Troy Podmilsak of the Stifel U.S. Freeski Team brought home his first World Cup victory on Nov. 28 in Secret Garden, China, the venue that played host to the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. Although Podmilsak was the 2023 big air world champion, he still lacked a World Cup victory in his trophy cabinet — that has now changed. 

Podmilsak impressed the judges in a challenging field, finishing the day with a 185.50 across his two scored runs. Troy showed off his right triple 2160 with a mute grab, the trick he premiered at the 2023 World Champs. Alongside the 21, Podmilsak threw a switch right triple 1980 with a safety grab. He was joined on the podium by Canada's Dylan Deschamps in second and New Zealand's Luca Harrington in third.

Mac Forehand, the only other American man to progress through to the finals, finished right off the podium in fourth. Forehand impressed the judges with his switch left triple 1980 with a mute grab, but couldn't clean up his second trick enough for a podium finish.

Konnor Ralph just missed the finals, finishing 11th overall. Hunter Henderson finished 21st, Cody Laplante 27th and Keagan Supple 54th.

On the women's side, Marin Hamill finished 13th and Grace Henderson 23rd. Neither American woman qualified for finals. Great Britain's Kirsty Muir brought home the win, joined by Canada's Naomi Urness in second and China's Mengting Liu in third.

The Stifel U.S. Freeski Team will continue their residency in China with the Beijing Big Air next week and Secret Garden Halfpipe in two weeks.

RESULTS
Women
Men

After an endless supply of sunny days during training, Mother Nature showed up in force, bringing in weather that does not mix well with slopestyle skiing. Therefore, the first 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games slopestyle qualifying event and FIS Freeski World Cup for the men was canceled — women's qualifying results became final results. 

Stifel U.S. Freeski Team athlete Grace Henderson led the women, finishing sixth in qualifications, meaning Henderson's final result in the first World Cup of the season was sixth. Teammate Marin Hamill finished eighth. Hamill secured the last spot in the finals during the qualification round, which, luckily, resulted in a top-10 finish. Rookie Avery Krumme made her World Cup debut in Stubai, finishing 20th.

The men had both qualifications and finals canceled due to the storms. The Stubai podium has been kind to Americans in the past three years, with Colby Stevenson, Alex Hall and Mac Forehand all taking home Stubai hardware.

The Stifel U.S. Freeski Team has no time to rest; they ship off tomorrow to Secret Garden, China, for the first big air World Cup of the year. Qualifications are scheduled for Friday, Nov. 28, with finals on Sunday, Nov. 30. Finals will be available to stream on skiandsnowboard.live. 

Halfpipe is back in action in China in early December. 

RESULTS
Women

Born and raised in Mammoth, California, Kate Gray has been skiing since before she can remember. She brought home the bronze in halfpipe at the 2024 Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea, and has set her sights on the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games.

Last season, Gray represented the U.S. at World Championships in all three freeski disciplines, became the first woman to land a bone roll in competition and maintained her status as the only athlete named to both the slopestyle/big air and halfpipe teams.

Gray is the latest athlete featured in U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s “On the Rise” series, presented by Zions Bank. Through community service, sponsorships and charitable donations, Zions Bank is committed to fueling economic growth and enhancing quality of life in Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.

We caught up with Grayto dive into his background, reflect on a season of milestones, and look ahead to his goals for 2025-26.

Q: What initially drew you to the sport of freeskiing?

A: It just kind of happened. I was always following my older brothers around, and when they started riding park I followed in their footsteps. 

Q: When you were younger and getting into the sport, what were your goals? 

A: I wanted to be as good as the boys on my team growing up. I wanted to push the sport and work up the ranks to ski with the pros.

Q: What is your biggest accomplishment?

A: My biggest accomplishment so far has making both the slopestyle and halfpipe teams, and being the first woman to land a bone roll.

Q: What is your ultimate goal? 

A: I would love to go to the Olympics one day. But I would also like to be a part of progressing freeskiing in general. Eventually I would love to get into filming in the streets or the backcountry.

Q: Who are your heroes? Both in & out of the sport?

A: My heroes are definitely my parents and my brothers, I look up to all of them a lot. In skiing, I love getting to watch all my teammates. When I was younger, I looked up to Carly Marguiles a lot, as she was a Mammoth Olympian.

Q: You win $5,000 in prize money: What do you do with it?

A: I would try to save as much as possible, but probably end up spending a lot of it to help fund my travel during the season.

Q: Do you budget or follow any structure related to spending?

A: Not really, I try to be thoughtful of what I spend money on and save whenever I can.

Q: What’s one money habit you follow?

A: I track all my expenses throughout the season (equipment, travel, etc.), so next year I can make smarter money decisions in the years to come.

Follow Kate on her social media channels.