Page Earns Career Best World Championships Result in St. Moritz
The 2025 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships kicked off with the moguls competition, and Nick Page led the team all day with consistent, clean runs. He finished just off the podium in fourth place, his best World Championships result.
The event started with qualification on Wednesday, where the format differed from the typical World Cup that the athletes are used to. All athletes took place in the first qualifying run, where the top 10 per gender automatically advanced to the finals the following day. The remaining athletes were then given a second chance to qualify, where the following top 10 athletes also advanced, creating a final of 20 athletes per gender. Jaelin Kauf led the U.S. on qualification day, taking the top spot on the women’s side, while all eight Stifel U.S. Ski Team athletes advanced. Kauf, Tess Johnson, Page and Dylan Walczyk snagged their spots in the first round, allowing them to ski one less run than the rest of the field. Kylie Karitois, Kasey Hogg, Charlie Mickel and Asher Michel advanced via the second qualification run, an incredible feat for the World Championship rookies.
The weather in Corviglia, St. Moritz, had been nothing short of incredible all week, and finals day was no exception. There wasn’t a cloud in sight as the top moguls athletes in the world looked down upon the challenging Alp Giop course. At only 215 meters long and 26 degrees gradient, the course may appear easy to spectators, but the changes in slope and top air proved difficult for many of the best.
In the round of 20, Kauf continued to shine with her insane speed, advancing in the second spot just behind the 2023 moguls World Champion, Perrine Laffont of France. The athletes battled it out for the eight spots available in the super finals, and Page was able to snag a spot to represent the U.S. men. Johnson finished the day 12th, followed by Kariotis in 15th and Hogg in 16th. Walczyk also ended the day 12th, Mickel in 16th and Michel 20th.
The sound of cowbells rang throughout the Tschainas finish area as the super finals began. Flags of countries around the world flew through the air as friends and family not so patiently awaited the athletes to fly down the course. Kauf dropped second to last and was soaring through the bumps. Unfortunately, the pace was too much to maintain and Kauf lost control, skiing out of her line. She finished the day eighth overall.
Page was the last U.S. athlete of the competition, and the crowd roared with excitement. His run was excellent, with consistent turns and a beautiful air package, including a cork 720 and cork 1080. Page finished just off the podium behind legends Mikael Kingsbury and Ikuma Horishima to land in fourth, his best-ever World Championships result.
“The guys I am skiing with are so good. You have to put up your best run to compete with them, and I guess this [result] is a message to me that I need to keep working,” said Page with a smile. “I want to continue to push limits with my skiing - nothing is broken, but everything needs to get better.”
Next up, the team has a day of training before heading into one of the most exciting events of the World Championships - dual moguls. Tune in on skiandsnowboard.live on Mar. 21 at 9:30 a.m. ET.
