X Games Aspen ’23 | Women’s Big Air – Results, Recap & Highlights
Well, that was wild! Featuring multiple 16s and a world first, this was one of the best performances of women’s big air skiing we’ve seen, and it truly was a big air throw by X Games standards. And despite having to watch SteepSteep for half an hour while listening to tricks over a live Tik Tok stream, the coverage was of a near-perfect evening of big-air skiing.
Let us begin!
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highlights
The opening runs of the Big Air showed that the ladies didn’t pull punches and throw hammers from the start. Grace Henderson opened proceedings with a proper Dub 10, Boot Grab, but a first for her that set the tone for the evening. Sandra Eie laced up a dub 10 safety in classic Norwegian style. Kirsty Muir got the first score in the high 30s, 38, with a left dub 12 blunt caped and really clean. This set the standard. Megan Oldham came out with a triple 14 attempt, a world first, but rolled out of the landing and couldn’t hold on. Mathilde threw a clean dub 10 but was not highly scored for it. Showing off her big-air pedigree, Tess laced up her dub 16 Tindy right out of goal for a 46.
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In the second set of runs, Grace Henderson continued to clean up her dub 10 and Sandra Eie upped her dub 12 to 12. Kirsty Muir improved her dub 12 and took it to 14 with a super funky D-spin-like axis; She earned 43, taking her score to 81 and a provisional 1st place finish. Olivia Asselin dropped into Switch but didn’t like the start and dropped out early in the rotation. Megan’s triple try was closer this time, the pounding feeling inevitable at this point. Mathilde then shifted up a gear and dropped a left 16 safety/tindy that wrapped her in the same style as Tess Ledeux. A bit of hand drag got a few points, but she still scored 43 for this one. Tess Leduc sent a switch dub 12 and looked slightly like she might make it on for 14, this earned her 42 for a total of 88 and a spot in first place. Muir and Gremaud sat in 2nd and 3rd place while Megan looked very dangerous.
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In round 3, Sandra Eie added some style to her dub 12, adding a lead blunt despite failing to make the landing. Olivia Asselin sent a huge dub 10 and had to open early, she got snow in the landing and it looked like it was going to hurt. Kirsty Muir shot further in this epic fight, betting a 16 of her own in response to Mathilde and Tess’s. This earned her 44, leaving her 3 points behind Tess. Sarah Hoefflin hit her signature switch dub 10 with a really high and stylish mute grab, but hand drags hurt her score.
The stage was set from the start when Megan Oldham fell back to a triple 14 with two very close attempts. The launch and set were perfect, their shock right at the tip of the ski almost on the nose. She has managed to be a world first for women at all. The judges appropriately gave this a 50. Ledeux landed 14 for the switch left, for 44 and 90 overall, still closely followed by Muir and Gremaud.
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In Run 4, Grace Henderson continued to push for a Left Dub 12 Blunt, her second brand new trick of the year. Sadnra Eie’s dub 12 lead blunt was clean and yielded 41. Olivia Asselin, perhaps injured from the previous run, stomped a Rodeo 5 Japan, huge, effortless and classy. Sarah turned her high mute into a high dub mute and looked so stylish. Megan put down a rightside dub 12 safety to earn her second score, it was super clean and was awarded a 41, enough to win first place by 1 point. Megan Oldham tied a rightside dub 12 safety as her second scoring trick, earning 41 and enough to finish first at 91, a point ahead of Tess Ledeux. Mathilde sent a switch to left 14 to try to reclaim third place, but a loose landing proved her undoing in front of the judges. Tess Ledeux got a nasty slam, didn’t look straight ahead from the takeoff, but drove away. The pressure was building for an epic final run.
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For the final run, Grace Henderson laced up a classic cork 7 blunt after pulling off two brand new tricks in the spirit of the X Games.
Kirsty Muir wrapped just under 14 to see if she could improve on her score, she took such advantage of the grave and wasn’t going to improve.
Sarah Hoefflin landed the cleanest of her switch dub 10 high double mute for 41, but lack of another high score wouldn’t threaten the podium. Megan Oldham attempted to land a killer punch by throwing a right dub 14, she landed in the front seat a bit and took a heavy one. She would have to collect her sticks and then watch from below.
Mathilde, sitting in 4th place and the last danger of changing the podium, flipped a switch to the left, 14 locked, she only managed to improve on her second highest score and stayed in 4th place. Tess switched grabs on her 16, moving it from Tindy to Blunt, the landing was loose and would dock her score and not improve her score. Megan remains first, Tess second, and Kiststy third.
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Results
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highlights
https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/1062481/BEST-OF-Women—s-Ski-Big-Air—X-Games-Aspen-2023
