Big Air Chur 2024: Mathilde Gremaud and Matej Svancer win under the lights

The rain earlier in the day did little to dampen the spirits of the frenzied Swiss crowd. As the night sky cleared, thousands of fans pumped up by the live music acts gathered to witness the world’s best big air skiers in action. The atmosphere was electric, with riders feeding off the energy of the roaring crowd, who watched in awe as the sport progressed before them.

On the second run, sixteen-year-old Italian young gun Flora Tabanelli tweaked the mute on a switch left bio 900 and got hooked up by the judges with an 84.00. Under pressure, Tess failed to clean her double 1260 and was docked for landing instability, leaving the door open to the top steps of the podium. That door was firmly shut by Mathilde with a switch left double cork 1080 safety, putting herself beyond reach. The locals erupted and Swiss flags waved ecstatically. The pyrotechnics budget was put to good use as the home favorite closed out the second run with the two highest scores of the day.

On the third run, Tess landed a right double cork 1080 safety to move into provisional second place, but was quickly leapfrogged by young German rider Muriel Mohr, who added a switch left bio 900 toxic to her left double 1080 safety. Muriel was overtaken in turn by Flora Tabanelli, who finished with a left double cork 1080 safety to land herself on the second rung of the podium—handing a victory lap, on home soil, to Mathilde. With the two tricks that carried her to Crystal Globe victory last year in the bag, Mathilde blessed us with a 360 mute, and was greeted in the finish area by her adoring fans waving massive cardboard cutouts of their hero.

“There’s no better feeling,” Mathilde said after her clear-cut victory. What’s she got in store for the rest of the season? “I want to do some new tricks and try to step up my own level, so I’m hoping to do it this season,” she added. An ominous message for the rest of the field.

The final Big Air Chur 2024 women’s podium: Mathilde Gremaud in first, followed by Flora Tabanelli in second and Muriel Mohr in third. Another feather in the cap of the Swiss legend, a strong finish for the up-and-coming Italian and an impressive result for the young German in her first World Cup Big Air appearance.

Men’s Final

As is typical of Chur, some big names were missing from the start list: notably Alex Hall, Birk Rudd and Mac Forehand. This left room for a host of younger riders to fight their way into the finals. The Norwegians in particular took full advantage, with four riders qualifying for the finals. 

The excitement in the crowd was palpable: an unpredictable list of riders representing different factions of freeski culture promised multiple tricks that have never been seen before in competition. 

The Norwegian one-two punch of Ulrik Samnøy and Vebjørn Gråberg set the tone off the bat with a switch left tail butter double cork 1440 blunt and a left nose butter triple 1440 safety respectively, scoring in the mid-to-high 80s. Italian spinner Miro Tabanelli was docked a few points for wristing his stalefish grab on a forward double cork 1980, but still bagged a 87.25. With his signature flavor on the inrun, Matej blew the lid off the finals with a flawless left nose butter triple cork 1620 safety to bolts. The crowd made their opinion known and the judges obliged with a 94.25: a solid start for the Austrian rider.

Elias Syrjä’s unique switch tail butter cork 360 safety was compared directly to Matej—a cork 3 being compared with a triple 16!—but went into second place with 90.75 based on a slight shortage of amplitude. The first round was eventually taken by Tormod Frostad, who scored a whopping 95.50 for a switch right tail butter double bio 1260 safety grab. Torm’s trick was appreciated by the crowd for the perfect landing and effortless control through the air, but more importantly by the judges for its technicality. The risk of an edge catch during this trick is monumental as Tormod transfers his weight from the back, on the tails of his skis, to the front in order to perform the bio axis. Even so, tensions were running high in the judging booth and discussions were getting heated—and this was just the first run.

The second runs let the judges off the hook somewhat with many punishable errors, fumbled grabs and washed landings. Troy Podmilsak unveiled his much-hyped Bercoflip: a left flatspin 360 japan to right underflip 720 lead japan (japan to lead japan without ever letting go of the grab!). The cause of much debate, this trick comes down to the nuance. The judges checked from every available angle to determine whether the set of the first rotation was enough of a “left” spin, as opposed to a well-disguised wackflip. Concluding that it was, it was rewarded over Elias’ trick for the latter’s slight lack of amplitude. Meanwhile, shorts-wearing Canadian cannonball Dylan Deschamps—last year’s winner—launched himself to the bottom of the landing on a left triple 1800 mute, but went too big for his own good, scoring an 86.50 for a slight sketch in the landing. Tormod dragged a hand on the landing of a right triple 1620 safety, but with an “A” trick and a “B” trick in the bag, he was in the lead going into the final round followed by Vebjørn and Miro, who had similar mistakes on their B tricks.

Now dropping in reverse rank order on the third and final run, the podium was still in play—Chur Big Air title or bust. 

Needing a second trick, Dylan Deschamps put the cat amongst the pigeons and flung his way in second place with a perfect switch left double bio 1620, while holding the mute long enough to read the care instructions on his glove. Ulrik joined the party with a left nose butter double 1620 tail but whiffed the grab on the first half of the rotation, putting himself in provisional third, where he was immediately elbowed out by Elias, who snapped a nose butter on a bio 1260 japan so hard that it was heard in Zurich. Unleashing a trick he only learned in practice—a possible NBD?—Matej greased a switch tail butter triple 1260 safety, grabbing for 99% of the time, and scored a mammoth 91.75. Taking a commanding lead, he piled the pressure on the final riders to drop.

Miro and Vebjørn cracked, missing a grab and crashing respectively, leaving one Norwegian standing at the top of the 40-meter scaffold. Tunes thumping through the expectant sea of fans below and the MCs screaming excitedly, Tormod pumped his legs and dropped in for the final run of a mind-blowing day of skiing. Tormod crashed and carnage ensued in the finish area, as Matej was mobbed by the whole Austrian team and the rest of the explosives budget was launched into the cool Swiss night sky.

In a night that was dominated by butters, it was fitting that Matej won with both a nose butter triple and a tail butter triple—something that has certainly not been done before.

“It feels dope to do those two tricks,” said an elated Matej. “The most insane thing is that I am up there with Tormod and Dylan—we all ride for Faction—which makes it even more dope. I had heard rumors that I had dropped off. So I am pretty stoked on this one.”

Without a doubt: Big Air skiing is alive and kicking here in Chur.

The final podium: Matej Svancer in first, Tormod Frostad in second and Dylan Deschamps in third.

The next Big Air takes place in Beijing at the end of November. Will there be the same level of drama as last year, on what the riders say is the best venue of the circuit?