuchi second and Miyabi Onitsuka third.
In his first World Cup finals appearance, Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team rider Brooklyn DePriest washed out on his first jump but bounced back with a massive switch back triple 19 mute on his second attempt to keep himself in contention. With the pressure on, DePriest dropped in for his third and final run and delivered — a clean back-18 melon that put him in third place just ahead of fellow American Judd Henkes.
After landing a competition-first front-butter 1440 in qualifications, Henkes looked to make another statement on the World Cup stage. His first jump — a front-1 nose butter to switch back-12 melon — earned a score of 79.00 and placed him in second but his next two runs, a hardway cab-12 indy and a cab-9 off the toes, while incredibly stylish, were not enough to keep pace with China’s Yiming Su and Chunyu Ge.
Japan’s Ryoma Kimata joined the hometown heroes to round out the men’s top three. DePriest finished the day in fifth — a major leap from his previous World Cup best of 24th — and Henkes took sixth.
The Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team remains in China for another round of big air competition in Beijing next weekend, Dec. 5–6.
